Melinda Pate
jewelry
Melinda Pate has spent a good deal of her life as an art director in busy ad agencies where her creative ideas were mostly expressed in print; that is, on paper. Now, working with metals, those sheets of paper have been replaced by sheets of sterling, copper and bronze. However, the sound design principles which guided her two-dimensional work are no less relevant to the three-dimensional pieces that she currently makes. And, although a lot has changed in the way that Pate presents her ideas, her respect for the creative process and the craftsmanship needed to express it has not.
Many of Pates designs have a sculptural quality and are created using the ancient Celtic hammering technique of anticlastic raising. This process imbues the pieces with both strength and flexibility. Inspiration comes organically from both the physical nature of the materials and the forging and forming techniques that she uses to manipulate them. Pate loves the beautiful hues of heat-patinated copper, the ideas that a graceful line of hand-hammered sterling might suggest and any pretty stone with a minute world of mystery in its heart.
“It’s a delight to work with these natural things and to find intriguing and freshly appealing ways to present them. I would be very happy if the enthusiasm which went into creating my pieces is able to speak through them and delight you, too!”
