Bill Dawson Metalsmith

I am a Northwest artist focusing on traditional and historical metalworking, and also textiles, sculpture, and many other crafts. For a long time, I have pursued honesty of expression, preservation of traditional techniques, and materials-based design.

Since 1990, I have made and sold a variety of jewelry items at the Fair, with a particular focus on brooches, rings, and armrings. For the past five years, I have been selling items featuring the OCF peach, including coins, brooches, and pendants. The coins pictured here are struck in pure silver and pure gold (2019) between dies which I hand carve.

Penannular brooches are some of the most simple and interesting pins in history, and I make a variety of them from large elaborate silver brooches, to the basic pins pictured above, made of recycled copper wire. “Penannular” means nearly circular, and the gap in the ring of the brooches allows the pin to pass through and be rotated once it has been put through the cloth. Annular brooches are a complete circle, and the cloth is pulled through the ring before the pin goes through.

Again, I make some that are elaborate, and others that are simple, mostly in silver, but also in copper, brass, bronze, and gold. I also sell all manner of rings, bracelets, and other items of personal ornament, which you can find on my website. As most of these need to be the right size to fit the customer, I look forward to offering them in person once the Fair returns to its beautiful physical location.