I always admire artisans who are able to reuse what would have gone to the dump. Brenda Melancon, otherwise known as Pip, a metal and wire worker from St Louis in Missouri, is one of those. Her recycled guitar and piano string jewelry for her store
The Chestnut Forge shows her ingenuity in turning these metal discards into unique contemporary style pieces.
Where does she get her old guitar strings? She says
" My guitar strings are obtained from a local shop that fixes instruments. The man is very nice, and he saves them for me until I drop in to say hello over a cup of coffee...maybe a few sips, while he tells me a story about playing music in his band." He must be delighted to know the salvaged strings will have a second life and that Pip's jewelry makes wonderful gifts especially for the musically inclined.
Pip uses a variety of techniques for her designs - wire wrapping, hammering and soldering. The soldering is essential to prevent snagging and unravelling.
Her simple styles are often modern with bursts of color on some designs.
My favorites from her store are her rings especially this wonderful sterling silver ring which has an embedded and soldered gold guitar string. Who knew guitar strings sometimes comes in that color? I didn't.
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| Stacking guitar string rings |
She also designs some jewelry from piano strings obtained from her grandmother's piano. Check out what she is up to on
her Facebook page.
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