Forging the Fire
As an art major, I’ve worked in many different mediums. I’ve sewn quilts, hooked rugs, turned wood on a lathe, knitted multiple items, created glass beads, forged metal and made furniture. By far, I am most intrigued by metalworking. It is a more forgiving material while creating, something I find both useful and necessary far too often. Though I worked nine years as a repair jeweler for my “real job,” I have been able to pursue my real joy in my back garage, exploring and pushing the boundaries of what metal can do.
There is something mesmerizing when propane and oxygen mix; the click of the striker as it creates a spark, the whoosh of ignition as both gases alight and are adjusted to have an even flame. That flame for me has always been for creation, whether it be used to melt glass and wind it onto a coated mandrel while studying in college, or used to repair and create jewelry in my home studio, Beni and Bee.
I became aware of Kevin Potter right before Covid. He is a man on a mission, and has single-handedly rescued critical tooling that has historically been used in jewelry manufacturing. He is an educator, historian, and jeweler. He is giving and gracious, and eager to teach others the art of die striking and the manufacturing of jewelry with a torch, hydraulic press, and a steel die. He shares this information readily through video and via a free platform.
I quickly became intrigued. I love antique jewelry, and find it quite rewarding to create something from scratch. This process allows me to use my scrap cuttings and jewelry pieces and forge them into something new.
More often than not, I’m alone in my studio in the back garage, blasting music and generally creating a mess. I’m not a tidy person. My chaos drives my husband batty and back into the house or in his studio space in the garage. I am able to relax and sort through my problems, attempt to solve them, all while in the midst of creating. When I arrive home from work grumpy, Adam asks if I have something to smash in the shop. It’s a fitting stress reliever on many fronts.
I have often mused about God, our human likeness being easily transformed through this very flame while creating, watching the scraps of metal so they don’t melt too quickly, and become a ball of moving molten metal. The process I use is simple. I take a small amount of scrap sterling or gold, and heat it until molten, orange and swirling; I then let it solidify and quench. This heating and subsequent quenching process, known as annealing, changes the metal’s internal structure fundamentally. Through annealing, the internal bonds and structures are broken and reformed, allowing the metal to become malleable. With a hydraulic press and some muscle, the metal is then pressed into a steel die until the metal no longer moves well. It is then time to anneal again.
There is no set amount of annealings and pressings; it is only “complete” when I think the pressing visibly looks the way I wish in size, thickness and detail. I will then lightly sand the piece, re/engrave details that were lost, set stones, and final polish. If I feel there is a flaw, or take away too much metal, I just remelt the metal, repress it, and start over again. No harm, no foul.
This creation process and visible transformation is the most perfect analogy to me about how God transforms us. In Phillipians 1:6, He refines His children through fiery trials in a similar manner as an earthly refiner uses fire to purify gold and silver. The trials we face develop our strength and character. In Phillipians 3:12-14, we are told to embrace the flame, that we are on a continual journey of refinement, never attaining absolute perfection, but always striving towards the mark.
We are continually being forged and annealed, in the same manner as each pressing I create. Each bit of metal is heated to reduce its hardness, to smooth the rough spots and soften it. It is heated above its recrystallization point, causing atoms to shift within their lattice and recrystallize as it cools.
Just think about that for a minute. Through every trial and hardship we face, God is refining us. He is removing our impurities, strengthening us mentally, physically and spiritually and preparing us for our future selves. Over and over again. No matter how many times we fail, doubt Him, crumble under stress and despair, becoming bitter and hard due to our life experiences. He is forging us New.
It is easy for me to understand why I am so intrigued by this process. You can never fail; you simply remelt and start over. For me, the message is clear. Embrace the flame. Be receptive to God’s refinements, to our own very personal forging, made in His likeness.
While planning this blog topic, I moved through several different ideas. Imagine my joy when a historical flame die was offered. I immediately had to get it; it also solidified the topic I wanted to share. It was kismet. I’m in process of creating my own visual reminder to embrace the flame. Feel free to reach out to me at beniandbee@gmail.com if you might like one too. I should have a final version available on beniandbee.com in early September.