While browsing a new press release from Fire Mountain Gems, I ran across a project by metal clay* artist Wanaree Tanner.
Her work is precise, detailed, exquisitely designed, and mythic in scope. She’s going on my list of inspirations for Sirrithani and Sonta jewelry in my fiction. Also, on my if-I-win-a-lottery-I’m-buying-your-work list.
Seriously, this is the kind of stuff that cosplay designers need to be looking at, if just for inspiration: perfectly made pieces that project a folkloric and fantasy feel without being cheap artistic compromises.
I won’t show Tanner’s work here to respect her copyright, but please check out her work here:
http://www.metalclayartsconservatory.com/
* Metal Clay is one of the jewelry crafts I wish I had time and funding to pursue, because it looks fascinating. Particles of metal (silver, gold, copper, bronze, etc.) are suspended in an organic binder. Artists mold and shape it just as they would ceramic clay, oil clays, or casting wax. When the finished piece is either fired via blowtorch or in a small furnace, the binder burns away and the metal particles fuse together.