Keum-Boo is an ancient Korean technique of attaching 24 carat yellow gold foil to silver. It lends itself to embellishing silver jewellery with gold patterns, as the rich yellow contrasts well with the silver.

During this course, you will learn how to attach the gold foil successfully to silver jewellery through demonstrations, step-by-step instructions, handouts, individual support and practice pieces.

This course is suitable for advanced beginners, who are familiar with basic processes, such as sawing, filing, using a torch, annealing processes and forming techniques, such as using the rolling mill or doming punches.

During the first evening, you will be acquainted with the Keum-Boo technique and its background. We will discuss how Keum-Boo affects the design process and how it can be incorporated into your work.

On the first day, you will be introduced to all necessary tools, equipment and processes to gain a basic understanding of the Keum-Boo technique. You will practise on various test pieces, which can later be turned into pendants or earrings.

During the second day, you will cover more advanced Keum-Boo techniques, surface finishing methods, as well as riveting, which can be used in combination with Keum-Boo.

You will go home with a good understanding of the Keum-Boo technique to independently and successfully attach gold to silver. You will have learned how to incorporate Keum-Boo into your pieces and how to adapt your design and making processes accordingly. You will have made a number of test pieces, which can either serve as reference or which can be turned into pendants or earrings, and you will take home several detailed handouts to refer back to.

If you would like to bring finished pieces of silver jewellery to the course in order to apply gold to them, please follow the guidance below.

Included

The College will supply some materials, including copper sheet 25mm x 15mm x 0.7mm, 10mm silver tube and 20mm silver wire, a brush, drill bits, chalk and a Sharpie pen per student, plus wet and dry paper, meths, baking soda and paper to share amongst the group.

What students need to bring

• 24 carat gold foil 30mm x 50mm x 1.3mm – available from Metal Clay Ltd. (www.metalclay.co.uk – please order gold foil 24k extra thick ideal for Keum Boo) OR you can purchase this from your tutor at around £40 per sheet depending on gold prices at the time (please advise the bookings office to let the tutor know at [email protected])
• Sterling silver - enough for the whole course – your tutor recommends bringing a piece of at least 30 x 40 x 0.8mm
• Some simple ideas for gold patterns
• The college will provide a basic jewellery tool set, however please bring any other tools you may wish to use (please name them)
• A sketchbook with pencils, and perhaps yellow and grey pencils to sketch designs in silver/gold

Optional:

• Fine silver – a small test piece to practise on, circa 10 x 10 x 0.8mm
• You can bring previously made silver jewellery to embellish with gold foil. If doing so, please note that the pieces should be finished - i.e. all other fabrication processes (such as soldering) have been completed. Keum-Boo is one of the last techniques to be done. Stones should only be set after the Keum-Boo process. Keum-Boo cannot be done near or over solder seams.

Available to buy

Available from shop: Silver can be purchased from the College Shop, which stocks a range of sheet, wire, rod, tube and findings. These will be available in set sizes and lengths suitable for a wide range of projects.

The shop sells a good variety of art materials, including paper and pencils.

Additional information

Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear (no sandals or open toes).

Arrival day
Residential students can arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 6.45pm for registration
Student welcome, followed by dinner: 6.45pm (dinner included)
Teaching session: 8pm - 9pm (attendance is essential)

Daily timetable
Course teaching 9.15am - 5pm (lunch included)
Dinner: from 6.30pm (included for residential students)
Evening working: students may have access to workshops until 9pm, but only with permission from the tutor and provided any health and safety guidelines are observed

Departure day
Course teaching: 9.15am - 3pm (lunch included)

Residential students will need to check out of rooms by 10am.
Please note, the tutor may make slight variations to the daily timetable as required.

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