I have been using Babushka/ Matryoshka doll imagery as a part of my efforts to create nostalgic heirlooms or intended heirlooms. After making a number of them in ceramics I moved on to fly pressing the outlines of them into sheet metal.
I made the fly press mold out of Masonite boards which I pierced and then stuck one on top of the other for added depth.
The first one I made was using a piece of copper plate that I had etched using the Edinburgh etch and then gone on to flood the recesses with silver solder. I rolled it once more after that.
I then, instead of piercing out the actual outline of the doll as was my original intention, rather sawed it into an oval shape such that the outline is perhaps less contrived. I cut out the face and a heart to give it some more character and perhaps more identification as a Babushka doll, but this might still be too vague.
I made more test pieces using copper (etched and as above) but tried to establish what details were necessary to be identifiable.
For one mark of a Matryoshka doll, I practiced some traditional Russian designs or motifs which are largely based on their national flower, the Chamomile.
This particular piece is to be the prototype for a platinum piece.
With a piece of long copper plate intended to be cut into smaller pieces, I fly pressed the centre and rather turned it into a cuff.
To add a decorative Russian reference I again designed a small section to be pierced out of the plate. This proved to be tricky as the plate was so long that at times it was deeper than the saw frame. This is something I will keep in mind should I make more.
As in the test pieces above and below the cuff, piercing the line across the doll's "stomach" seems to make it more identifiable compared to the plain doll on the cuff. I also intend on giving it a silver face behind the copper, and ceramic ones for the pieces which will become pendants or brooches. (also see below)
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