As a silver jewellery maker, I can work in a very tiny space. Take a look at my soldering station which includes a hand-held torch, a soldering block, strip solder which I’ve cut into tiny pieces and those weird-looking, pointy things are called a ‘Third Hand.’
They’re basically tweezers in a vice, which can be manipulated at different angles to hold pieces in place whilst I’m soldering. I reuse plastic bottle tops to hold liquid flux and have a skinny paintbrush, tweezers and some pickle (used to remove fire scale and clean the piece) which is just at the side of the photo in a small kilner jar, which I stand in a saucepan of hot water. My set-up isn’t elaborate, or expensive but it’s perfectly formed and works for me. It’s also portable so I can tidy it away as and when I need to.
This is just one of my small authentic spaces. Of course, I have others and my Nutshell Studio is an ever evolving space where I can change things around, according to what I’m working on and what technique I’m currently doing.
My standing, fully adjustable Ikea desk is at the centre of my studio, and wouldn’t be complete without an overhead magnifying lamp and a pair of magnifying glasses. I’ve had them ever since I started my jewellery making and, I can’t see the solder without them. I work and listen to podcasts, Janet Murray online business ideas, real crime or my latest audiobook which right now is Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce.
They are my window into my highly detailed world so I can see every vein, ridge, curve and ridge when I’m working.
