Fold Formed Leaves

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted.  I almost dropped off the face of the earth:  I had two partial knee replacements (and also got a new grand-baby and a new daughter-in-law!)  I haven't been going down the stairs to my workshop very much at all.

Meanwhile, here in Indiana we had a dry fall, which made for some beautiful leaves.  Unfortunately, there is no big hill around here that I know of to get a big sweeping landscape picture from.

Trees near my house

My first day that I could drive again, I had to go out and get some shots.  The leaves were at their peak and the rain that was expected that night would probably take a lot of them down.

It seems it always looks better in real life!

I have been wanting to get back into the studio and, inspired by the leaves, I wanted to make some fold-formed leaves.  This is something I've often read about but never tried.  So tonight I made a few.  Here are the results:

I probably went to a lot less trouble than some people.  First I cut out the rectangles with a pair of shears.  Then I folded them lengthwise and smacked them flat with a mallet.  Then I hammered with a textured hammer, especially getting around the edges.  This work hardened them, so they had to be annealed before opening.  Annealing them gave them some nice colors.  The four in front have the colors just from being annealed.  After opening, I filed and sanded the edges so they wouldn't be rough.  Then I flame-painted some more color on the two in the back.

Anyway, next I plan to drill some holes and make them into jewelry.  When I do, I will try and post some pictures.