All Things Connected

This is the first piece, "All Things Connected",  that I've made using etched nickel silver. It is a metal composed of 60% copper, 20% zinc and 20% nickel, so it seemed like it would work just fine. To etch I use a process that has a salt water bath and an electrical current set up from a battery charger. So there are no nasty chemicals involved (been there, done that). I use a block out on the metal sheet called "PNP Blue" paper that works very well, even for small detail work.  I found that the nickel silver etches ALOT faster than copper or brass with this electrical process. Whereas the copper and brass take around an hour to etch a deep image, the nickel silver was done in about 10-15 minutes. By the way, the nickel silver section is the largest silver looking section in the lower half of the piece.

Here's a detail of it.

This piece is simply about how all of us here on earth are connected to each other. It was made during the time that the Gulf Oil Spill was looking so unstoppable.

I wanted the small female figure at the bottom of the piece to be connected not only by holding onto a plant stem, but also for her skirt of intestines (and therefore her digestive system) to be connected too. I like that every element of the piece comes together as a sort of pyramid - everything precariously balanced on everything else.