Reliquary to the Moon

I was in high gear during my stay at the Visual Arts Center in Anchorage, Alaska. This is an ambitious piece that used repousse for the faces. It is fabricated of brass sheet and acrylic at the base. I made use of brass nuts and bolts to join the pieces. The faces can be removed to allow the placement of illusive lunar relics. The face assembly is allowed to spin through the pierced opening in the elongated oval brass plate. The rivets are decorative.

1978 6”x3”x6”

Forged brooch with hemitite bead

sterling, hemitite, stainless steel

2.25" wide

This brooch was made a few years ago and is typical of much of my current work. I love using texture in my pieces and I use it to contrast with the highly polished surfaces.

Raising the Connection to the Past

The skills required to raise a simple bowl are not complicated and require patience and practice to create a shape that is pleasing. Each time I raise a bowl I experience a feeling of accomplishment that connects me to those craftsmen and women who preceeded me. These were the same skills used by colonial smiths and the tools I use are much like what they would have used. The bowl I create will have as much utility 200 years from now as it does today.

This bowl was one of a few created for a show on Modernism held at Armory Park in 2003.

Raising Vessels

To raise a vessel from a flat sheet is nothing short of miraculous. The plasticity of the metal allows the craftsman to create nearly any shape that is in his mind.

I first began raising after taking a weeklong workshop with David LaPlantz at the Visual Arts Center in Anchorage, Alaska during the late 1970s. Since that time I have raised vessels in copper, brass and sterling.

Here is a small vessel I raised a few years ago. it is finished with an ammonia, water and salt bury patina. There is nothing more pleasing than the surface of a well planished surface of a bowl.

"VESSEL of SHEOL"

Several years ago I was asked to participate in a show celebrating "El dia de los muertos" at Obsidian Gallery. I chose to create a vessel in copper and brass with a portion of the verse from Ecclesiastes 9:5.

The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are
conscious of nothing at all...

These words were pierced into the lid of this piece and a combination of bolts and nuts were modified to join the base to the lid.

Current trends in Repousse & Chasing

There has been a reemergence of interest in the processes of repousse and chasing. The following a those who are currently influencing this interest.

Valentine Yotkov
Rocio Heredia
Marcia Lewis
Megan Corwin
Lucinda Brogden
Kirsten Skiles
Brian Clarke
Davide Bigazzi
Ron VanOstrand
Rich Reitz
Saign Charlestein
Linda Kindler Priest

This list is in no way all inclusive. There are many, not listed, who are doing fabulous work using these techniques. I have provided links where I could.

These craftsmen and women work in varied styles and on many diffent metals. Each is contributing the the perpetuation of these seductive processes.

If anyone has input on others I would gladly add them to this list and would be interested in seeing their work.

Image from the past

"Darla's Flask"

early '70s

Sometimes it is good to look back at where you were and smile.