Blended Approaches

This gorgeous brooch, created by polymer and precious metal clay artist Kelly Russell, is actually a combination of techniques, with mokume being one of the primary ones. Do you actually see the mokume as mokume when you first look at it, or do you see the sections as kind of blending together like a series of textures and melding of color?

It’s probably obvious from the length of that second question that I think the choice of components are pretty synergistic so that no one technique stands out. The  jewel tones, subdued to bright pastels, run through all the components for cohesiveness. It’s also not that heavy on contrast, but rather sticks with a light to mid-range set of values, which makes it feel calm and serene.

I like that Kelly does not restrict her materials or her techniques in her pieces. She mixes it up while keeping it unified through color palette choices. Take a look a more of her lovely work on her blog and website.

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