Half Cracked

I've never been one for smooth, shiny, flawless surfaces in my metalwork. There are plenty of artists out there who do it and do it beautifully. I prefer a little more texture, distress, and time-wear. Maybe it's because I'm an old soul with lifetimes behind me, who knows?

So I surprised myself last week when I was tinkering in the studio with some fold formed copper charms. Rarely one to plan out an exact design beforehand, I started out this pair by simply annealing matched squares of copper, folding them, hammering flat, annealing again, and unfolding---revealing beautiful rustic creases in the metal. Now normally I would next turn to my favorite texturing rock (plucked from our garden) and start banging away as if my life depended on it. For some reason, I stopped short halfway through this time. 

How about we just leave half shiny, smooth, and serene---as a stark contrast to the chaos of the textured side?

And this is how designs are born. 

I'm quite fond of making coin-like discs out of copper, so that's the final shape I decided to go with here. Reminiscent of an ancient coin plucked from the soil, perhaps. I filed a bit along the folds of each, sanded, sanded, sanded, oxidized, buffed, and sealed with wax. Simple, perfect for everyday wear, yet noteworthy enough to make you feel like a pagan goddess. 

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

A Twisted Gesture

So have any of you ever taken an art class where the instructor had you do gesture drawings? Quick "first impression" line drawings that are less about accuracy and more about getting a feel for shapes, perspectives, and movement. They can almost be called a scribble or a doodle...capturing a macro idea in a short period of time, usually in about 30 seconds.


Well, the birth of my playfully named "twisted root" earring series is loosely grounded in this idea. Take textured copper wire, beat and twist it to hell, and then solder it into conceptual shapes. Do it quick and hot without a focus on perfection and more of an emphasis on instinct. The end results are deliciously primitive, organic, and wickedly pagan. I've had so much fun the past few months playing with this concept. I find it allows for a completely different kind of freedom from the traditional beaded approach. 

This particular pair has been set aside (read: hoarded for myself). The shape was inspired by the "devil's nests" from the TV series "True Detective". Yes, I'm a dork. But I just couldn't stop thinking about those dark mysterious beautiful little bundles.

It's fun to explore chaos in design. It can produce surprising results :) 

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy