2010 Calendar Picture

Souls Medal of Honor Fine Silver and Ribbon Necklace
"Souls Medal of Honor" Fine Silver and Ribbon Necklace

I learned the other day that three pictures of my work will be included in a 2010 Calendar published by the San Francisco Bay Area Metal Clay Guild. Today as the random picture generator flashed pictures by on my computer, I noticed the location that was an inspiration for one of the pieces. I’d chosen red ribbons for the ‘chain’ part of the piece and this is probably why…

Mayan building in the museum at Copan Ruinas, Honduras
Mayan building in the museum at Copan Ruinas, Honduras

The granulation on the tombstone portion was the beginning of the piece.

Granulation and metal clay created to look weathered and worn
Granulation and metal clay created to look weathered and worn

I’d been thinking about making a Day of the Dead piece for over a year, so the recent pictures taken at the Mayan ruins museum at Copan Ruinas were great to have.

Skull and Bones Installation at the Museum in Copan Ruinas, Honduras
Skull and Bones wall installation at the museum in Copan Ruinas, Honduras

I etched the pictures into copper and used the etched plates to texture fine silver metal clay for the decorative beads holding the ribbons together. The effect of this above photo as an etching plate is very subtle as you can see on the end cap.

Very subtle detail on fine silver endcap
Very subtle detail on fine silver endcap

The skull clasp was a little tricky to make by both molding and carving the separate pieces.

Fine silver skull toggle clasp
Fine silver skull toggle clasp