Some of my favourite pieces begin on a walk. A leaf catches my eye, the shape of it or the pattern of its veins, and it comes home in my pocket to be turned into silver.
Choosing the right leaf
Not every leaf works. I look for ones with strong, raised veins on the back, a pleasing shape and enough structure to hold up to being worked on. Fresh leaves work best, so I try to use them soon after picking.
Painting with liquid silver
To make a piece like my Lost Leaf Pendant, I paint the back of the real leaf with silver paste, which is silver clay in a liquid form. I build it up slowly, layer by layer, letting each one dry before adding the next, until there's enough silver to make a strong piece.
The leaf disappears
During firing, the leaf burns away completely and the silver fuses into solid metal. What's left is an exact fine silver copy of that one leaf, down to the tiniest vein and the slight wave of its edge.
Pressing leaves into clay
For other pieces I use leaves in a different way, pressing them into soft silver clay to leave their print behind. This is how I make the textures on pieces like the Little Fern Pendant and the Sage Leaf Pendant.
A little piece of nature to keep
I love that each of these pieces holds a moment in time: a leaf that fell in one particular season, from one particular tree, now kept forever in silver.