Vicki  Jasperse

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My one-of-a-kind jewellery pieces are individually hand-drawn using a fine point permanent ink pen and then suspended in an etching solution to raise the design. Once cleaned, each piece is filed to remove any rough edges or burrs, heated with a torch and then hammered into its final shape.  The application of patina is my favourite part of the creative process – using household items like salt, coffee and ammonia, I never fail to be amazed at the colours I achieve, especially with copper and brass. A polishing wax is applied to the finished piece to preserve the patina.

When I first began experimenting with copper and brass etching, my early designs were little more than doodles. As my fascination with the etching process grew, I began to notice that certain design elements were re-appearing in my drawings, reminiscent of traditional motifs I have always admired from art studies.  

I began playing more deliberately with ancient Greek designs, and from there, I travelled to old-world China. It didn’t take me long to trace the threads to other traditional design cultures, especially African and Maori. More recently, I’ve picked up Indian and eastern European influences.  I’ve even explored more modern motifs – art nouveau and art deco. All so different and yet so similar. A timeless human language expressed through simple geometry – lines, triangles, circles – that says so much about who we are and where we have come from.

After three decades of public service, Ottawa native Vicki Jasperse has traded a high-rise office for a jeweller’s bench, and she now works by the glow of a metalsmithing torch instead of a computer screen. Fulfilling a `bucket list’ commitment to learn silversmithing was all it took to ignite her passion for creating one-of-a-kind art jewellery.   

Vicki’s current work re-imagines the traditional designs of world cultures, and brings them to life in sterling silver, copper and brass through the techniques of metal etching, fold-forming and natural patina.  More recently, new themes celebrating the natural world are emerging as she continues to explore her art form.