Copper is a heavy, chemical element found naturally in the earth and has a ‘soft’ hardness of 2.5 on the Mohs hardness scale, (talc is #1 as softest and hardest diamond is #10). Copper is almost indestructible and as such, artifacts and relics showing its’ use throughout the ages have survived, allowing modern man to track the development of civilization through more than 10,000 years! 

Easily found in abundance, pre-historic man discovered the malleability of copper and used it to form simple weapons, tools and talismans. Some of coppers’ other historic roles include: being formed into statues and all forms of ritual and/or decorative art; used in the construction and protection of dwellings as roofs, gates and plumbing; shaped into eating and drinking vessels and utensils; used in thin sheets as a painter’s canvas and to protect the underside of ships from algae and parasites; used as trade barter and currency; and of course for personal and often functional ornamentation, copper and its early alloys of bronze and brass have been made into pieces of jewelry. (The following samples are from Morocco and can be seen at Epcot.)

The main property of copper that associates it with healing, is that copper is ‘biostatic’.  This means that bacteria will not grow on its’ surface. The ‘ancients’ realized this feature and made drinking vessels of copper to drink water from as a healing method.  Modern man uses copper in garden sprays to dispel mildew and other bacteria from plants. Copper tubing is used in air conditioning units to prevent the spread of bacteria. Copper-impregnated fabrics have many uses as socks, uniforms and underwear for the sports industry; gauze bandages, wound products and textiles used in healthcare such as gowns, masks, towels, etc; household pillowcases, mattresses and carpeting; and for military and industrial clothing. Did you know that some hospitals use copper doorknobs to prevent the spread of germs? I realize now that what I though were just gorgeous older elevators, they were actually made using copper and brass as disease resistant decor! (This example is found in a bulding on Liberty Ave in Pittsburg, PA.)

Copper is very important to the human body too. We all consume copper in the form of vegetable, nuts, dried beads, seafood and (thank goodness) chocolate! Copper is also present in the air we breathe and in the water we drink. A copper deficiency in a humans diet can be associated with many stomach diseases, chronic diarrhea and premature birth, as well as high cholesterol levels. So enjoy your chocolate desert!

I’ll bet you have more copper in your personal home than you think (I know I do). One of coppers alloys is brass. Look around your home. Do you see brass andirons and tools near your fireplace or woodstove? How about any brass lamps, bells, a Grandfather or antique clock, a brass bed frame, silver plated flatware or tea set?  Ok, now how about the construction of your home. Did you know that an average single-family house in the United States contains more than 400 pounds of copper? Think about the builder’s hardware, plumber’s brass fittings and goods and the electrical wire. Now look at all of your electronic devices (computers, game players, stereo) and regular appliances like the heat pump or furnace and AC unit, stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer, etc.  Amazing when you think about this, isn’t it. (And I’m not even going to detail all of ways that copper is used within the transportation industry!)

Native or natural copper is a lovely pinkish color, however most of what we are familiar with has a reddish/orange/brown tone due to the fact that when copper is exposed to oxygen it develops a layer of tarnish. Copper also forms within several other minerals like chalcopyrite (fools gold), covellite, malachite and azurite. Copper is also the responsible color pigment for the mineral turquoise. Most copper findings produced today are polished, and most copper jewelry is coated with a lacquer both of which are temporary protection from tarnish. Copper will eventually turn a human’s skin green due to the reaction of the copper with the chemicals present in the human body.

 This is a photo I took of a basket of malachite in various forms. The specimens in the center show copper inclusions.

All of the pictures included in this article are from my private collection. The following picture is of a piece of ‘flow’ from a copper mine in Arizona. When it was given to me, it was explained that as copper is smelted to remove all impurities, all types of ore emerge, such as silver, gold and platinum. Taken in the morning sunlight, this piece clearly shows all of those metals!

This copper ‘drip’ is part of my outdoors collection as it weighs about 5 pounds and has very sharp edges. It is a solidified ‘drip’ from a smelting vat. The ’sheet’  and freeform mass are just more of my copper collection.

The only serious way to release deadly chemicals such as arsenic from copper is by heating it. Therefore all copper cookware is coated with a protective shield and anyone who uses any type of heat when working with copper needs to work in an area with adequate ventilation as well as wear personal protection such as a respirator. My husband is a boilermaker who is occasionally in situations where deadly fumes are present; such as repairs in the copper mines of the SW United States, and all workers there are required to wear respiratory protection. 

 All of the above information and facts are scientifically proven and true. Now let’s look at some healing theories associated with copper.

Many different cultures through the ages have used copper as a healing agent. Most of these cures were based on the fact that copper is biostatic or an antibacterial material. Second only to silver, copper is the best conductor of both heat and electricity therefore it is presumable that it would also help to conduct the flow of oxygen, energy, blood and other bodily fluids. 

Many people swear by the use of copper as an assistant with arthritic pain, however there is no scientific proof of this to date.

Based on scientific facts, it can be concluded that copper is a very important part of the human body and without it our entire circulatory and digestive systems suffer, and that copper peptides assist in cell regeneration that quickens wound healing.

I leave the rest up to your own individual judgment.

‘Stay Twisted!’

