Melanie Brauner

Melanie Brauner is a metalsmith, papermaker, and artist. She makes jewelry and art out of handmade paper and metal. Based in Everett, Washington, she spends lots of time roaming through the beautiful Pacific Northwest landscape gathering inspiration. Aside from art-making, she plays traditional Scottish, Irish and old time music on the fiddle and piano.

She holds a BFA from Oregon College of Art & Craft, where studying books arts and metals. Her papermaking and metals studios in Everett are tucked at the back of the garden of her 1928 storybook cottage, where she lives with her bagpipe-teacher husband, Kevin, and big orange cat named Higgins.  

Artist Statement

I make jewelry from metal forms cast in handmade paper. The metal is dipped into a pulp of water and finely beaten paper fibers from a plant called abaca. The fibers cling to the metal and shrink as they dry. A tight, translucent paper skin is built up on the form over successive dips. The concept is the same as making a sheet of handmade paper, but around a three-dimensional form, and by building up thin layers over the course of several days. After a translucent layer of paper has built up, the forms are hand-dyed, and finally sealed with resin to make them waterproof and durable. 

The pieces are inspired by the beautiful oceans and forests and mountains and wetlands of the Pacific Northwest...tide pools, seeds, flowers, raindrops, birds, the curves of a river, ferns, leaves.....