Homemade Patinas: a Workshop for Jewelers and Artisans

FLORIDA, N.Y. - Feb. 5, 2014 - PRLog -- Homemade cold patina recipes are a source of intrigue, good chemistry and serendipity, and in this 4-hour workshop participants can expect to explore how to create many different variations of coloration with cold patinations that can be done safely at home.

Attendees will learn techniques of fuming, packing and wrapping to produce different results on silver and copper. Patineur Chip Schwartz, who leads a series of fine metals workshops at the Center for Metal Arts, will show participants how to work with textured and folded copper pieces supplied at the studio, or with the artist's own pieces brought in to patinate. According to Schwartz, silver and copper are preferred base materials for this patination workshop, as the many alloys of brass make it difficult to determine effective patination without doing exploratory trials of best techniques.

Attendees can expect to take home the samples they have done, one or more containers of packaged pieces for extended fuming, and a handout of recipes for patination techniques that can be easily and safely done at home.

Chip Schwartz lives and works in Beacon, NY, where he is the owner of Schwartz Metal Arts. In addition to doing one of a kind jewelry, flatware, and both functional and sculptural hollowware in his beacon studio, Chip teaches jewelry and metalsmithing classes to groups and individuals. He also works as a patineur and finisher at the Polich Tallix Art Foundry. Chip holds an MFA in jewelry and metal design from East Carolina University and has taught classes and workshops at several colleges, universities, and art centers.

The Sunday Sampler series at the Center for Metal Arts features mid-day Sunday classes for busy schedules. The Sunday Samplers run from 10 AM to 2 PM, offering a chance to take in a leisurely breakfast or a late lunch at one of the Warwick Valley's charming bistros and country restaurants. During the workshop, the Center for Metal Arts provides a bottomless cup of coffee and a tantalizing taste of local bakeries.

The Center for Metal Arts is located in the black dirt farm village of Florida NY, in the southern Hudson Valley. The teaching center, located in the historic 1890's Borden's Creamery Icehouse, is partnered with the working studio of Fine Architectural Metalsmiths, an award-winning architectural metal arts company since 1981. Since 2003, the Center for Metal Arts teaching space has offered weekend workshops and special events. The upstairs gallery of metal arts and museum of antique tools, with its self-guided tour, is an intriguing educational stop for workshop attendees. The Center for Metal Arts store of specialty forged tools is also in the upstairs gallery at the historic icehouse.

For more information on the 2014 program at the Center for Metal Arts, including the companion jewelry and fine metals workshop series, visit www.centerformetalarts.com and www.facebook.com/CenterForMetalArts. To sign up for the workshop go to http://www.centerformetalarts.com/upcoming-workshops.html