Heartthrob Brooch

Medium(s): Nickel-Silver wire (originally 10g, drawn down to different sizes in different places)
Dimensions: 3” (7.6cm) long x ¾” (1.8cm) wide x ½” (1.2cm) tall
Date: January 25, 2010
Techniques: drawing wire, wire working, score-and-bending, soldering, forging
Process: I drew the Nickel-silver wire down to a much finer gauge; I filed and soldered the middle point of the heart; formed the heart shape itself; filed and soldered each point on the EKG meter; flattened one end of the wire, cut off the extra wire, and formed it into the catch; milled the wire down even thinner for the pin itself; formed the spring for the pin; sanded, buffed and polished
Comments: This was my second ever metals piece(the first being the “trial” version of this one). I kept it simple. In my doodles for it, I had the heart figured out, but needed something else to fill out the edges. I started drawing random zig zags and realized they looked like an EKG meter (the heartbeat meter thing in hospitals that flatlines when a person’s heart dies). To add depth to the piece, I folded the wire so that the heart was upraised from the EKG meter portion.


I took this photo ages ago, before I learned neat tricks on how to take good pictures.