Wire Works!

I had a small project lesson with one of my students that I wanted to share.  As I've mentioned before, I will often build on a skill with a younger student so that a project which might have been beyond their skill level without any experience becomes very doable. In this case, simple weaving techniques learned with a wood/nail loom and fiber (or a French knitter) developed the skills we used to create a wire basket. In less than an hour, Olivia created a small copper basket and decorated it with a hanger and copper loops. She hammered the wire corner loops to add some interest. 

Another teaching hint that I employ with younger students is scale…doing what would otherwise be very detailed work on a larger scale. You will note that my sample basket in the photo below is approximately 3”x3”. I didn’t want the process to be frustrating so I had Olivia create a larger basket which allowed me to hold the frame as she started weaving the copper wire. She also did the finish work filing the ends, bending the decorative wires, and hammering…this would have been difficult for her on a small scale piece and not nearly as valuable a learning experience because the progress would have been more difficult for her to see.

 After that, we created a wonderful copper ring that started off as a hand-made paper clip or page marker (copper wire coiled and hammered) which was then modified into a ring.