Lisa Geertsen | Dive Deep

Artist:  Lisa Geertsen

Materials: Bronze and nickel mokume, copper, reclaimed wenge wood

Dimensions: 6" x 3.5" 11"

Origin of featured materials: Phil made the ingot and showed me how to pattern it. We machined it together and I finished working the sheet until it was my desired thickness. Then I did the chasing and repousse and forming.

Story behind the piece:  I asked Phil if he would work with me to show me how to pattern some mokume that would be appropriate for experimenting with the chasing and repousse technique on. He gave me an ingot of silicon bronze and nickel to pattern. I heated the ingot and used my forging chisels to hammer designs into the surface in order to displace the layers. After the metal had cooled, we used his mill to remove about 50% of the surface to reveal the pattern. With his instruction, I returned to the studio at SIUC and finished refining the face so I could forge it into the desired thickness. Getting it close, I then used a rolling mill to complete the process until it was 16 gauge. Then I used my chasing and repousse skillset to experiment with the material, following the formations in the pattern to inform how I shaped the metal. I only cut the plate after I was finished forming it and placed the two pieces where they were pleasing together. I had no plan other than to experiment with it and see what happened. It was a frustrating piece to work on because I had no plan and I set it aside until now.

It has taken me all of this time and the passing of my friend to see the form in it and for it to finally become what it is to me. It was always special, but I could not see past my mistakes and my impatience. I had packaged it up, ready to send to him as a thank you gift for showing me his process...but shortly after I had done that I got the call from Rick that he was in the hospital. I held onto the piece in hopes of delivering it to him in person when I returned to Seattle, but that opportunity never became a reality. Unwrapping it now, looking at it with new eyes, it takes flight in a way I had been looking for all those years ago but could not see. It holds within the layers, time spent with a friend and mentor. It holds a place in time when I was transforming my practice as drastically as I was transforming this piece of metal. It has sat, wrapped up, unfinished until now...and now is the perfect moment for it to hold space and memory for someone so generous and supportive of me and my journey in this craft. The Osprey has always been a significant bird to me, it was not my intent to create anything representative with this work, but suddenly, I saw the face of Osprey. She soars high, seeing wide and far around her. She cares for her family and protects them. She builds her home and returns to it every year, but she takes her journeys too. And when she sees what she wants, she dives for it and shakes the water off her wings on the way back up. 

This piece is the first time I have made and used Mokume-gane. I specifically wanted to experience how the metal would move with the chasing and repose' technique. I asked Phil if he would be willing to show me the process of patterning a billet for this research and we chose the bronze/nickel for the contrasting colors.  I enjoyed pushing the material to see how it would react as much as machining it to create the sheet. Most of all I loved spending time with Phil through the process. 

Artist Bio: I am an artist blacksmith/metalsmith/educator from Seattle, WA. I have exhibited my work & demonstrated nationally & internationally including HI, OH, NC, WA, IL, AZ, UK, NZ. I hold an MFA from SIUC, am the owner of Firelight forge, & the current Instructional Technician in Sculpture at UW. My work is based in the moving meditation of the artist blacksmith, the focus required to be in collaboration with heavy equipment and fire to create work that represents calm within perceived chaos.

This piece is part of, From Wave to Shining Wave: a Celebration of Phil Baldwin and Shining Wave Metals Baldwin. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Seattle Metals Guild. 5% of sales will be donated to help fund an endowment at Pendland in Phillip Baldwin’s name. Learn more HERE. All work will remain on exhibit through July 20, 2025.

📂 [View the entire collection HERE ]

ℹ️ [Learn more about the exhibition HERE]