CHASING AND REPOUSSE CLASS

Samples in copper.
The ancient techniques of chasing - working on the front - surface detailing and texturing and repoussé - punching the sheet metal from the back to create volume, using a variety of tools and a chasing hammer.

This is the best book on the subject.
Chasing and Repousse
Methods Ancient and Modern
Nancy Megan Corwin
Nancy Mēgan Corwin is a jeweler/metalsmith, teacher and writer in the field of art metals. She teaches workshops around the United States, Canada and England including Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, Arrowmont School of Crafts in Tennesse and at West Dean College in Chichester, England.

In 2009 Mēgan published a book on the techniques of chasing and repoussé, titled “Chasing and Repoussé: Methods Ancient and Modern,” which is in it’s second printing and is currently available for purchase through jewelry suppliers and Amazon.com. The October 2009 issue of Ornament magazine featured Mēgan with her piece “Tiara” on the cover and with a lead article. She has curated two shows in conjunction with the book: “Metal Magic, Chasing and Repoussé” with Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle, WA 2009 and the 2010 exhibition “Chased + Repoussé” at Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco, CA.


Nancy Mēgan Corwin ARTIST STATEMENT:
"The process of organic metalsmithing, in which the material exhibits a sense of movement and shows the hand of the maker, is at the heart of my work. I express this aesthetic by using the ancient techniques of chasing (surface detailing and texturing) and repoussé (to punch sheet metal from the back to create volume). I share with artisans from all ages a process that is one of the most intimate conversations with an inanimate material that exists in metalsmithing. The repetitive hammering used to make these forms and marks in the metal has become my heartbeat and my breath. Every blow, and there are thousands in each piece, is its own mark, regardless of whether the end results show them individually or as contiguous. The forms and surfaces of my work are responses to the plant, rock and marine life materials that I collect and study. It is not their outlines or recognizable aspects that interest me. Rather it is the rhythm and depth of the textures that are my inspiration."

Chased surface textures and planishing on 24g copper.

Homemade chasing tools made from modified centre punches.

Rachel Janze brought in some of her Dad's, Phil Janze, custom made chasing punches.
Phil Janzé

CULTURAL GROUP:
Gitksan

BORN:
January 8, 1950 - June 29, 2016

BIRTHPLACE:
Hazelton, BC

Philip Janze has been producing masterpieces of Northwest Coast Art in the Gitksan tradition of his grandmother, for more than thirty years. His mediums include wood, silkscreen prints, silver and the most alluring of metals – gold.  His many widely exhibited and published works include silkscreen prints, carvings, totem poles, masks, and gold and silver repoussé jewellery.

He began working in metal after he watched Stanley George hammer out and carve silver coins in Bella Bella in 1963. The first pieces that Philip produced were engravings of Seine Boats that were tied up at the Bella Bella docks complete with the boat’s names. Philip was paid ten dollars for each coin he produced in those days.
In the years following his graduation from BCIT in 1970, Philip became serious about exploring his talents for jewelry and sought out the help of experts in the field. Though he never directly apprenticed under anyone, he spent many hours with jewelers who provided him with advice, encouragement, and support.
Philip had already been producing many quality pieces when he was invited to participate in the jewelry program organized by the Haida artist, Bill Reid and coordinated by Peter Page of the Goldsmith’s Hall of London, England. Here Philip, as well as learning specific techniques of gold jewelry from Peter, also interacted with other noted Northwest Coast artists who inspired Philip and in turn were inspired by him. The three-month program was a turning point for Philip. He was now not only able to envisage his delicate and intricate pieces, but he was fully capable of creating them.
The ensuing years have seen Philip recognized by the Canadian Jewelers Challenge on two occasions, 1982 and 1984 for creating one of the six finest jewelry pieces in Canada. He is the only Native artist to have accomplished this to date.  Phil also won top prize in jewellery-making from the Indian Northern Affairs Canada Purchase Show in 1984.  In 1989, he made a 34" round copper Sun mask using the repoussé technique. This was the first large-scale repoussé sculpture to ever be created in contemporary Native art. In 2012, Phil received the British Columbia Creative Achievement Award for his artistic contributions. Philip has been recognized the world over for his elegant and thought provoking works of art. He is represented in public and corporate collections in Canada, the United States of America, Germany, and Japan. His art is in many of the most renowned private collections around the world. He is acknowledged as a master of Northwest Coast Art.

Raven Transforming Into Human Pendant
by Philip Janze
Gitksan Nation22K Yellow Gold, Repousse, Chased, Engraved
Domed

2 x 2"
https://coastalpeoples.com/shop/raven-transforming-into-human1608/