Dianne Karg Baron’s obsession with wire began over 20 years ago when she decided to make a pendant out of a little piece of beach glass, found while walking near her home. Since then, the award winning artist has bent, linked, twisted, woven, hammered, fused, crocheted and knitted her way through many kilograms of metal. Much of what she creates is made without a torch, using only cold-joining methods.
Dianne’s infectious passion for wire working has made her a sought-after instructor, helping people catch fire with excitement as they use wire and simple tools to create jewelry that they are proud to wear, give and sell. Since 1999, she has taught, written and published over 50 tutorials, courses and videos on wire working and chain making. Dianne is widely regarded as an expert on using square wire. Since 2015 she has been teaching online classes through her website, The Tao of Wire (thetaoofwire.com).
Her jewelry has been exhibited and published nationally and internationally, including in leading craft publications such as “Wire in Design” by Barbara McGuire, “All Wired Up” by Mark Lareau, “500 Earrings” by Lark Books, “the Wire Artist Jeweller” and “Lapidary Journal”.
She served as Vice-President, President and Past President of the Metal Arts Guild of Canada, helping it grow from a Toronto-centric group to a recognized national organization. During her time as Editor of the MAGC’s flagship publication, MAGazine, Dianne wrote frequently about the vibrant metalworking and art jewelry community in Canada.
Her jewelry is held in private collections in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, and the USA.
A graduate of Ryerson University (Interior Design, 1988), she is a member in good standing of the Society of North American Goldsmiths. She lives in Oshawa, just east of Toronto, with her husband, children and dog.
2 Comments
Hello Dianne,
I recently found your YouTube channel and have been enjoying and learning from your knowledge and experience. It started with my search for creating end caps for my Viking Knit bracelets. I have always been an avid crafter but set aside my aspirations to continue to learn new and different skills while I raised my 3 children. For the last year I have been re-learning the skills from my favorite elective course in high school….. Ornamental Metakwork. In my research, VK appeared on YouTube search and I was ‘hooked’.
I recently saw the clip of the online class you did on end caps. Do you have a tutorial on the finishing of the VK showing how to attach a clasp to the VK through the end cap?
Thank you and continued success.
Best from the West Coast of Canada!
Janice ☺️
Hi Janice! Thanks for getting in touch! For a bracelet I usually attach the end caps by using a core wire and creating a hook and eye the ends. I uploaded another video excerpt from the live class to YouTube to show how to attach the end cap and do the finishing. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/p2DvvDsc-Ec?feature=shared