WHERE DREAMS ARE STORED

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

WHERE DREAMS ARE STORED is the third piece I made for the SETTING SAIL...ARTIST AT SEA show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts on Bainbridge Island in WA state. The base is photo etched nickel and measures 8" x 8" and the entire sculpture is 10.75" tall. The framework of the boat house has a verdigris finish and a mica roof. The fold formed copper boat is suspended by waxed linen cord.


Because some dreams are too big to be contained, the etched and fold formed copper boat extends beyond the boat house perimeter by just a bit. The etched surface of the boat (from a photograph of ripples on water) is meant to be a reflection of the etched nickel below the boat. Small wavelets were pierced and cut into the nickel using a jeweler's saw and then were bent up slightly.

Sometimes we hold on to our dreams for a while until the time is right....or until the need to move forward is so strong we can't put our dreams off anymore. I believe that those dreams that stay with us for a long time or the ones that keep surfacing, even at inconvenient moments, are meant to be explored....excavated....nurtured. This suspended boat seems like the perfect place to store a dream until a breath of life can be given to it.

THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER...

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER is my second boat in the SETTING SAIL....ARTISTS AT SEA exhibit at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts on Bainbridge Island in WA state. This show will run through July 1st. Twenty-two artists participated in this exhibition and if you haven't seen it already, it is definitely worth a visit.


THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER measures 11.5" x 3.5" x 9" overall. The boat is photo etched and fold formed copper and the base is photo etched nickel. There is a quote that wraps around the boat. It is one of my favorites and is by Isak Dinesen ( the woman who wrote OUT OF AFRICA). The entire quote reads, "THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER....SWEAT, TEARS OR THE SEA." I believe there is much truth in these words.


I have written a little bit about fold forming before and you can read about it here. In the past I have only tried this technique on jewelry sized pieces. After buying a little bit larger cross-peen hammer I decided to try my hand at making a larger boat. I also wanted to see the results of photo etching the metal prior to forming the boat shape. There are a few limitations....the most important one being that I have to use fairly thin metal (26 gauge) to do fold forming and that means the etch can't be as deep as I might like. Still, I was pleased with the results. I doubt I will be making any fold formed boats larger than this one....I've 'guess'timated that this project took about 1600 blows with the hammer. I took photos of the whole process and in a few days I will post them along with details about fold forming.


I was pleased with the results of the etching on the nickel base. Nickel has a tendency to erode a bit....sometimes that is a problem....but in this case it seemed perfect for an underwater scene.

ALL THAT REMAINS

Just recently I learned a new jewelry technique called FOLD FORMING. This method of working with metal was invented by Charles Lewton-Brain in the late 1980's and is recognized the world over as the only new original innovation in metal working in a millennia. By using fingers...hammers...mallets...anvil...vice and /or rolling mill one can achieve wonderful organic shapes from a single piece of metal with no soldering. Usually when working with metal one insists their will upon it making the metal 'behave' to achieve an expected result. In form folding the beauty comes from allowing the metal to follow natural laws without exerting a will over it. I think that is the reason that the end result looks so organic.

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT.

I call this neckpiece ALL THAT REMAINS. It so reminds me of a sea creature who has left it's exoskeleton behind or of a spent seed pod....not unlike a milkweed pod. The truth is, as a jeweler/metal worker, I hardly ever wear any of my own jewelry... except for the occasional gallery opening. Since making this piece I find that I wear it most all of the time and constantly get comments about it. ALL THAT REMAINS is made of 26 gauge sterling silver and though it looks delicate, it is quite tough.

This small sterling silver boat, which I call WHAT THE TIDE BROUGHT IN, is less than 3" long and is made using the same technique and the same size and gauge metal. If I had continued to hammer and thin the bottom edge, the bow and stern ends would have continued to curl towards each other making another piece more like the ALL THAT REMAINS neckpiece.

I look forward to exploring the new territory that fold forming provides me....stay tuned...I think I see a rolling mill in my future.