As an archaeologist, my appreciation and love for experimental archaeology has grown tremendously over the years. With my focus on prehistoric societies, I'm sure you can imagine my testing out of hammerstones, flint and/or chert knife blades, and even an occasional utilized flake. When I stumbled across the copper art I did as a kid, that sparked a long-forgotten interest in copper. The first piece I did, detailed in my first post here, I employed stone to help create the art (chert) in addition to heating the piece over a campfire. I thought to expand on the experimental archaeology theme with my second piece, but the copper plate I worked called out for something different. My heart was focused on Mom and Dad. With texturing hammer at my side, I soon hammered away at the 24 gauge copper plate. On one side, I thought of Mom: her kindness, precision, expertise, calm, and strength. For the other side, I thought of Dad: his strength and goodness... his continuing nature to learn.
On one side, the piece shows a luster, beautiful and graceful. You can see the effects of the texturing hammer, but all seems peaceful in a Human sort of way.
The reverse side tells a different story. The scrapes, the nicks, and the bruising... it's all there. For display, this one will go on a stand like the first piece: no frame. There is something about being able to look at all the markings that make/made an individual. You can't see such things when only one side of an artwork is displayed.
*** For Dad's half, I also used his tack hammer.
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