Class Instructor: Bette Barnett

Steel opened a door to freedom of expression in my jewelry creations, allowing me to offer wearable art that is less constrained than that of precious metals. As an artist I am lured by steel into exploring a grittier aspect of jewelry creation, into taking the humblest material and applying vision, design and execution to create art. Fusing gold to steel takes my work to another level entirely. The counterpoint of gold’s golden-yellow glow against the jet black of patinated steel sets off some sort of primal whisper in my head, a voice that murmurs, “Yes, this is it. This is the perfect tension, the ultimate balance.”
I began my jewelry career in 2010, studying under expert jewelers and learning basic
metalworking techniques. In 2013 I began studying the steel/gold fusing processes and continued with advanced workshops with the late Chris Nelson, who pioneered fusing gold to steel in the United States. I built on those studies by perfecting
additional techniques and processes, including the ancient Korean art of Keum Boo applied to steel, fusing alternative metals and alloys to steel, fusing powdered metals to steel and working with various forms of steel such as wire, perforated
sheet and woven mesh.
I actively pursue research into working with steel and have published articles on the
topic in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist and MJSD Journal. In addition, I was selected by the Santa Fe Symposium to author a research paper entitled “Steel Jewelry— Expanding the Horizons of Steel and Gold,” which I presented in May 2022. I am authoring a book entitled Creating Steel Jewelry, which is scheduled for publication by Artisan ideas in 2024.

Classes Taught By Bette Barnett: