{"id":1537,"date":"2014-09-02T17:24:21","date_gmt":"2014-09-02T17:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/?p=1537"},"modified":"2014-09-02T17:24:21","modified_gmt":"2014-09-02T17:24:21","slug":"scholarship-recipient-erica-moody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/2014\/09\/02\/scholarship-recipient-erica-moody\/","title":{"rendered":"Erica Moody, Alchemy 9.2.5 Scholarship winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It didn\u2019t take long for Erica Moody to make use of the techniques she learned in a recent<a href=\"http:\/\/metalwerx.com\" target=\"_blank\"> Metalwerx<\/a> workshop. As the recipient of a scholarship offered by the Belmont-based gallery, <a href=\"http:\/\/alchemy925.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Alchemy 9.2.5<\/a>, she was able to enroll in a class of her choice. She chose to participate in the 2014 Summer with the Masters series, selecting <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patflynninc.com\/f2.html\" target=\"_blank\">Pat Flynn\u2019s<\/a> \u201cPrecise Fabrication and Mechanisms\u201d as a re-introduction to jewelry making. It had been thirty years since she\u2019d taken a small-scale metal smithing course.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Sept-2014-Erica-portrait-3.jpg\" alt=\"Erica\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>Erica Moody at work.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Erica, a graduate of Hampshire College, owns <a href=\"http:\/\/magma-metalworks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Magma Metalworks, Inc.<\/a>, in Beverly, Mass. The company specializes in fabricating metal pieces on a furniture-sized scale. She works with architects, designers, and some homeowners, taking their ideas for projects and applying her expertise to engineer the most practical design. She was on scaffolding, installing a custom loft ladder in downtown Boston when she got the call.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had been eyeing Pat\u2019s class because I was drawn to the idea of making basic forms precisely, and refining soldering work,\u201d she said. She designs a lot of custom mechanisms and hardware and joinery, but on a much larger scale than jewelry. \u201cThis aspect of \u2018Mechanisms\u2019 appealed to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The five-day class focused on making three basic forms, a cube, a sphere, and a cone, and then applying\u00a0the\u00a0techniques learned\u00a0to pieces such as clasps and brooch pins. She was especially taken by Pat\u2019s beautifully precise designs, including a pin mechanism that \u201cmoves, snaps, and locks in such a satisfying way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Flynn-Forms-close-up.jpg\" alt=\"Forms\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Sample forms by Pat Flynn.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Immediately after the workshop, Erica began to augment her tool collection to include jewelers&#8217; saws, a bench pin, and triangular sanding sticks with paper silicon carbide\u2014tools she now provides students in her own workshops on soldering and brazing for hardware and boats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a bizarre gap between architectural metalwork and fine jewelry work,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat I do in my business is more detailed, but now I try to bring more of the jewelry attention to this craftsmanship in my architectural work and every-day objects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Erica experienced a breakthrough when something she tried to make for herself ended up as a spectacular piece of hardware for a classic wooden boat.\u00a0 At first she tried making a stainless steel cone to use as a tip on her torch, to adapt the flame to jewelry-scale soldering. It didn\u2019t turn out the way she wanted, but it gave her some ideas when she taught at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewoodenboatschool.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">WoodenBoat School<\/a> in Brooklin, Maine, a few weeks later.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Sept-2014-photo-1.jpg\" alt=\"socket1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Two-inch spelter socket used for boat rigging.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reducing cone turned out to be a beautiful piece of stainless steel, based on what we learned in class, but it allowed me to go to another level,\u201d she said. It reminded her of a spelter socket, a component used for traditional boat rigging. Such sockets are traditionally cast bronze, and are difficult to find.<\/p>\n<p>Erica adapted her piece as a challenge to compare with a bigger bronze one. She filled the cone with lead to capture the tail of the steel cable inserted into the socket. She then attached it to an industrial bracket to test its strength. \u00a0\u201cIt tested to at least about 4500 pounds of pulling strength, and then we didn\u2019t try any more than that. Everyone thought it was just a beautiful, tiny thing, just under two inches long,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly strong and beautiful and we were all impressed by that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Sept-2014-photo-4.jpg\" alt=\"socket4\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Testing the spelter socket. \u00a0It reached pulling strength of almost\u00a04500 pounds.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Metalwerx class gave Erica the chance to get away from her metalcraft business to focus on small work, detail, and \u201ca view of fussy fabrication from a jeweler\u2019s point of view,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was great to learn from him and the fellow classmates, all serious jewelers, about so many great techniques, both basic and complex. Pat Flynn is a great artist and teacher. I appreciated his patience as an instructor and his passion and dedication to perfection and unique beauty in every detail of a piece,\u201d she said. \u201cI am truly inspired more than ever to continue making smaller, more refined, personal work, and I\u2019ll definitely be back at Metalwerx!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Metalwerx and their community partners offer scholarships throughout the year and will announce a winter award in the October issue of our e-newsletter, <em>Inside Metalwerx<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em> &#8211;by Yleana Martinez<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It didn\u2019t take long for Erica Moody to make use of the techniques she learned in a recent Metalwerx workshop. As the recipient of a scholarship offered by the Belmont-based gallery, Alchemy 9.2.5, she was able to enroll in a class of her choice. She chose to participate in the 2014 Summer with the Masters [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1537"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1558,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537\/revisions\/1558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}