{"id":1796,"date":"2015-04-06T18:38:01","date_gmt":"2015-04-06T18:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/?p=1796"},"modified":"2015-04-27T17:50:28","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T17:50:28","slug":"gold-damascene-with-brian-meek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/2015\/04\/06\/gold-damascene-with-brian-meek\/","title":{"rendered":"Gold Damascene with Brian Meek"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A rare opportunity to learn Korean-style damascening with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alberic.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Brian Meek<\/a> occurs next month at Metalwerx, immediately following the close of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.snagmetalsmith.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">SNAG convention<\/a> in Boston. Brian, known as the \u201cTool Guy\u201d at Knew Concepts metalsmithing equipment, will lead the two-day workshop in which students will learn to make what he describes as \u201cmetal Velcro.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The road leads to Damascus, the saying goes, as it is the root which gives us a variety of words. The Syrian capital was in ancient times an important trading hub for weapons and crafts due to its advantageous site at the crossroads of Asia and Africa. It became famous for its richly patterned damask fabrics, its tough, shatter-resistant swords of Damascus steel, and its method of decorating metal, known as damascening, in which gold is inlaid to steel, iron, or bronze.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/04-15-Meek-Damascene-fan-brooch.jpg\" alt=\"Damascene Fan Brooch\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Damascene Fan Brooch by Brian Meek<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Brian&#8217;s approach\u00a0to\u00a0the process is one he learned in graduate school at Cranbrook Academy of Art. There is no official English spelling for the Korean words, but Po-Mok-San-Gaam is about as close as it gets. &#8220;It means &#8216;woven surface.&#8217; If you look close up it looks like linen. You basically take a fine chisel and cross-hatch the metal surface. You\u2019re shredding the surface and pounding gold into it, and if it\u2019s thin enough, the gold is ductile enough to lock into nooks and crannies,\u201d Brian said. \u201cYou\u2019re making metal Velcro.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Creating a piece of damascened metal is easy but time consuming work that involves long stretches of tapping with a chisel. But as will happen while making art, one can get into a meditative state and time will fly by. In the workshop, students will practice on titanium. The process is traditionally done on steel or iron, but will work on any metal as long as it is harder than the gold.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/04-15-Meek-TI-Pin-SNAG.jpg\" alt=\"TI Pin\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>TI Brooch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It works on silver as well, but for that, keum boo is easier, Brian said, adding that doing things the easy way is not where he\u2019s at. \u201cI go with titanium because I like the colors. If you\u2019ve seen my work you\u2019ll see I go for reactives, because white and yellow and reddish and black get kind of old after a while,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Reactive metals, such as titanium and niobium, are very dense metals with a superior ability to conduct electricity and absorb heat. The challenge of working with reactives has led to impressive outcomes for Brian. He was told niobium could not be raised much because it could not be annealed, so he tried it just to see how far he could go.<\/p>\n<p>The end result was a spectacular goblet in luminous shades of lilac and cobalt, &#8220;Chalice for the Heretic,&#8221;\u00a0although without a stem. It took him a year to figure out how to finish the piece based around the unsolderable niobium goblet. He finally added wooden legs shaped like a Tiffany setting. \u201cThere are times I do things just to see if I can,\u201d he said.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/04-15-Meek-Chalice-for-the-Heretic.jpg\" alt=\"Chalice for the Heretic\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Chalice for the Heretic<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When not \u201carguing with the machines\u201d at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.knewconcepts.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Knew Concepts<\/a> in Santa Cruz, CA, Brian teaches Adult Community Education metalsmithing classes at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.missioncollege.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mission College<\/a> in nearby Santa Clara, CA. He is as committed to building a community of metalsmiths in the area as he is to manufacturing the ingenious prototypes designed by Lee Marshall, the \u201cSaw Guy\u201d who gave us the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.knewconcepts.com\/precisionMk3.php\" target=\"_blank\">Precision Powered Saw<\/a> (runs on electricity), as well as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.knewconcepts.com\/saws.php\" target=\"_blank\">Fret Saw<\/a>, which some will swear has taken their sawing skills from clumsy to confident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLee thinks it up, I figure out how to make it,\u201d Brian said. He also operates a graphic design business, specializing in digital imaging, product photography, and photo re-touching.<\/p>\n<p>The son of two scientists, Brian learned to program computers with punch cards before he was old enough to drive. Was it an act of rebellion when he chose to study art in college? \u201cI ran so far (from science) I ran around the circle and am almost back where I started.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While in college, he ended up hanging out with physicists, noting that the mindset of scientists and artists are much the same. \u201cAt the higher levels, science and art are not that dissimilar, there\u2019s just a lot more math with science,\u201d he said. \u201cBut metalsmithing is leaps and bounds more technical than anything else. This is absolutely the most technical of all the crafts.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/04-05-Meek-Overpressure-4-Harmonic-Amplification.jpg\" alt=\"Overpressure 4: Harmonic Amplification\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Overpressure 4: Harmonic Amplification<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/workshop\/725\">Gold Damascene on Titanium and Steel<\/a>\u201d will take place May 24-25 at Metalwerx. Class hours are different than usual to accommodate students coming from the SNAG conference: Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm, and Monday, 10 am to 5 pm. The class is intended for those with even basic fabrication skills.<\/p>\n<p>Participants will make their own chisels and gold foil, and come away with a sample piece of high-carat gold on titanium. The cutting chisels make superb chasing punches, and this will be demonstrated as well. Additionally, Brian will share tips for rust removal via a simple and reasonably non-toxic technique. Each student should bring a small rusted iron tool to clean, like a pair of pliers or hammer head.<\/p>\n<p>There are still seats available for Brian\u2019s class, his first at <a href=\"http:\/\/metalwerx.com\" target=\"_blank\">Metalwerx<\/a>. To register, click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/workshop\/725\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> or contact Metalwerx at 781-891-3854.<\/p>\n<p>In conjunction with the Society of North American Goldsmiths&#8217; \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.snagmetalsmith.org\/conferences\/impact-looking-back-forging-forward\/home-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">Impact: Looking Back, Forging Forward<\/a>\u201d conference (May 20-23), Metalwerx is offering workshops before (&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/workshop\/98\" target=\"_blank\">Wire Weaving<\/a>&#8221; and &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/workshop\/724\" target=\"_blank\">Powder Coating<\/a>&#8220;) and after the conference. Please check our website to learn more about this and about the May 23 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/workshop\/726\" target=\"_blank\">Gallery Hop<\/a> which includes a stop at our premises at 50 Guinan Streeet, Waltham, MA.Visitors will see demonstrations of various techniques in our fantastic studio, view a special exhibit, &#8220;Embellish,&#8221; of necklaces made by members of our community, and enjoy munchies.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;by Yleana Martinez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rare opportunity to learn Korean-style damascening with Brian Meek occurs next month at Metalwerx, immediately following the close of the SNAG convention in Boston. Brian, known as the \u201cTool Guy\u201d at Knew Concepts metalsmithing equipment, will lead the two-day workshop in which students will learn to make what he describes as \u201cmetal Velcro.\u201d The [&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":[134,135,138,83,137,136],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796"}],"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=1796"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1829,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions\/1829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}