Inspiration Translation Creation Making Your Own Statement

I was inspired by a piece of jewelry created from older religious charms to investigate the concept of Milagros or miracle charms. In the process I saw this picture of a decorated cross. It would be easy to copy the work  but I prefer to use that as inspiration and translate that sense of design to become my own creation. Taking the central cue of the heart and working from there on copper with a fine point sharpie I made this design.

I trimmed the metal close to the edge of the design and backed the piece with plastic shipping tape. Covering the entire back to prevent etching chemicals from reaching there was the next step. The piece was placed into the etchant for about 2 hours. The metal was checked and when it was apparent that the texture was deep enough I neutralized the chemicals and washed the piece.

Next I chose to use heat from my torch to add color. This I do by heating the back side of the copper with the flame and watching for color changes as the heat is removed.

This is what that stage looked like. To maintain the color near to what it showed the piece was set on my anvil to cool instead of quenching.

This is the cooled result . It is now ready to be further enhanced With beads, gems or colored dyes and patinas. The central heart was traced from an open heart charm and the rest was drawn free hand.