Julie Blyfield

According to Feagins (2011), Julie Blyfield is a well-known  Australian artist. Blyfield's work is based on the realm of nature around her. She manages to capture what is beautiful and unique about Australian natural landscape and uses that as a starting point (ibid).

Blyfield connects with her organic finds intimately. She does this by sketching, making paper prototypes and transforming them into metal using traditional metalwork techniques. She creates jewellery and vessels in pure and sterling silver, textured by hand using fine steel tools to create intricate surface patterns. Blyfield focuses on the texture aspects of her finds by utilizing metal punching, chasing and repousse techniques to create three-dimensional forms which are folded and interlaced together, see Figure 1. Each piece is then finished in the most beautiful muted colours using enamel and wax. (Feagins, 2011)

Figure 1- Blyfield, J., (2010). Scintilla Series. Silver Vessels. [ONLINE]

She captures the aspects of the landscape by using exquisite coloured enamels and wax that hints the botanical specimens she's inspired by see Figure 2.

Figure 2- Blyfield, J., (2009). Pressed Desert Plant Brooches. Blackened Silver, Paint and Wax. [ONLINE]

There are a few similarities between Blyfield's work and my own. Firstly it is how she reinterprets and transforms her organic finds into metal. Some of the techniques she uses in her work are the same as the ones I am using where she creates three-dimensional objects by folding and also but punching patterns out to create texture see Figure 3.

Figure 3- Blyfield, J. (2014). Earrings. Sterling Silver, Blackened Silver and Gold Plated Silver. [ONLINE]