A couple of months ago I spent a little bit of time in the hardware store digging through drawers of washers hiding in the back isle. I was thrilled when I stumbled upon a massive copper washer way down on the bottom shelf! I picked it up and immediately knew it was coming home with me. It was a bit rough with sharp edges so some refinement was required to get it to the smooth, polished state I knew it was capable of.

Out comes the Dremel, grinding down the edges was the easy part. After that, lots of steel wool was used to smooth it all out. Drilling holes in this baby was not easy, phew.

I gave up and grabbed a hammer and a concrete nail and pounded away, thankfully it worked! Then the chasing hammer came out for texture, followed by the torch for color. Then more hammering, buffing, and one last pass through the torch. I managed to get a great heat patina on this piece. Lots of magenta, blue, and purple swirling around.

With the weight of the copper, I decided to make a piece that really speaks. I had a strand of amazing peacock keishi pearls that I had been holding on to for almost a year…the swirling colors on the copper reminded me of them, so out they came. Their texture and color makes a great compliment to the copper piece, I was happy with the combination.

As I was stringing the piece, I imagined it being an ancient piece. Something a South American Priestess may have worn? It feels primitive. It’s components are all of the earth, and have been used in jewelry for centuries….they were speaking to me.

So here it is…today’s work. I hope you like it.

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