Being a more ornamental object, this metal rose was a step away from my other projects. However, moving forward, I want to create more floral pieces because of how much I enjoyed the process of crafting the rose, as well as the elegance of the end product.

Because the exact shape of each layer of the rose is impossible to attain by hand, cut out layers of sheet steel were ordered from a machine shop. These layers were then textured using the cross peen of a hammer to resemble the veins in a rose petal. After texturing, the stem was thinned to fit the holes at the center of each layer to stack the layers on top of one another on the stem. Once secured to the stem, I shaped each layer by hand using a pair of scrolling tongs to resemble the curvature of a rose, taking special care to tilt the ends of each petal down to mimic the death of the far extremities of rose petals.

Recently inspired by a walk through a botanical garden, I will attempt to make palm fronds next.