Metalsmith Society Visits Sinead Cleary Jewelry
While on my recent vacation in New Hampshire I was able to meet Sinead Cleary and visit her lovely lakefront home where her studio is located. Sinead specializes in designs that are simplistic and incorporate gorgeous hand fabricated stone settings. In addition to working on her own collection she is the Jewelry Coordinator and a teacher at the Littleton Studio School. She is also a regular contributor of her techniques, experiences and recommendations within our Instagram community.
We unfortunately forgot to take a selfie, but here is Sinead in her beautiful studio.
All of her benches were custom built and she used vinyl stick on tiles to create a nice surface to work on. It should be noted that her soldering area is protected with bricks as this surface is not heat resistant. Here is a link to similar tiles.
I absolutely love her use of a dry-erase board to keep a list of what she needs to accomplish in her studio. Stealing this idea and buying this one.
When I asked her what her favorite tool is she didn't hesitate to pull out her Foredom Hammer Handpiece H-15 she also showed me her set of anvil tips which she said she uses daily for various stone settings!
Another favorite tool are her pliers that hold tubing while you cut.
She regularly uses them to cut tubing for settings.
Here is a tip from Sinead if you want to improve your stone setting skills, purchase pre-made settings and inexpensive stones and practice!! In this instance she purchased an eternity band and then modified it into a hoop earring.
I had the opportunity to look at her gorgeous work including these Tourmaline + Diamond Studs available at sineadclearlyjewelry.com
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