Charles
LewtonBrain
Hope Tangaro
Jewelry 1040 Class period 2
Written Report
Mr. Thunell
Charles Lewton-Brain is an artist and master goldsmith specializing in precious metals. He is
well educated, and has authored several books. Has lectured and taught in many countries.
Charles consults, exhibits, and continues his work in fold-form beauty. He is a co-founder of an
internet resource for jewelers.
At the age of Seventeen Charles was on his way to becoming a graphic artists. While on vacation
in New Mexico his path to becoming one of the greatest goldsmith's in the North America was
evolved. During his trip a Native American shared his passion and artistry with the young
Charles, showing him the grinding of turquoise and fabricating silver jewelry. While in school at
the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design the creator of Fold-Forming stated, “my time in metals
finding ways of drawing with the material, of working fast and with a commitment to the mark
or decision that echoes my early love of drawing in pen and ink. So work with layers,
compositional approaches to applying gold to metals, fold-forming and my recent electroforming
work all have to do with drawing".
Charles was educated here in the United States at Ulster Community college in New York from
1973-1975. From 1975-1978 he continued his education here in the United States studying
metals and from 1978-1980 he then continued his studies in Pforzheim, Germany with master
goldsmith and master silversmith Klaus Ulrich. He has taught and lectured in the United States,
Canada, Australia, England & Germany, and is a Fellow of the Society of North American
Goldsmiths, a member of the Royal Canadian Academy and a Fellow of the Gemological
Association of Great Britain. Charles is currently the Head of the programs at FGA
(Gemological Association of Great Britain), BFA (Nova Scotia College of Art & Design) &
MFA (State University of New York) Jewelry and Metals.
With layers, volume and sharp linear folds against a decisively placed curve brings to life
Charles creation known as Fold-Forming, this technique was entirely new to the world and a
unique method of working sheet metal using simple tools. With numerous shapes and
possibilities this technique and its results are widely used for sculpture, decorative blacksmithing
and jewelry. Charles most memorable teaching moment to date is being at the ABANA (Artist
Blacksmith's Association of North America) conference in 1987, when hundreds of blacksmiths
crowded around in anticipation and pleasure as they observed fold-forming for the first time.
Making Pictures using metals is Charles much loved jewelry-making technique; he applies the
same commitment to his metal-forming as he does when working with pen and ink.
Since 1997 Charles main focus has been his “Cage” series jewelry focused on the later and Body
art jewelry. Cage jewelry is a combination of the 19th and 20th century technologies, created by
welding stainless steel wire with an orthodontics fusion welder; the wire is then electroformed
and literately developed in a copper bath, lastly receiving a heavy gold electroplating. Charles
states, “Adornment, making decorative objects for the body, is one of the most ancient of human
activities. Jewelry is in fact the oldest evidence of human activity.”
The Lewton-Brain/Fontans Centre for Jewelry Studies in Calgary Canada was opened in 1991 by
Charles and his partner Dee Fontans. They offer material on contemporary art jewelry and teach
jewelry techniques. To add to the list of accomplishments Charles has written several books, in
1994 he founded Brain Press to publish 'Cheap Thrills in the Tool Shop'. This book was a way
to give back to his fellow jewelers, a book of inexpensive tool options and bench tricks for
goldsmiths. From there he went on to write and publish other books 'Hinges and Hinge-Based
Catches for Jewelers and Goldsmiths' and 'Small Scale Photography'.
Charles co-founded the Ganoskin project in 1995 with Dr. E. Aspler. The Gaonoskin project is
an online resource for jewelers; it’s the biggest source on the net for jewelry related material. In
Thai Ganok means pure gold, Sin means art and brought together ‘The Art of Gold’. Charles felt
that his knowledge and experience should not be kept a secret; he tried for years before cofounding the Ganoskin project to share his information freely and was rejected. 700 pages of his
writings, findings & techniques are offered free on the Jewelers Bench section of the website.
Charles and Dr. Aspler have republishing content deals with 12 different magazines, Colored
Stone, MJSA Journal, Metalsmith magazine and European Jeweler magazine (GZ). The
Ganoskin project runs purely on contributions and donations.
Charles tells his students “practice makes perfect” and also tells them “to learn something
technical it takes three times to begin to understand it, five times to do it right and thirty times to
be competent.” He believes that the material you use is just that, how you work with it, use it or
the recognition of others is what matters. Coming up with ideas, learning the ability and
techniques will require a lot of practice, patience and skill. When coming up with creative ideas
he firmly believes documenting everything, tell the stories about your experiences, thoughts &
work.
Charles created and worked his way from the bottom up, traveling different parts of the country
to become familiar other cultures and their techniques and learning from other experts. Charles
always knew that once he became familiar and learned his own techniques that he wanted to
make sure to share that with everyone else. That has always been his main priority, to help other
jewelers that started where he did. His books, websites, classes and exhibits have touched all his
fellow jewelers from continent to continent.
Bibliography
ACAD. n.d. <http://www.acad.ca/clewtonbrain.html>.
Blogger. Jewelry & Gem Artisans. 16 November 2007.
<http://jewelrygemartisans.blogspot.com/2007/11/charles-lewton-brain-makerinnovator.html>.
Company, A Berkshire Hathaway. RioGrande.com. 2013. <http://www.riogrande.com/Content/CharlesLewton-Brain-Bio-psd>.
Lewton-Brain, Charles. Ganoskin. 1996. <http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/fold-forming-toollist.htm>.
Press, Brain. Brain Press. n.d. <http://www.brainpress.com/index.html>.
Project, The Ganoskin. Ganoskin. 1996-2013. 2013
<http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/ganoksin-and-orchid.htm>.
Fold Forming
Cage