CREATE.  

Enjoy.  Touch.  Wear.

 Kay Cummins was always an artist.  Creation and thinking about things in a unique way was as instinctual as breathing to her.  

FeAu (Fay ah) it spoke to her.  She was already fabricating clean, strong work using Found Objects and Enamel (you can visit this work at OutAndAboutGirls.com) this is Kay's playful colorful collection.  But FeAu was another side of Kay that needed to be expressed -- more sophisticated, refined and urban but with just the right amount of edginess.

Kay studied with Chris Nelson and he generously encouraged her and pushed her at times too.  Chris is known for for extensive development in working with fused gold and steel and gold technique.

Her studio is creative and well equipped with Torches, Kiln, Welder, Rolling Mill and a Hydraulic Press and a plethora of hand tools and enamel.  It is sometimes a hot and dirty workspace.  Combining steel and gold requires high temperatures for the gold to melt, flow and bond with the steel.  At 2000 degrees they bond. Embracing the qualities of each other.  This bond is called Fusing.  

Alloying the gold means you are determining the color and characteristics of the gold by choosing which metals and amounts that are added to the 24k (pure) gold grains. More copper creates a Redder color, more silver a Greener or white color. Measuring and math are critical skills in alloying. Then the metals are melted in a crucible and poured into a ingot. The ingot is cleaned and rolled down to sheet and prepared for fusing or fabrication.

Steel is textured in various ways with tools that Kay has created. Chisels, hammers, etching, stamping and burs can be used. Then the steel is prepped for fusing and layout of the gold. Bring on the heat! Gold fuses at 2000 degrees.  Fusing is a temperamental process.  Multiple fusing and soldering  steps occur before any patina or stones are set.  

Once fused, forming and giving dimension begins with hammers, stakes and wood blocks to push the steel into graceful curves and lines. These curves give FeAu the graceful lines jewelry needs to accent our body. Steel has a great ductile quality and memory once hardened.

Enameling is a second Love for Kay and requires a complex but rewarding skill to create focal pieces of vitreous enamel. Enamel is powdered glass that is applied and melted on to a metal base using precious metal wires and foils to create separation and reflection in the glass. Thin layers of glass are built up and create depth and reflection. Enamel is fired in a kiln at 1450 degrees layer by layer, often up to 20 times on a single piece. Vintage and Japanese enamels are used in her cloisonné . Kay has chosen to use enamel in her one of a kind FeAu pieces.