metal work | Fae Gems & Baubles

I’ve always heralded a particular appreciation for fine metal work in jewelry. Too often are details negelected, or rushed, resulting in clunky designs.This Sunday’s Artist Spotlight is a rare feast for the eyes. Exquisite renderings of mythical faeries, mythological beings, and sprites all come to life in Sharon Berkan-Dent’s jewelry in Mystic Swan.

I stumbled upon Sharon’s work while mindlessly scrolling through Etsy, and was instantly inspired by her work, pining relentlessly over the definitive absoluteness of her talent. I would wear her jewelry everyday, for the rest of my life!

Sharon explains her artistic process far better than I could recapitulate, and so I give the floor to her genius:

Sharon:
I love combining the mystical world with that of metalsmithing, resulting in tiny sculptures worn as jewelry. I begin by doing a lot of sketching to get the design just the way I want and then I start sculpting in wax. I spend many hours lost in the process forming wax into faeries, dragons, and other mystical beings complete with as much detail as I can include.

As a lifelong artist I’ve worked in a wide variety of mediums; including graphic design, drawing, painting and textile arts. Since 1993 I’ve been combining and refining these skills in the creation of jewelry. The process begins by creating sketches of an inspired idea. Recently my work has taken on a story telling characteristic, so in addition to drawing the primary figures I often include background and secondary elements I want to help tell my story; animals and birds, castles, trees, faerie houses, tree men, vines, flowers, rocks, waves, celestial elements, or whatever else may fit within the story that I want to tell.

The completed design is reduced to the intended size of the finished piece of jewelry then used as a template as I start to sculpt in wax. The sculpture is the most time consuming part of the process, it’s very important to me that everything is as lifelike as possible; anatomy, proportion, facial features, and fine detail (scales and feathers are applied one at a time).

While I stay true to my original concept some design changes naturally occur as the design evolves from a 2-dimensional layout to a 3-dimensional sculpture. When the wax sculpture is complete it is cast using the lost-wax method. This includes mixing plaster to pour over the mounted wax sculpture, firing in a kiln for approximately a 24 hour burnout, melting the metal with a torch and casting with a vacuum assist machine. After casting the excess metal is removed, first by hand saw and then by grinding. This is followed by several levels of polishing with the application of a patina along the way. The process is time consuming and meticulous, but also a labor of love. Although the overall design, realistic representation and detail of my work are of great importance, they would mean nothing if not for the story and energy behind each creation.

The figures and other design elements combine to give each piece its own individual essence and a glimpse into a mystical world. I hope that you will find my jewelry not only beautiful and unique, but also sense an undefined positive presence surrounding each item . . . or, if you prefer, you can simply think of my work as faerie tales, illustrated in silver and gold.

If you would like to see a more detailed step-by-step view of my process go to my Creation Process page.