Wearing Green

Here’s a wire wrapping project I’ve been working on for a while.

This stone reminds me so much of a forest with green trees, leaves, moss, and clover.  Do you see the moth?

I couldn’t resist purchasing this malachite slab from a rockhound friend.

The plan was to make vines and leaves, and roots and limbs made from wire.

The setting was reworked 3 times before I was satisfied. Here’s what went wrong

I started with green spirals using craft wire to represent leaves and vines. The green didn’t show up and all those spirals really detract from the pattern in the stone.

Brass wire can be patinated to turn green, thinking I would make a green patina and forgetting that the green probably would not show up, which was messy, then finally in gold. Gold wire is much softer and easier to work with, allowing the wire to be more graceful. They seemed to distract from the pattern of the stone.

Using Brass

Brass wire is very stiff, making the finished product messy and uneven.

Malachite Pendant Front

Malachite Pendant Back