Design and Process
Read about Donna Barry's inspirations from her natural surroundings, her design process and her customised technique of fusing silver and gold.
INSPIRATION
Repetition, Pattern, Texture & Colour
Hydrangeas and windmills, honeycomb, succulents, frost, sand, roof tiles and fish scales. These are just some of the things Donna is attracted to. She finds it fascinating that simple structures within the the natural world and man made objects can sometimes be so similar. Donna has always been drawn to repetition and pattern in nature. Donna’s additional vocation as a florist between 2006 and 2011 provided her with an endless source of shapes and textures to draw inspiration from. Not only did she learn new creative skills as a Floral Artist, Floristry also introduced new ideas, forms, and most importantly, colour to her designs.
DESIGN & PROCESS
Arranging, Fusing, Forming & Finishing
Although it is nature and her surroundings that influences Donna, it is often the technique itself that comes first. Donna uses her own customised technique of fusion. Working with silver and gold, she arranges various distinctive petal shapes into regular and asymmetrical patterns and then fuses them together with heat to create textured sheets. By working and forming these precious sheets in various ways, she produces pieces that resemble elegant structures and symmetry found in flora and fauna. Donna works predominately with a soft colour palette of silver and rose gold, often incorporating precious and semi precious stones in dusky tones. In addition to this, she applies an exquisite ruthenium black finish to all, or part of some pieces, for further contrast. Donna works intuitively with her chosen materials allowing shapes and forms to develop through the making process.
