Love that Patina!

by Kelli Pope

Ever find yourself struggling to be creative? When life gets hectic, and I need to focus and get jewelry made, sometimes it's difficult. That's where I find myself tonight, with a big private jewelry party pending tomorrow night. What usually gets me started is reaching for my favorite colors and materials. As you know from previous blogs, I went STRAIGHT for the turquoise and copper!!! The more rustic and earthy the better. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE all things patinated by "MissFickleMedia", Shannon LeVart. Her aqua speaks loudest to me.

This piece was created using her patinated copper with my own hand hammered components.

So, now I should be inspired..... and the creative juices flowing, right? Well, maybe a little more turquoise will do it............

Shannon's GORGEOUS patinated and painted pendant shouted out to be used .........so of course, I had to oblige with more turquoise and copper.... :)

Ok.. maybe I'm warmed up now. I should be able to move forward, think outside of the "turquoise box", and forge ahead. I think Miss Shannon's red patinated components are calling to me now........ they're going to go beautifully with beads by Mary Ann Carroll and my hammered copper.......

.......................back to the studio........

.............the need to create is calling......................

when more looks like less

but helps you to express more... 


                                                                                                            mary jane dodd


take a feeling - like the infinite, the void, the source of all energy... how do you even begin to translate that? how does that vastness feel to you?


when i started to work with the shibuichi technique, at once it felt like i was on to my personal interpretation of it... there was an instant expansion in my thinking when i learned it... using energy - fire - to transform metal into a moving molten liquid... and then allowing it to assume its own beautiful surface texture... it feels very elemental and freeing when i do it... 

the ever changing present moment connects us to a time continuum... moments in time strung along a gossamer thread - delicate and yet strong... the power of one moment can exhilarate or devastate us... and yet it is part of our much larger life span... which is a small part of history's life span... but significant still...

learning how to patina was another huge step in being able to execute the concept... 


the inner workings ended up being heavily influenced by time i spent with my small children by the water... we would throw in different sized rocks and try to guess what each would sound like... 


and my spirit rattle was born::

the number of our moments is surely unknown to us - and are precious... staying present means you are participating fully and not just walking around on auto-pilot...

i posted this excerpt on my personal blog this week - it is very tied into the meaning of this ring and i wanted to share it here as well...


it is from 'the magic of findhorn' by paul hawken::

“The earth, once white and molten, represents a thought. It was a fire in the heavens, glowing as a sun, visited by the Deva of the Wind which came and blew across the surface, playing with the Fire Deva until all was mediated. The Deva of Water and Rain formed and collected in the skies and fell to earth.

Great clouds of steam issued forth from the surface, the skies were enlivened and heavy with its presence, and across the surface the Wind Deva began to cool, carve, and chisel away at the crust of the planet. It created pools and eddies, lakes and streams, and bigger bodies which we know as oceans.

With each successive change, a new Deva or impulse came forth until, like a procession, did the Earth receive the new hosts, each Deva bringing with it a variation of life ever present in the divine potential.

The Earth prepared itself to receive and serve the thought of a man and a woman. The Earth would be their temple and guardian; the heavens would be their guide and vision. Humans affirmed the link between the infinite spirit and the totality of matter. They related from the highest spiritual planes to the most concrete levels of form.

The Earth was for humanity to enshrine, to make holy, to blend their unique qualities and work as a family in cooperation with the Devas, the spiritual stewards of the planet.”

A Lampwork Bead Maker's Dalliance

OK, now that I've got your attention, what I meant was pertaining to my playtime with metal. Since I'm a glass bead maker who also makes jewelry, from time to time I have to drag myself away from the torch to make components to go in my finished pieces. I am by no means a 100% DIY gal, but I much prefer to make my own parts when I have the time and the skill. In the past this has been limited somewhat to PMC and wire work, including fusing fine silver (which I dearly love), but lately I've been drawn to other metals like brass and copper. I love the look of a nice, aged patina, and (shhh! don't tell) I've been coveting Missficklemedia's patina tutorial for a while now.

Part of it might be because of the company I keep - Cyndie Smith does wonderful, organic work with all kinds of great metals, and Mary Jane's creativity and affinity for many materials inspires me. The other cool thing is that metals like brass and copper are a lot less expensive than silver is these days (but if you're reading this blog you probably already knew that).

So, I've spent some time on a new playground, and thought I'd share my results. On the left is how the brass blanks look when you get them. Kind of boring and useless, huh? The rest are finished components - some embellished with fine silver bead caps and rings, and some just textured and dapped. I got the great color by heating the elements to red hot with my butane torch, then dropping them into liver of sulphur (I mix mine from dried chunks). Once I wiped off the patina on the raised parts with my polishing pads the texture was more pronounced and the finish was great. These have been tumbled as well. Some have been brushed with a brass wire brush as well.

Bead caps are a girl's best friend, and these made using brass discs, a metal punch, a texturing hammer, a dapping block, and liver of sulphur are just what I need. They'll look great when paired with a contrasting metal (e.g. silver) smaller cap and then cored for a finished look.

UFO component made by soldering two dapped and punched discs together.
A couple of large jump rings through the two discs and you're off on another jewelry adventure.

So there you have it. A quick summary of my day at the playground. Next time maybe I'll go down the slide too!

i am moved by ~

the colors of autumn... looking up through flame bright trees into crisp bright blue skies...

manifestations of fragile strength... delicate  hand dyed fibers wrapped around strong, life worn circles of copper... 

knowledge that is unearthed from within us when we put fear aside; if you open up, it will present itself...  

do i have a commitment issue?

it's not what you are thinking - 


lately i am  having trouble creating finished pieces of jewelry... i have ideas (all sketched out in my journal and floating around my head), i try to sit down and then i get antsy... really antsy... 


i know that i need things to feel right before i can complete a piece... do i have the right gemstones to represent what is needed? the right balance of metal and fibers? plus i also need the head static to quiet down and that hasn't been happening...  


so lately, i keep making more components - 

i play with enameling (thanks to barbara lewis), setting eyelets, etching and texturing... 

i play with patina (thanks to shannon levart), fusing, stamping and shibuichi... 

i play with soldering, resin and words - getting those discs sooo close to being all grown up... 

these too - they have just graduated from wax sealing finishing school... 

'when work, commitment and pleasure all become one

and you reach that deep well where passion lives,

nothing is impossible.'

~ author unknown