PEACE has been accepted in this years Sooke Fine Arts Show

I was given about 25 brass bullet casings from a friend. I had an idea of a necklace that I wanted to create. The bullets sat for sometime on my work bench while I plugged away at making my ' bread and butter' pieces for the shops that I supply and my market inventory. I was chomping at the bit to get to them but business came first. Finally I had a little free time. I had been dreaming of this piece for some time. It wasn't always exactly the same result but very close. Sometimes when you turn off your brain and follow your heart things just happen. I did not work on this piece all at once, I played here and there when I had free time...and it killed me because all I wanted to do was work on it until it was finished and I as well. I can not tell you how many hours went into it, I started by keeping track and quickly forgot to continue. I knew that I wanted to make something beautiful from something that I felt strongly about.
I had been invited to fire all sorts of weapons one day at the Victoria Fish and Game Protective Ass. everything from a black powder rifle, 100 year old buffalo rifle to a semi automatic. Don't get me wrong it was a rush and I loved it. My husband spent more money buying ammo just so that he could see the smile on my face when I lined up behind this amazing power. But honestly guns scare me. They get into the wrong hands and it only takes seconds for a mistake to happen.
I started by sawing out flowers because I love flowers and I love sawing ( some days...are better than others with the saw ) before I knew it I had 70 + flowers and 6 dragonflies. This year I starting working with dyes and inks to add color to the vintage metal that I work from and so this is what I decided to do. I etched each 17 bullet casing one at a time with a subtle floral motif. Each flower and insect were soldered to a brass wire which was then joined by one brass wire that came through the top of the bullet and attached to the thick black recycled rubber cord. the ends of the cord were finished with 2 separate bullets that I sawed down as end caps,and finally a large multicolored peace sign became the clasp. Each bundle of colorful flowers and pretty dragonflies pop out of the bullets as if they grew out from them.
I am very honored and humbled to say that it has been accepted into this years Sooke Fine Arts Show.
I hope that my piece will portray Peace !
MMM xo