Sarah's Music

Getting rid of materials is always a challenge for me.

I think that's what happens when you look for something poetic in everything that crosses your path.

 

A box of guitar strings has been sitting on one of the shelves in my studio since I was gifted them by my friend Sarah, who sparks everything she does with her creative touch.

Playing guitar in the group Coracree, Sarah goes through a lot of strings and saved a bunch of them when I had an idea to use the little brass thingy at the base of each string.

I cut off those little brass thingies....

and soldered them on to the bottom of sweet bird charms that I made last year with other recycled metals.

 

That left me with a collection of brass thingy-less guitar strings that I had no use for but still could not toss out, and suddenly, it's easy to understand how hoarding can begin with one seemingly innocent act.

I looked at the guitar strings with fresh eyes the other day and thought how the beautiful music that Sarah made is still there in some ethereal form.

It then seemed appropriate to try to capture some of the musical magic and turn it into jewelry.

I annealed two pieces of brass, sandwiching a coil of guitar string in between and tried to run it through my rolling mill.

The mill said, "No way!"

There was too much variety to the depth of my little sandwich, and I couldn't get an effective setting with the pressure.

That's when my trusty, cheapo hardware store hammer came out and I wailed away on the assembly on top of a steel bench block.

Enough of an impression was made that I could isolate areas of interesting texture.

Strips were cut with my metal guillotine and then filed, sanded and drilled.

Sterling earwires and sterling wire wrapped aquamarine dangles complete the earrings.

 

Sarah's music lives on.