Ransom Canyon metalsmith crafts life in copper, brass; Here's why

In her workshop, a Ransom Canyon metalsmith holds a hand-drawn design on a copper sheet before sawing around the outline. Once done, she will use a variety of tools, including a Sharpie and ferric acid to create the one-of-a-kind pieces she is known for.

"The whole basis of my work is to represent the human life, from soul to soul," said Dawna Gillespie, owner of Dawna Gillespie Adornments. "By telling my stories through the pieces, I'm also able to represent the fact that we are all individual humans."

Gillespie initially planned to be an art teacher, with her favored medium being paint. That was before a metalsmithing course at Texas Tech set her on the path to becoming a designer who has since been featured in multiple industry magazines and galleries across the U.S.

The latest magazine, In Her Studio, will feature Gillespie in a nine-page spread. It is an international, quarterly magazine which allows 15 female artists to write about themselves and their work. The Summer 2024 issue can be found at Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, craft stores, grocery stores and online at Stampington.com on May 1.

Here's how Dawna Gillespie went from Texas Tech to crafting stories into copper and brass

Toward the end of Gillespie's degree, she needed to take another studio course at Texas Tech. Though her favored medium at the time was paint, she decided to take a chance on metalsmithing.

"As the copper was flying around me in the studio at Tech, I just remember the smell and the feel of it," Gillespie said. "It engulfed me."

In the 13 years since then, Gillespie has not picked up a paintbrush, besides painting furniture. Instead, she has built a workshop filled with copper, brass, jewelers' tools and sketches.

Gillespie chose copper and brass for two reasons: because she values craftsmanship over material, and the color-changing aging qualities of brass and copper.

"It's relevant to our lives, as we oxidize and patina over time," Gillespie said. "It means we're still here. It shows that you've lived, and to me, that's how the oxidation and patina on copper and brass make me feel."

In 2018, Gillespie had her first solo show at the Tornado Gallery. A news release about the show was seen by the editor of Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine. Gillespie was later published as the 2018 Winter Designer Collection. There are four collections published per year.

"It was a very proud and humbling moment for me, to realize that I was really on the right track and people really did accept and love my work," Gillespie said.

Necklaces, bracelets and earrings make up the jewelry side of the business. When people commented how they loved her work, but didn’t feel like they could wear it, she began crafting hanging ornaments and wall art. Gillespie’s husband makes the stands for the ornaments, and one of her friends creates the shadowboxes for the wall pieces.

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Drawing inspiration from life, crafting with science: Here's what goes into Gillespie's pieces

During her studies for her degree, one of her professors took away her ruler and told her she was not allowed to measure anything for painting. That moment continues to have an impact, even though her medium changed.

“While I do measure things now, because you have to make sure it’s going to fit on the body, all of my shapes are organic now,” Gillespie said. “I never have straight lines, and everything is very free-flowing. So, I did take the ruler away when I started doing metals.”

A sketchbook keeps track of her prior, current and upcoming works, all drawn to scale. The sketches often have nods to art nouveau and baroque styles.

From there, her process includes:

• Photocopying the design and gluing it to metal.

• Using a jeweler's handsaw to cut around the outline.

• Piercing the shaded parts of the design, then sawing them out.

• Sort and file pieces so they are smooth, clean them and smooth them out once again.

• If etching, Gillespie uses an ultra fine point Sharpie and draws on the pieces, then submerges them into ferric chloride acid. The Sharpie prevents the acid from eating at the shaded parts, giving it a raised texture.

• While pieces are in the acid bath, she texturizes the non-etched pieces with hammers.

• Clean pieces again.

• Apply patinas. She has modified patinas processes, which give more vibrant shades.

• Drill holes and start connecting the pieces.

At least 20 hours of work going into the earrings, while larger pieces can take more than 100 hours. The hours, materials, work, skills and specialized processes contribute to her price points in the hundreds to thousands of dollars range.

"That first year, I actually ended up selling out of everything, except for one piece, but what I learned from that is that I was way undervaluing myself," Gillespie said. "That next year, I changed my pricing, and from then on, I have sold every year. I still have collectors that bought my very first piece at the most inexpensive cost, and now they're buying my pieces in the thousands of dollars range."

While each piece is different, there are some repeating patterns. Gillespie uses six motifs she designed, each of which represent her family, her marriage, and her family units.

"I've actually been able to manipulate those shapes over the course of the past six years into different designs," Gillespie said. "At this point, I've created 177 different designs, and I never duplicate my work."

Each of her pieces are named, but she does not post why those names were chosen, as she wants people to think of their own story.

“Someone else may connect to that piece in a completely different manner than what I meant for it," Gillespie said. "That’s the beauty of it, connecting from one soul to another, whether it’s my story or theirs.”

Her favorite piece is Textured Soul, an all-copper necklace with blue patinas. It is her take on a self-portrait in metal.

“It represents me at that specific time, and everything about me in that time,” she said. “To do a self-portrait in metal, it was a completely different animal to try to figure out how to put yourself into a piece of jewelry.”

The inclusion in the In Her Studio magazine was one of her goals. Her next goal is to have her work appear in the yearly Smithsonian Craft Show. It is the most prestigious fine craft show in the U.S. She applied in 2018 and was waitlisted, then the show was closed during the pandemic, and she did not get accepted in the latest round.

“Hopefully, I will eventually get into that show,” Gillespie said. “I would be able to reach a lot of gallery owners and collectors that I would otherwise never be able to meet.”

People can follow Gillespie's work at dawnagillespie.com, Facebook and Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Ransom Canyon metalsmith Dawna Gillespie gains international spotlight