This is the second post by this month’s Special Guest Blogger Julie Gibbons. She’s sharing 4 of her fave creative materials, and why she loves them! Today’s post is particularly close to both of our hearts, both of us being jewellers by training/trade!

Following on from my post on the beautiful medium of Paper, is another of my loves – Metal.

I studied Jewellery & Silversmithing at uni, and so it will always hold a special fascination for me. What do I love about metal? It is fluid, in that it is capable of enormous transformations depending on how it is treated. It can be shiny or rough, sharp, angular or gorgeously lumpy and tactile. It can be cut, folded, stretched, bent, melted, moulded, fused, and soldered.

Every time you touch metal with a tool, be it hammer, file, emery paper, or polish, it will leave a mark – there are always traces of the processes involved. Different metals are capable of different things too. (And I must say it has been really hard choosing which pieces to include here!)

{Katherine Bowman – Journey ring. Gold and emeralds.}

This ring has been modelled from wax, cast, drilled and set with gems. If ever I choose to get married, this ring by Katherine Bowman would be it. It is a lusciously tactile, organic form that sings to me.

It’s that variation within repetition, so often seen in the natural world, that I love. The emeralds are subtle different shades of green, the ring is gorgeously asymmetrical, and the craftsmanship is superb. It is a ring to be held and fondled.

{Simon Cottrell – brooch, oxidised sterling silver.}

This piece has been constructed from sheet metal by precise cutting and folding. Despite its mechanical and angular aesthetic, there is something very beguiling about those multiple little towers.

{Kathryn Wardill – Branch Brooch. Blackened cast sterling silver and lampworked glass}

These brooches have also been cast from original twigs, brooch pins have been soldered on, and then lampworked glass elements have been attached.

I’m always a big sucker for a brooch. There’s something special about these little individual statements that sit brazenly on the front of shirt or jacket, demanding to be looked at. Here, I love the naturalness of the branch forms, and I’m amused by their quirky, Seuss-like green glass buds.

{Ceeb Wassermann – Moeko Japanese Flower Pendant}

These pieces are based on a Japanese traditional cherry blossom design, and have been cut from a flat sheet of metal with a jeweller’s saw. Cutting a section out inside the shape requires a steady hand, and a good deal of patience. If you don’t have patience, you will require a good deal of saw blades.

{Cherington Metalcraft – Steel Rosebud}

There are so many different processes available with metal. This process uses hammers to shape – and there are a huge variety of hammers of different shapes and sizes to choose from, depending on the job at hand (I always took offence at the lyric “dumb as a box of hammers” in the song I Kissed a Girl).

The rose is made of a number of segments, first cut from mild steel as petal shapes. They are then forged (heated and hammered to shape them), and then welded together at the base.

{Eric Burris Jewelry – mokume gane cufflinks}

Mokume Gane is the name given when several layers of two types of metal (in this case fine silver and copper) are fused together under very high pressure. The resulting block (think of puff pastry) is then deformed in a pattern like ripples or dots, and then it is cut to reveal the layers of colour. It was originally invented by the Japanese in the 17thC and used to decorate their ceremonial swords.

Each of the examples shown here are relatively small in size; most are jewellery. But big metal objects can be amazing too. Look around you, and have fun thinking about that one as you go through your day!

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Julie Gibbons is tractorgirl, a maker of homewares and accessories, and a lover of colour, texture and pattern. She completed her PhD Fine Arts in 2001, majoring in Silversmithing, and now she blogs about contemporary craft, surface design, food and books at tractorgirl.com.au.

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