Late Thursdays at the National Nordic Museum

About Verso

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  Verso Jewelry

  Verso jewelry is made from metal forms cast in handmade paper. The metal is dipped into a pulp of water and finely beaten paper fibers from a plant called abaca.

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  Verso Jewelry

  Verso jewelry is made from metal forms cast in handmade paper. The metal is dipped into a pulp of water and finely beaten paper fibers from a plant called abaca.

  The fibers cling to the metal and shrink as they dry. A tight, translucent paper skin is built up on the form over successive dips. The concept is the same as making a sheet of handmade paper, but around a three-dimensional form, and by building up thin layers over the course of several days. After a translucent layer of paper has built up, the forms are hand-dyed, and finally sealed with resin to make them waterproof and durable. The pieces are inspired by the beautiful oceans and forests and mountains and wetlands of the Pacific Northwest... tide pools, seeds, flowers, raindrops, birds, the curves of a river, ferns, leaves.....

  Melanie is a metalsmith, papermaker, and artist. She holds a BFA from Oregon College of Art & Craft, where she studied books arts and metals. Her papermaking and metals studios are in Everett, Washington, tucked at the back of the garden of her 1928 storybook cottage, where she lives with her bagpipe teacher husband, Kevin. She makes jewelry and art out of handmade paper and metal, and she plays traditional Scottish, Irish, Nordic, and old time music on the fiddle and piano. She spends lots of time roaming through the beautiful Pacific Northwest landscape gathering inspiration, and puttering around in her garden