“In our fast-paced, always-connected world, the act of creating is both relaxing and empowering. Many crafters view their hobby as an act of self-care or a way to be intentional about how they spend their time.”
Copper Art Cards.
Creating Mini Art for Gifts and Sharing
An Art-with-a-Purpose Art Story
The Copper Series
Line Designs.
Line Designs has been the name for my wirework over the years - from earrings to art cards, to bookmarks to decor. As an artist, I have always been fascinated with lines whether drawn, painted, woven, formed and, or twisted… or viewed and noted within the urban or rural landscapes.
The wandering and asymmetrical ‘squiggle’ has been a signature ‘line’ inspiring jewelry and card making since the very beginning.
Copper Series.
I started making art cards for friends and family in my late teens and this interest rekindled post art school - inspired by the found materials and tiny treasures I collected in my journeys. Creating miniature pieces of art in card form, allowed me to share and gift art easily with others (for both art-with-a-purpose and art-from-the-heart projects).
I was incredibly fortunate to have access to a fair amount of copper wire as my father was an electrician and saved some of the electrical wire scraps for me from his work. I did not view the copper wire as precious at the time, but rather as an appealing material available for creative re-use. Once a wire-stripper became a featured tool in my toolkit and the plastic electrical-coating was laboriously removed, the creative ‘possibilities’ of this beautiful material were revealed, enjoyed and experimented with.
Post university, I also began to attempt simple copper earring designs inspired by these organic lines and squiggles. The copper wire ‘one-offs’ from this explorative play generated new jewelry ideas. Then, as these left-over copper squiggles were layered with textured handmade papers in a variety of different ways (to create my unique cards), line designs came into being!
“Crafting your heart out makes room for your soul to grow.”
Eco Crafting & Art Cards
Repurposing and Eco-art can be seen in my art contribution and post for
the ‘Hope Squared’ Show and in my art story: Wire Art Cards
Art Notes
When I moved out west and connected with artist friend Deanna, I was inspired even more with her playful wire work and beautiful jewelry designs. Her jewelry has since continued to evolve with such amazing stone and metal creations that can be viewed at her website The Twisty Tree.
Thanks!
Cheers to you Dad for stripping/prepping all the electrical wire so I could freely create with copper over the years (and asking every single time you gave me a bundle: “What could you possibly do with all of this wire April?) I will always be grateful. RIP Dad.