This design is an excellent example of what I call designing and creating organically. I did not use any shape cutters, templates or textures to design and create these. These were made with metal silver clay( Fine silver) and I wanted to take advantage of its unique properties to design and create organically.
I wanted to create a multiple piece, simple form based design that resembled an exotic blossom. Since these are earrings, the forms need to be of similar shape and size. ( if not identical;in the spirit that nature is perfect in its imperfections) This can be pretty challenging if you also decide that you do not want to use shape templates or cutters or any cutting tool on your clay!
So here is what I had to do. I needed to make 3 graduating sizes so I started with three lumps of metal clay in and weighed them. I needed to know the weights so that I could reproduce the other pair in same size and weight.
Here is what I did to roll out the forms:
I wanted the smallest petal to be more or less rounded so I hand pressed it in a flat rounded shape and then rolled it between the slats.
I wanted the other two pieces oval shaped, so hand-pressed the clay in an elongated shape and then rolled the clay.
Since the weights were same the rolled out forms came out similar and I did not have to use any cutting tool!
The texture that you see in there is just the clay drying up a little bit and leaving this scale like texture, that I found beautifully organic. Since I didn't use any cutters or cutting tools to make these forms I didn't have to sand much at all. I antiqued the earrings and then polished them just enough to enhance the texture.
So there you have it, an organic design not just looking natural and organic but created in the same spirit and process, a holistic design approach that I have come to love.
