Cuttlefish Casting with Barbara Mann at the Greenville Center for Creative Arts in Greenville, SC, July 21, 2018
Meteorite Necklace, Barbara Mann. Sterling silver, 22, 18K gold, meteorites, rubies, diamonds, garnets, cubic zirconia. Size: 2" x 16" x 0.25". Photo by Dede Giddens.
Barbara Mann, one of our CAST contributors, will be teaching a one-day cuttlefish casting workshop on July 21 at the Greenville Center for Creative Arts in Greenville, SC.
If you're unfamiliar with cuttlefish casting, Ganoksin offers an excellent description of this ancient and fascinating approach to casting. Cuttlefish casting creates a beautiful woodgrain-esque surface on metal and is a direct and satisfying way to cast metal at a jewelry scale. Barbara also includes several other examples of direct pour casting techniques, such as: casting into tufa, charcoal, slate, broom straw and various kinds of dried beans , peanuts and corn! These approaches can get unexpected and glorious results - the surfaces that come from pouring molten metal into these organic materials are impossible to achieve in other ways and, like all natural surfaces, are inimitable.
Barbara also taught a two-day version of her cuttlefish casting workshop at the Metal Arts Guild of Georgia in June. If you're interested in this process, Barbara is one to watch. Here's a full listing of workshops on her website.
Student earrings made by Leigh Griffin using cuttlefish casting. Made in Barbara Mann's last workshop.
Several weeks ago, Patricia Notes, Jane Leavey, Patty Gregory, Sharon Schaefer, Gina Smith, Hellen Vermillion, Julie Bowser and Leigh Griffin joined Barbara Mann for an action and information-packed two-day workshop at the Metal Arts Guild of Georgia. Casting from cuttlefish bone and beans, the group made a wide variety of pieces ready to be transformed into jewelry.
1 Day Workshop: Saturday, July 21, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Instruction Level: All skill levels, ages 16+
Tuition: $89 (price includes supplies)
Gain the skills and inspiration to cast jewelry or a small-scale object in sterling silver. Using the ancient technique of cuttlefish bone casting, students will learn to make molds into which molten metal will be poured. Within minutes after casting, the molds are opened and the metal objects are ready for finishing. Students will learn how to use a jeweler’s saw, hand files, abrasive paper and how to patina metal and use a rotary tumbler for polishing.
Greenville Center for the Creative Arts
Located in the Brandon Mill
101 Abney Street
Greenville, SC 29611
Cretaceous Event, 66mya, Barbara Mann. Sterling silver, bronze, 22, 18, 14 K gold, meteorite, ruby, opal, Mexican fire opal, diamond, glass. 17" x.5" x 1.75". 2018. Photo by Dede Giddens
Cretaceous Event, 66mya (detail), Barbara Mann. Sterling silver, bronze, 22, 18, 14 K gold, meteorite, ruby, opal, Mexican fire opal, diamond, glass. 17" x.5" x 1.75". 2018. Photo by Dede Giddens
Barbara Mann has had over 40 years’ experience as a metal and jewelry artist. She graduated from The University of Georgia with BFA and MFA degrees. She has taught for many years as an adjunct instructor at the UGA Lamar Dodd School of Art, with the UGA Studies Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy and in Costa Rica, through the UGA Continuing Education program, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and has conducted numerous workshops throughout the Southeast.