Undertow

I took an introductory metals class taught by Gary Schott this semester at the Southwest School of Art. The focus was on jewelry-making but Gary helped me pursue my goal of incorporating new materials and techniques into my book arts practice.

My final project was this 5.5” x 4.25” Coptic stitch book. The covers are double layers of 18-gauge copper with decorative cutting, riveted with spacers to create shadows and interplay with the translucent abaca paper. The top layer also serves to hide the thread connections nicely from the outside. I used cupric nitrate to create the turquoise patina, and liver of sulfur for the black patina seen from the inside of the covers.