I was born and raised in Philadelphia. My first introduction to metalsmithing and jewelry manufacturing was at the age of 13 in Middle School. I was fortunate to have a teacher who was truly passionate about her art and about teaching, and I continued to work in that studio through High School. However, I did not seriously consider making jewelry/art for a living until I was a year into college. I transferred to the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and graduated from there in 1982. I worked in commercial jewelry as a bench mechanic for 2 years and also worked part time in a dental laboratory. My intention at the time was to work in the dental lab field to pay bills while I worked on my art, but somehow, that turned into 10 years. I then experienced a calling to work with people
(vs. “little things” all day), so I made the decision to attend graduate school for Art Therapy/Counseling Psychology. I completed my Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1995 and have worked in the mental health field for more than 30 years. Since 2009 I have been engaged in private practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor working with children, adolescents, adults and families.

I have remained (and will always be) an artist/craftsman. It’s the lens through which I interpret the World. As I’ve approached retirement age, I’ve experienced an increasingly strong impulse to return to the bench, to “making.” My studio has become my “happy place.” Lately it seems I have a constant flow of ideas, themes and forms coursing through my mind. I consider my work to be “wearable art” rather than mere bodily adornment. It’s important to me that every piece makes a definite statement. I primarily work in silver, semi-precious stones and enamels, but also do some gold work. More recently, I have rediscovered my passion for exploring the technique of electroforming. A common theme of my art is capturing an instant of motion or juxtaposing colors, textures, shapes, lines and other forms. Whether the theme is serious or whimsical, simple or complex, my goal is always to evoke thoughts and feelings and occasionally provoke controversy (moral, ethical, political and otherwise).

Many people have heard the term “electroplated.” This refers to a technique of chemically bonding one metal with another very thin layer of a different metal. There are many industrial applications for electroplating, but in the jewelry industry most plating is done with gold, silver, or rhodium. Electroforming is the process of depositing a much thicker layer of metal on a non-metal form made of wax, styrofoam or another material that can be removed after the metal deposition is finished. Because of its physical properties, copper is the easiest and most commonly used metal for art-jewelry applications. The form is painted with a conductive graphite-based coating. A wire is attached and the form is immersed in a plating bath; a solution of distilled water, copper sulfate, sulfuric acid and brightening agents. The form is attached to the negative post (cathode) and piece(s) of copper are attached to the positive post (anode). Using an electrical device called a rectifier (which converts AC current to DC current and permits control of voltage and amperage), direct current is passed between the anode and cathode, which strips molecules (ions) of copper from the anode and deposits those ions onto the form. The deposition rate is controlled by the rate of voltage and amperage. If a form starts out as smooth, low current results in a smooth deposition. Adjusting the current in stages or spiking the current selectively can achieve a variety of textures or irregular, nodular patterns. Wax resists can be selectively applied during the process to vary the textures in different areas.

When the copper reaches the desired thickness, small holes are drilled in the form and the wax is melted out (or in the case of styrofoam, dissolved out with a solvent). A thin layer of nickel is applied to prevent copper contamination of a silver or gold plating bath, and to prevent chemical tarnishing (galvanic corrosion) of the piece itself. After the nickel plate has been applied, the piece may be plated with silver or gold. This technique achieves hollow, very lightweight metal forms that are structurally strong for their thickness because the metal crystals form in a pattern that is similar to metal that has been work-hardened.

When I was in art school at the Tyler School of Art In suburban Philadelphia in the late 1970s – early 1980s, electroforming was a technique we learned about from the renowned art-jeweler Stanley Lechtzin. Stanley was a pioneer in the use of electroforming as an art form, and in my opinion to this day nobody has made anything using the technique that rivals his sheer brilliance and artistry. Stanley was also responsible for starting the metalsmithing/jewelry program at Tyler in the 1960s. The electroforming lab at Tyler was state-of-the-art but undergraduate students were not permitted to use the lab equipment directly, because of hazards that are explained below. People in my graduating class therefore unfortunately learned very little about the actual process and chemistry of electroforming.

During my four years at Tyler, I made a total of not more than 5 pieces that were electroformed. One of those pieces can be seen on the “No Wear” page of this website. The irony is not lost on me that the design of that piece was an imitation of Stanley’s artistic style. The rest of them were not works that I felt good enough about to keep. In spite of that dearth of practical education about the details, my fascination with the possibilities inherent in the electroforming technique never left me. When I built my current studio, setting up electroforming equipment and educating myself about the process in greater depth was (and continues to be) one of the most challenging (and enjoyable) aspects. To me, perhaps the most important quality of electroforming is that it permits the creation of forms that practically speaking could not be made any other way.

Copper electroforming solution has only 4 basic ingredients plus an optional commercial brightener (distilled water, copper sulfate, sulfuric acid, and polyethylene glycol). Copper plating solution is therefore easy to make and maintain in a home studio. In copper plating solutions, sulfuric acid functions to enhance conductivity and facilitate the dissolution of the copper anode(s). It also acts as a charge carrier (complexing agent), ensuring efficient transfer of copper ions from the anode to the cathode (form). Silver can theoretically be electroformed in a thicker layer but there are significant technical challenges.  The chemistry of a silver plating bath is much more complex than copper. Unlike copper solution, it must be alkaline rather than acid. The traditional complexing agent in silver and gold plating solutions is potassium cyanide.

For obvious reasons, using cyanide based plating solutions in a home studio is a very bad idea. Accidental introduction of acid from a copper plating solution into a cyanide based bath results in the release of hydrogen cyanide (the same gas used in execution gas chambers). Non-cyanide silver and gold plating solutions have become more readily available recently. For non-cyanide silver plating solutions, the main complexing agent is sodium thiosulphate (a non-toxic chemical used in swimming pools). However, the performance of commercial non-cyanide based plating solutions is not as good as cyanide based solutions as far as building up a thicker layer of metal is concerned.

I have experimented with compounding my own non-cyanide based silver plating solutions. They have worked well enough for electroplating, but as far as building up a thicker layer, the results have been unsatisfactory. Commercial non-cyanide based solutions seem to yield slightly better results but beyond a thickness of 0.2 mm, reduced structural integrity of the metal has still proven to be a chronic problem because of oxide buildup. The commercially available non-cyanide plating solutions are also quite expensive, in the range of $65 – $90 per liter (or more). The deposition rate for silver is also necessarily much slower than copper. Unlike copper, silver also cannot be deposited directly onto a painted form. A thin copper layer must be applied first. All of my electroformed pieces with silver as the final finish are therefore technically considered “heavy electroplate.”