Wire is often termed as a sculptural medium.  It's not hard to see why with Kathy Frey's Dimensional Wire Wrapping Techniques Class over on Craftsy.  This wire artist teaches how to use wire to form 3D structures which add considerable body to bold, modern designs.


Based in California,  Kathy has 18 solid years of experience with wire artistry. Her class is divided into 7 lessons with a total run time of 2.21 hours.  As with all Craftsy classes, the format is such students can watch the class when and where they want and as many times as necessary to learn a technique. You will be able to ask Kathy any question.

The entire class starts with the basics and gradually gets more complex. The relaxed wire wrapping style is easy unlike the more complicated intricate wire weaving technique. The foundation of her class is how to create strong frames. Yup, no soldering required!

Lesson 1's introduction covers why Kathy chooses certain wire gauges and temper for these sorts of design.  She covers hammering techniques for work hardening frame wire for crisp bends. She also shows how to start and finish wire wrapping.  The design for Lesson 1 is a one dimensional piece.



Lesson 2 prepares students for working with curves as she teaches how to add bends to 2 totally different  earrings designs. She shares many tips on shaping and how to compensate for outside curves (second pair of earrings) so the wrapping still looks even.  She also demonstrates how to add wire neatly.  It is not easy to use more than 2-3 feet of wire so this latter instruction is vital. One invaluable tip is how she curves even the wire wrapping itself so the design looks "puffy".



Lesson 3 ramps up the dimensional aspect as Kathy teaches how to create half pods and embellish with pearls.  She also shows how 2 pods can be joined together for larger designs.


Lesson 4 is all about completely enclosed pods and pyramids.  This more advanced lesson shows how to create more complex frames.


Her inspirational piece showing a fantastic collection of her pyramidal structures in a single design is awe -inspiring!



Lesson 5  is arguably the hardest lesson.  Making double frames for this wonderful pendant is challenging.  Kathy teaches how to stabilize the frame ready for wire wrapping.


Lesson 6  is one on how to wire a brick shape to enclose loose stones inside. Kathy shows how these components can be used singly or linked together for larger pieces. This is a dynamic design because the stones do move about inside.


Lesson 7 shows what fun patination can be.   Kathy works mostly with sterling silver and gold (which doesn't patina) so she takes advantage of the difference.  Her ombre technique with liver of sulfur gel is pretty nifty!  Sterling silver does tarnish so she shows how to clean and polish the materials. She also covers the issue of having pearls in designs and how she gets around the problem of the delicate pearls.


Kathy is an excellent instructor. The class is suitable even for beginners because of her clarity and care in explaining the process.  Students will not be intimidated at all with the prospect of sculpting with wire. Anyone who loves wire and contemporary styles will adore her organic approach to designing. Highly recommended.

Kathy is also the author of Elegant Wire Jewelry.



Giveaway
If you would like to win Kathy Frey's class Dimensional Wire Wrapping Techniques please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info below if you do not have an online shop or blog.

Email subscribers need to scroll down the post they receive, click on Share Comment and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.

This giveaway is international.

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments.

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, October 19, 2015 . I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

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Disclosure
I am now a Craftsy affiliate which means I receive a small compensation when classes are purchased through my blog.  The opinions expressed here are entirely mine and mine alone.  These would be the same, whether or not I receive the compensation. The book link is also an Amazon affiliate link.

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