Phi copper patina cuff

This cuff was part of the developmental series of flower of life repetition patterns, I had previously created silver cuffs with side bands soldered to it which produced a clean sophisticated look but I wanted to make one in copper for a earthy bohemian style. I fold-formed the edges before doming it which I found to be quite an enjoyable process and really worked well with the copper; the wavy edge contributed to its tarnished asperity and the patina further added to the earthy, bohemian look. The proportions of this bangle were considerably pleasing to the eye so I investigated it by measuring certain distances and relations such as the punched holes and widths of the bangle. I came to the conclusion that when I measured the bangle width and lengthways the ratio between the two was close to 1.618 (Phi) this may be a reason for its visual appeal. I have used this ratio with subsequent bangles.

Free hand creation pattern

I made this cuff to create a flower of life pattern with a distinctive handmade look. I did this by punching the pattern free hand without a template. Due to the fact that the punches were not spaced evenly, splits were created in the metal; I decided to ‘stitch’ the splits up with thin thread-like wire. This was the same concept as the Flower of Life repetition cuff with 18ct Gold granules which I had made previously and used granules instead of wire, it was derived from the carved wooden tea bowls of Korea which were created for traditional tea drinking ceremonies. When the craftsmen carved these bowls some of them would crack during the drying process which rendered them useless for containing tea. The craftsmen would stitch the cracks using wire which gave them an artistic appeal, thus enabling them to be sold as artwork.
I brought about a handmade appearance in other pieces of my jewellery by taking a more relaxed approach in the manufacturing process which I call an ‘intentionally careless’ approach. This approach for me was less of a meditation as I had to think about the placement of my punch.

Fan earrings completed

These are punched copper earrings with a blue green patina and criss-crossing silver wires with reference to patterns from shwe-shwe fabric. The shepherd’s hooks are silver with a simplified copper element to ‘marry’ the copper and silver
These were made a while after the platinum shwe-shwe earrings. I made them in copper so I could apply a blue green patina for colour and give them a slightly more casual appeal to that of the platinum or silver earrings. I have abstained from using the spiral shepherds hooks and created better proportions in terms of the ratio of the wires to the fan element.

Fan earrings 14

In this picture I have soldered silver wire to the fan element, this is just a prototype to see how the silver wire will look with the copper once it has been coloured with the blue-green patina, the silver will give it a more precious appeal.

Fan earrings 13

Here is the final variation, I preferred this more to the previous one but needs more developing as the proportions are strange.

Fan earrings 12

This was another playful variation, I quite liked the geometric lines that are formed by the cris-crossing wires.

Fan earrings 11

I think this is the most successful variant which is the same as the previous one but with a ring on the top. There is something about this design that I really like, it has a mystical feel the way the wires meander and twirl amongst each other and somewhat represents a mothering angelic figure. I will be working with and developing this design.

Fan earrings 10

In this variation I have used two separate wires which intersect and meet at a point, I prefer the pointed tip to the rounded tip in the previous variation.

Fan earrings 9

Here I have widened the loop which creates an appealing effect which somewhat resembles a fan-tailed fish shape.

Fan earrings 8

In this experiment decided for interest’s sake to cut the wires. This seems to give it a more finished look.

Fan earrings 7

I placed the wound wire from the large fan shape to see the effect it would have which I found quite interesting as it had a more elongated appearance. The wires extruded from the ends unintentionally but also had an interesting appeal to it.

Fan earrings 6

In this picture the wires happened to land in this position whilst I was placing them onto the smaller size fan. I felt that it looked really interesting so I wanted to draw from this arrangement.

Fan earrings 5

This prototype I sunk the looped wire to apply the Golden mean proportion to it which also created a more visually pleasing affect in comparison with the previous prototype.

Fan earrings 4

In this photo I coiled the wire twice around a mandrel which seemed more successful but looked a bit like a safety pin.

Fan earrings 3

This was the next step, I decided to use one continual wire where I created a loop at the top instead of soldering the two wires together. I found the loop looked too narrow and disproportional.

Fan eaarrings 2

I then decided to bring the Golden mean into the proportion as I am working with sacred geometry, so I worked out the proportions in terms of the length of wire touching the fan to the length of the wire running to the tip where the two wires meet. When compared to the previous wire length I find this one much more visually pleasing and proportional.

Fan earrings1

These are the earrings that I made in platinum for the anglo plat competition, I have decided to make them in copper as well as silver. They have a rustic African feel to them and I thought that by making them in copper and patinating them into a turquoise blue, it would further accentuate the Rustic feel.
This photo shows my first thought patterns as to the wire that I wanted to solder to the ‘fans’ so they can be hung from a shepherds hook.