Hey everyone! Today I’m excited to show you all the process of my first collaboration with another artist! I met this amazing artist on Instagram, Jamie, who runs a shop on Etsy called Biomorphics. He creates jewelry, organic clothing & sacred geometric wall stencils & vinyl decals using different processes consisting of laser cutting/laser engraving, electroforming and metal casting & screen printing! Visit his shops About page here. I believe he will also be dabbling into 3D printed jewelry soon! You really just have to go visit his shop & follow him on instagram here.
I could go on & on about this artist but I must show you what we created! So he offered to do a collaboration with me, & after seeing & following his work for some time I was stoked! He created this stunning Star Tetrahedron Sacred Geometric pendant made of copper carefully electroformed over 1 5/8″ x 1/8″ lasercut reclaimed plexiglass. It was the most coolest thing I’ve ever seen, let alone work with! Below is the process of electroforming copper over the lasercut plexiglass.
What is copper electrogorming, you may ask? You can electroform/electroplate using metals such as silver, gold, platnuim, zinc, copper, nickle & more.An article on explainthatstuff.com says “Electroplating involves passing an electric current through a solution called an electrolyte. This is done by dipping two terminals called electrodes into the electrolyte and connecting them into a circuit with a battery or other power supply. The electrodes and electrolyte are made from carefully chosen elements or compounds. When the electricity flows through the circuit they make, the electrolyte splits up and some of the metal atoms it contains are deposited in a thin layer on top of one of the electrodes—it becomes electroplated.”
Once he was finished with this process he sent it over to me in Florida where I started on the knot work!
I was really inspired by the triangle shapes & straight lines in this pendant so I drew something up in my notebook & started knotting away! The design looked great on paper but I notice, after knotting a few triangles, that the hemp wasn’t stiff enough to hold shape. It looked OK in my hand but once I knotted the necklace part then tried it on it was a no-go. The necklace chains were pulling up in the shapes making them warp so it didn’t match the triangles in the pendant anymore.
This design was not my usual style but I thought I’d try something new, it’s a cool concept but the shapes just didn’t hold up well with the fiber. “You never know unless you try.” So I did what all macrame artists dread to do & I snipped this design off down to the wrap. I was happy to save that part, heehe! So now we’re back to the starting point…
OK, so this time I drew up something more my style. I’m glad I did cause I wanted my style to show through instead of making something that folks wouldn’t recognize as my work. Plus it’s a collaboration piece so I wanted my best work to show through. In this next design I wanted to complement the pendant instead of “adding” onto it.
I was so happy with this design, I literally couldn’t stop looking at it & how it complements the pendant so well! Even though there’s contrast with the swirly lines in the knotwork compared to the straight geometric shapes in the pendant, the whole thing flows nicely since I added the antique copper seed beads to tie it all in. I added a long braided hemp chain with a sliding wood bead for adjustment then knotted the ends to insure security. That’s all she wrote!
This piece is now available for sale! You can find it at Biomorphics or at Pineal Vision for just $60 + s&h!
Have you ever worked with electroplating with copper? I’d love to know your story, please comment below! Did you like this blog? Please Follow me! Want to see more? Please subscribe & get my blogs straight to your inbox!
Until next time, much love & cyber hugs!
XoXo – Brittany Witt – Jewelry Designer – Pineal Vision Jewelry
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