I have been wrestling with the focus of my research for some time now. There are many things I would like to make which do not quite fit into my fairly specific subject of decorative ironwork. Also, the silver work I've done so far has left me fairly uninspired.
I was working with a fairly sizes piece of 18ct yellow gold yesterday and realised that I really love gold. It's not easily explained except to say I have an affinity with the metal, I know how it behaves, I have been bending it to my will for about fifteen years now. I also know that I love steel, my interest in knives and steel structures started before I can remember.
This got me thinking that actually, gold and steel have been used together for centuries. Fascinating techniques such as inlay, overlay, fusing, electroplating and amalgam gilding have been used to bring these two metals together. I will shift the focus of my research towards using gold and steel.
One of the themes of my work has also been looking at relationships, expressed by snatches of poetry or song lyrics. The relationship between iron and gold then becomes a metaphor for these human interactions.
