patina – Jenny Ekberg Jewellery

Kabul in my heart

Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Art, central asia, Kabul, metal clay, Our jewellery, silver, stenciling, world

By Jenny Ekberg
When I say “Kabul”, my four-year-old daughter squeals with excitement. She remembers the exhibition we went to (Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul); the the Grecian-styled statues, the tiles in thousand shades of blue, the buttery high carat gold. I think of a city of war, injustice, poverty and suffering, where patches of brilliant architecture, art and colours shine through dust. I think about people of strength, courage, survival instinct and complexity.

No, I haven’t been there, I have only watched TV, movies, documentaries, art exhibitions and, above all, met lots of Afghans; all of whom have been amazing in their own right, some tough as nails, some very intellectual and witty, some bound by traditions, some trendy or glamorous, some just incredibly warm and hospitable. They have all made a huge impression on me.

I made this fine silver heart inspired by the people of Kabul. The architectural outside is crumbling but iridescent, and the inside is coated with that high-carat gold I have only really seen in old Afghan jewellery. It has a hidden compartment containing a piece of Afghan fabric holding incense.

Material: Fine silver with 22 K gold filling, cloth, incense.
Technique: Metal clay (PMC3), stenciling with slip, liver of sulphur/ammonia patina, cold joined.
Who is it for: Myself, and my daughter Zoë when she is older and maybe wants to borrow it.

If you are a jewellery artisan and wants to know more about how I made this necklace, please contact me. I am happy to share all my “secrets”!

Image credits: Afghanistaninphotostumblr.com, National Museum of Afghanistan, Queensland Museum, Wikipedia, James St John, Brisbane.

My obsession with Mokume Gane

Our jewellery

Mokume gane pendant in sterling silver, shibuichi and copper — Available now in our shop Oak Mountain Jewellery .

Mokume gane is an old Japanese technique for creating mixed-metal woodgrain patterns. Thanks to Hadar Jacobson, I have learned to make such patterns from metal clay. I just had to try making my own metal clays of traditional Japanese alloys to incorporate in this work and have now successfully made both shibuichi and shakudo clays by mixing commercially available clays in gold, silver and copper. I am really happy with the result, but it took forever to get it right… I can’t really afford metal clays at the moment so this technique will be an occasional treat to myself.

Check out our shop! Oak Mountain Jewellery

Japanese alloys

Japan, Our jewellery

My Japanese Obsession

I have a bit of an obsession with the ancient Japanese alloys shakudo (4 % gold in copper) and shibuichi (10-25 % silver in copper) and here I have combined these metals with fold-forming. This pod necklace started as a flat shakudo/sterling silver sheet which was fold-formed into a pod shape, patinated to achieve the deep dark purple characteristic of shakudo, and tumbled for 3 days. The pod is filled with freshwater pearls and hand-made shakudo, silver, shibuichi and mixed-metal beads. I have made the beads from metal clay. I make my own shibuichi and shakudo clay from commercially available silver, copper and gold metal clays and created simple round beads as well as mixed metal beads with mokume gane (Japanese for woodgrain) patterns

Fold-forming is my favourite metalsmithing technique, because it is does not require any expensive tools or materials, and because it allows metal to move the way it naturally wants to move, creating wonderful, three-dimensional structures. The technique was invented by English-born goldsmith Charles Lewton-Brain in the 1980s. With the exception of metalworking techniques that resulted from the Industrial Revolution, fold-forming is the first newly invented major metal techniques for thousands of years.

You start with a flat sheet of metal, which you fold, anneal and forge with along an edge, or edges, with a forging or bordering hammer. The forging and annealing is repeated many times and the metal will naturally start to curve more and more with each cycle. The end result is highly variable and depends on the initial shape of the metal sheet, the number of annealing/forging cycles, and whether you choose to forge on the open or the closed side. When you unfold the sheet, it will have taken on a dramatic, three-dimensional form similar to objects found in nature, such as leaves, sea creatures or seed pods. I am a neuroscientist and I often discover that my fold forms also resemble structures found in the human body. The fold-form will also have a natural patina resulting from the repeated heating and cooling. I often choose to keep this patina but occasionally I pickle and the fold-form and apply a specific patina or enamel the piece. I work primarily with copper, but also with brass, sterling silver, fine silver, or with my favourite ancient Japanese alloys, shakudo and shibuichi.

I am particularly obsessed with creating seed pod-like shapes, which I fill with vibrant, iridescent freshwater pearls, sparkly gemstones or beads that I have made from metal clay. Metal clay is my other passion; I use all sorts of clays such as fine/sterling silver, copper, bronze and steel, and also make my own shakudo and shibuichi clays which I use to make intricate Mokume-Gane designs.