Unfolding Creativity Through Jewellery

A student at Argent College first started attending jewellery sessions in June 2025; she found it difficult to communicate her ideas. She sat for hours enjoying drawing, and she particularly loved drawing around her hands. Anwa, our jewellery tutor, took inspiration from this and chose to use this as a starting point for a project. She began by creating a hand-shaped template which she then used to pierce out her first copper pendant using the piercing saw.

Once she had pierced this out, she used a small file to make sure there weren’t any sharp edges, and buff paper to get into small spaces. She then used her template to make three further pieces using different techniques on each one.

Using the gas torch, she annealed her second pendant, with heat creating different colours as it heated the metal. They really loved this and enjoyed watching the different colours reveal themselves as the metal grew hot and then cooled down again. She used a hammer to create texture and give shape to her third pendant, and she used the gas torch again to anneal it. She really enjoyed watching the metal glow a brilliant red with the heat when it was hot, and the warm undertone that remained once it had cooled. Heating the metal also made the metal softer, which meant that she could easily use the hammer to create texture.

Finally, for her fourth piece, she again created texture using the hammer. She did not anneal this pendant, allowing her to experience the metal in its cold state, which gives different feedback as well as an alternative finish. She then added glass beads as decoration to the palm. This piece really looks like that hand is unfolding, revealing the beads as a gift.

Ruth Beachim-Ratcliffe
Senior Tutor
Anwa Essien-Johnson
Jewellery Tutor
Zoe Higgins
Operational Lead and EHCM