Stronger more fearless
It’s funny all of my pieces speak to me. In some cases they speak to me of patience and beauty and in others surprise and pride. I’ve been working on this piece now for some time – it’s a collaborative piece with my friend Christopher Jernberg (Christopher, the artist) who is an interesting and deep individual.
He likes to think of himself as a Navigator, one that charts his course in life through his art. I can imagine we all have different periods in our lives that mark where we are, for him his life expression is through art and his biography becomes his creations. Beyond just trailmarkers for his past, he talks about using his art to create visualizations for his future, creating self-portraits where he paints himself as he wants to be. He also uses the technique of text painting to reinforce simple yet powerful messages as reminders that bring us back to where we need to be.
Christopher Jernberg
It is one of those text paintings which provided my latest inspiration. It is a text painting that tells a story.
Image courtesy of mdumlao98 on Flickr
The words intentionally blurry, you strain to read and understand – but some words stand out. “Slept under the stars, beautiful clear night, laughing, challenge, stronger more fearless…” It is a story of camping trip Christopher took with his friends where they found themselves lost yet in the midst of a beautiful scene, having to call on their survival skills and eachother to find a way out. Really a story that happens everyday … we take trips, different paths – sometimes find ourselves lost and dependent on ourselves, our instincts, and our loved ones to help us find the way.
Sometimes with a piece that takes me longer to finish I get frustrated, am eager to get to the finish line – not so with this piece as everytime I look at it, work with it – I learn something new.
The process of translating this piece into metal involved several iterations – first bring it down to a size that was appropriate for a piece of jewelry and then playing with the contrast so as to be able to make out the words once etched. While the shadowy technique Christopher uses on his painting creates an amazing ethereal effect – on metal it would be lost completely.
Metal etching is a process I love and one that I use frequently in my pieces. It involves copying the image onto acetate paper and doing a heat metal transfer onto the piece, after which the piece is placed into an acid bath for an hour. The acid eats away at the metal that is exposed leaving a physical etch that you can see and feel.
For this piece, I felt it was important to place emphasis on the words that resonated with me. So I enlarged them and glued them to the etched piece and then individually cut each letter out with a saw. It was a tedious process as each letter requires a drilled hole, and then the saw blade is threaded through each hole to cut the letter. I had no idea it would take me so long. But at the same time I enjoyed the repetitiveness, as it was almost meditative and relaxing – giving me time to sit with the words and truly feel them.
I am almost done and feeling the meloncholy of parting with my creation, but excited for someone to feel the power of Christopher’s words as I have.
