Copper is a beautiful and highly functional metal. While it can be used to make hammered sinks,tiles,mirrors and other functional household objects; artists also utilize copper’s unique qualities to create beautiful decorative pieces.
Labor and expertise factor much more strongly into art prices than tiles,sinks,and other appliances that have prices dictated primarily by the cost of raw materials. In other words,copper is usually not significantly more expensive than other metal art forms,making it a cost-conscious way to add copper’s unique aesthetic into your home design scheme.
Copper is pliable metal,allowing artists to carve intricate designs into its surface in the form of a vase or sculpture. Hammered copper,which literally looks like a copper sheet that was struck with the rounded side of a hammer,has a unique texture that reflects light in disparate directions. When this hammered texture is applied to Mexican mirrors,they have a very unique appealing looking.
Hammered copper,commonly seen in vases,mirrors,bathtubs and tiles,must go through a process of annealing in which it is heated up to a red hot temperature before it can be properly hammered. Copper can be hammered when it is cold but it is much more brittle at lower temperatures and is prone to cracking.
The unique way textured copper interacts with light makes it an appealing metal to form earrings,sculptures,and other types of art that utilize sweeping,angular lines to further accentuate the light effect.
Copper art is often hand crafted in Mexico as it has been made for thousands of years. Copper art is edgy and contemporary and at the same time it connects to a profound human tradition.
The best artisans will be able to make a hammered copper mirror from a single sheet of copper. This is an impressive skill that creates a product with no visible cut or welding marks.
While the gift of flowers will last for a week,giving a loved one flowers in a copper vase will leave behind a beautiful piece of art that will maintain its integrity for decades.
