This design is the culmination of about a year's worth of tweaking. I happen to love aged metal filigree - but on its own, it isn't very wearable, particularly with a heavy feature piece added to it. I love to add something beautiful to the filigree - either my soldered designs, or any vintage or unusual new piece I happen to come across. But they almost always end up too heavy, making the filigree cuff, on its own, difficult to keep arranged properly on the wrist.
I also love leather. I can't get away from it, and I have tried to. It finds its way back into almost all my designs. But on its own, it can get ho-hum.
And so, voila.
So much of art is process. You find out what doesn't work, far more often than you discover what does work. I have pretty much discovered two hundred ways you cannot add a statement piece to filigree.
And one way that...oh yes, you can.
So...just as an aside...try not to balk at the price of an online course, or a piece of artisan jewelry. I know what it is like to be on the tightest of budgets. But trust me - you could not teach yourself or make it for that price, because you would have to buy the tools, and that is just the beginning. You would then have to spend even more money and days and hours of your time in a trial-and-error process.
I am proud to be a maker...for you...
This beauty will be in the shop soon. And she may be a "one-off" since I am loathe to repeat designs.
My artistic ADD gets the better of me.
