Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Memorial Etching

Last year, I wrote an article about etching for Art Jewelry Magazine. It covered a product currently being used for transferring designs onto nails with nail polish, but I used it for metal, since nail polish acts as a resist to acid. I got a lot of nice correspondence after the piece ran, from people asking questions to actually buying stones from my stone shop on etsy. 


One woman named Laurie who I corresponded with had questions. She was etching 18 gauge silver and folding them into cuff bracelets, so she didn't want to screw up. She wasn't using the nail plates but using PNP paper to transfer her image.  As it turned out, the reason this was important to her was because she was creating memorial bracelets for herself and a friend, both of which lost their sons, best friends, in a car accident. These bracelets were finished in time for the 1-year anniversary of their boys' passing.

I was really moved by what Laurie created. They are really powerful pieces, successful in layout, execution, and spirit. A great example of how art can heal.