Silversmith Creates Jewelry With Hammer, Torch and Pliers

By Ericka Pizzillo, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Oct. 25–Name: Judi Gauthier.

Age: 54.

Lives: Bellingham.

What I made: A sterling silver ring with a piece of coral.

Where I got supplies: I get the silver through the catalog “Rio Grande” from New Mexico.

Where I got the idea for it: I wanted to make a simple ring as an example for a silversmithing class I teach.

How long it took: About four hours.

Best compliment: On a flight from Minneapolis to Seattle my husband noticed a woman wearing a pendant I made.

Supplies needed: 18-gauge sheet of silver, silver solder, jewelers scissors, pliers, torch, pickling solution, polishing wheel and a ring mandrel made of hard steel to shape the ring.

Husband: Chris Gauthier, a psychologist.

Children: Daughter, Bridgette, 23, and son, Wes, 18.

Hobbies: Hiking and reading whenever I can.

Day job: Teaching silversmithing classes at my business, Pouncing Rain Metal Center on Holly Street.

Other crafts: I paint with acrylics and do collage.

Learning curve: I had a background in art and, in the early 1970s, learned (jewelry making) while working at Alaska Silver and Ivory Co. in Bellingham. Then I studied metal work at the University of Montana.

How I started: I worked at a number of jewelry production places, including Judy Coyote in Eugene, Ore. When I came back to Bellingham, my children were young and I wanted to be home with them. So I started a jewelry business.

Most successful project: I was commissioned to do a pendant for a woman. The only thing I knew is that she was a healer, she used her hand when doing readings, and liked amethyst. I felt like I was watching myself make this piece, it was like magic. I made a hand out of silver and the middle finger was bent a little. When I met her, she showed me her hand and her middle finger was slightly bent.

Worst nightmare: Completely melting your piece when you’re almost done.

Unfinished objects: I’ve got so many in my studio boxes and trays. I just find that everything has its time.

Favorite magazines: Metalsmith, Ornament and Lapidary Journal (about the polishing of stones and metal).

Weirdest material used: My own wisdom teeth. I used one in a pendant and another in an Indian rattle.

Best gift I made: A bear pendant for my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday.

Best thing I made for myself: A copper vessel that I made from one piece of metal.

How I save money: The people who work in my studio and I go in together to buy silver so we get a price break.

Hours a week spent working on jewelry: About 10 hours on my own stuff and several hours teaching.

Favorite tool: My planishing hammer,which is used to flatten metal. I’ve had it for 24 years. It’s like an old friend.

Words of wisdom: Take a class and then you will really know if it’s something you want to pursue and invest in.

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