Kendra Tornheim

I have always been drawn to both art and technology, fantasy and science fiction. I have experimented with a wide range of media, from glass and sculpture to paper collage, beadweaving, and fiber techniques, though my full time job has always been in software engineering. When I began working with wire in 2007, however, it swiftly came to dominate my creations, and I started to sell my jewelry. I began with free-form wrapping — antique keys, shells and stones, brass leaves and clockwork — then added wire weaving, hammering, and metal stamping.

My greatest appreciation has always been for color. A few years into my jewelry crafting, I began to decorate brass elements for use in my work with richly colored permanent alcohol inks. In a process of several steps, I blend or overlay multiple colors and then seal the pieces with repeated layers of weatherproof gloss varnish to give the look of enamels without using a kiln. I love blending and shifting colors, and using finishes that play with light in different ways. I have been experimenting with new varnishes to give effects like a field of stars in a galaxy, and new materials such as metal mesh.

More recently I began decorating wood frames and panels, originally as display settings for jewelry, but soon discovered I enjoyed using a mix of papers, acrylics, varnishes and inks. My frames become portals — to a secret forest, to a far galaxy — further embellished with 3-dimensional materials including stones, glass, and metal, including my hand-colored brass. I continue to produce smaller jewelry pieces to give people a pop of glorious color to wear, whether in the form of earrings, pins and clips, necklaces or bracelets, but have also been taking classes in entirely new materials like silver metal clay.

ARTISTS AT THIS LOCATION: Susan Tornheim, Kendra Tornheim, Keith Tornheim