Dale/Cougar 

Over the past several months I have spent quite a lot of time in Utah, most of it between the Wire-Sculpture offices and warehouse.  As a serious rockhound and ‘outdoors person’ this has been extremely difficult for me, because I have had no time off to explore the beautiful countryside or to look for rocks!  During my most recent trip an opportunity arose and I was able to draw one of the staff and his family into a small adventure.  Wire artist ‘inspiration’ has been one of the themes around the office this summer, so we are pleased to present the first:

Wire-Sculpture’s Side Trip Adventure!

For Inspiration and Education

Located at Rozel Point of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, the Spiral Jetty is an earthwork sculpture that was created by American sculptor Robert Smithson in 1970.  In a previous post regarding inspiration, I mention folks who use mathematical formulas to create physical art, as Robert Smithson did when designing the Spiral Jetty.  Read more about this amazing artist:  http://www.robertsmithson.com/index.htm

The Spiral Jetty is a form of art known as Earth Art, Earthworks or Land Art.  From other examples found around the world, Land Art has been a practice for thousands of years but became a recognized ‘movement’ of the art world in the 1960’s, led by Americans.  What I find so cool about this art form is that it uses only materials native to the natural area in which it is created, and over time the art is actually meant to erode back into the earth from which it came!  (Talk about recycling.)  This is a great video clip that shows Smithson planning this sculpture, as well as its’ creation by heavy equipment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTx4Pp4aPXA

The only Sign that told us were we headed in the right direction!

Our travel to the Spiral Jetty was enjoyable and it is ‘out there’!  As we rode through the terrain I thought of the first settlers traveling through the Utah prairies in covered wagons; women wearing all those cumbersome, hot clothes and what a challenge it had to be to find drinkable water.  Our first stop turned out not to be our end destination, but we were all glad to get out of the van and walk around on the salt flats, which seem to go on forever!

During our exploration of these flats, we checked out what appeared to be puddles covered with a thin layer of ice.

Ice in August in Utah??

Upon closer examination, the ‘ice’ was really a layer of salt crystals in the process of forming as the water evaporated.

Nope - Salt crystals!

The challenge for everyone then, was to find a formation of salt crystal that was different from anything we had already seen.  There were so many, really cool examples!  Although tempted to remove our shoes, as it was rather hot and we were in a wet location, I do not recommend it because these crystals can be razor sharp and some of them are as big as a dinner plate!  (Find out more about salt/halite crystals: http://www.galleries.com/Minerals/HALIDES/halite/halite.htm )

Loading everyone back into the van, our driver expertly maneuvered around not just rocks in the roadway, but miniature monoliths!  Continuing on to the Spiral Jetty location, we stopped to leave some water and fruit with a young couple that had not been as careful and had cracked the oil pan of their little car.  (Warning!  If you venture out to any remote location be sure to take along plenty of water and a few high carb snacks, as in some places cell phone reception is non –existent!)

The Jetty is awesome!

August 30, 2009

Talk about an ‘inspiration’ for everything beyond jewelry making, from: ‘we need to take care of the earth because it takes care of us’ to ‘one person can make a difference’.  Yes, we all walked the entire spiral and then explored the salt formations on the local basalt rocks that had been used to create it.

My only wish now would be to see this Earth Art sculpture when the water is up because the salt here is tinted pink with the salt tolerant algae that lives in this lake, and when the water level is up the black jetty jumps out of the blood red water, aligned with the bright white salt encrusted shoreline.

Leaving for the long drive back to Ogden, we each felt just a little closer to Mother Earth, and everyone has a nice salt crystal to remind us of this wonderful ‘Side Trip Adventure’.

Moral of this article: take an occasional ‘Side Trip’ in your local area and see what you didn’t realize was in your own backyard that may just be transformed into an inspiration for both your life and your art!

Stay ‘Twisted’!

Dale/Cougar

Thirty years ago Lindi received a Stained Glass Lamp Kit as a Christmas gift from her brother. Little did she conceive that she would one day start a stained glass business as a result, not to mention branching into making jewelry!

For relaxation from the tedious glass work Lindi has been creating for nineteen years, she started ‘playing’ with glass fusing. Her husband, Larry Haefner, insisted that she find something to do with the numerous nuggets and glass pieces that were accumulating all over her shop. The answer came three years ago, when Lindi took a wire wrapping class with Dale ‘Cougar’ Armstrong and learned how to incorporate all of those glass pieces into beautiful, wire jewelry designs.

Lindi displays her work in local gift shops and boutiques, as well as in juried art shows and at bridal fairs. Her favorite jewelry venue is her own ‘Stained Glass by Lindi’ studio, located in Williamsport, PA.  Lindi is an awesome, stained-glass artist who also enjoys being one of ‘Cougar’s’ teaching assistants at various jewelry-making events.

At an early age, Suzanne was always busy in her dad’s shop, taking things apart just to see how they worked. The desire to work with tools has never left her. She blames Dale Armstrong for starting her down the seductively twisty wire path, and she hasn’t looked back since! Suzanne is a proud “Cougar Cub”.  She works with her husband in their family business in Gallatin, Tennessee and finds stress relief in beading and wire working. When Suzanne is not rescuing a stranded possum or bottle-feeding a calf, she also teaches classes at Beadin’ At The Barn.

She can be contacted via her website: http://www.suzannesjewelry.com/