Brooch
3.6in (high) x 3.6in (wide) x 0.6in (deep)

Inspiration
I love making brooches and I had an idea for a large brooch with dimension and an interesting outline. Flicking through one of my inspiration books containing the work of my favorite artist Roger Dean, I started to doodle based on some of the forms in the book. I don’t draw particularly well but doodling makes me happy and I drew a number of designs before deciding on the one I would use for this brooch.

Techniques
I traced and refined the drawing and then created a tearaway texture of the design. This is one of my favorite ways of creating a shallow, unique texture. The basic etched pattern was impressed into a slap of rolled-out silver clay around six cards (1.5mm) thick. The size of this brooch requires a slightly thicker form, especially with the pointy elements that form the edges. I knew I’d need to do quite a bit of work on the edges to refine them and I wanted to lighten the whole piece by drilling and filing holes into parts of it.

I cut out the design using a craft knife, giving a bit of clearance around the edges of the etched elements. The clay was dried over pieces of polymer clay to create a dimensional form. After drying, I penciled in the lines, enhanced some with additional carving and drilled the holes. I did the drilling and carving while the piece was supported on the polymer clay rather than picking it up. It was fragile and I kept handling it to a minimum. The red cubic zirconia stones were set into simple rustic bezels with small embellishments.

I added the elements for the pin and catch and cleaned up the back. The edges were then refined. I cushioned the piece on fibre blanket on a kiln shelf for firing. After firing, the piece was oxidised, polished and finished and the silver wire added for the pin.

Materials

Fine silver clay
Sterling silver pin
Cubic zirconia

Photographer: Paul Mounsey (main images), Julia Rai (work in progress)

Juror’s Comments:

This unique brooch demonstrates the value of translating a hand drawn design to a finished object. The color, size and placement of the gemstones is a subtle and compelling embellishment, and the satin surface finish complements the piece.