Vivian Black has been crafting artwork in silver since 2002. All of her pieces are hand-crafted, using a combination of sterling silver, reticulated silver and fine silver, and she often accents her pieces with different metals, including gold, brass, shibuishi, mokume gane, as well as a variety of semi-precious gemstomes. The following is a sampling of her work:

Reticulated Silver: .875 silver, .125 copper. Reticulated silver sheet is heated with a torch until the copper becomes molten (copper has a lower melting point than silver). As the molten copper bubbles and moves around under the silver, it forces the silver into fabulous, highly textured patterns – as a result, no two pieces of reticulated silver are ever alike.

Shibuishi: An ancient Japanese recipe, anywhere between 60% silver / 40% copper to 70% silver / 30% copper. When this metal is heated with a torch, delightful colors emerge, including shades of pink, green, blue, yellow and purple.

Mokume Gane: An ancient Japanese techniqe for fusing layers of different metals together to create a swirl pattern. The various metals used are fused together under high heat and pressure into a single ingot, and when the ingot is cut into individual slices, a stunning swirl pattern emerges, where each metal is distinctly visible. Typical metals used in mokume gane include silver, copper, brass and gold (red, yellow and white gold), but many other metals can also be used, such as iron and platinum.

<< Top