Metalsmithing at Leeds College of Art: week one

I started a new course tonight at Leeds College of Art. It’s a follow up to the one I did in the autumn of 2012 and we have a new tutor. She seems full of ideas so it should be a good 10 weeks.

On this first evening we started learning how to etch metal using a photo etching technique. We’ve prepared two plates, on large copper sheet, 19 cm by 3.6cm and a smaller piece of silver sheet, 90mm by 10mm. The first could be several small things or a wide bangle and the silver lends itself to a band ring, both with an etched design that has to be original.

This weeks’ homework is to choose the design and print it onto paper so that it can be transferred using the college photocopier and put onto an acetate sheet for the photo etching process.

It was a good start, except that there were closed roads on the way out and it took three goes to get out of Leeds with the sat nav.

About Leeds College of Art

The College dates back to 1846 and now teaches a range of arts courses, including jewellery, metalsmithing, glass, ceramics and textiles. It has some famous alumni from Yorkshire – Barbara Hepworth and the great Henry Moore, original born in Castleford.