Exploring Surface: Shaping and Patina Techniques on Copper by Manon Mutel

About the workshop
In this workshop, we will combine shaping and volume with patina colouring. We will explore different tools for working volumetrically on metal sheets (hammering, chiselling, embossing, etc.), searching for interesting surface finishes, hollows, and dents.
Next, we will focus on colour using various hot and cold patina recipes to create a diverse sample collection of possible surface finishes.

The techniques taught will include:
- Hammering.
- Chasing.
- Embossing.
- Copper nitrate patinas with pigments.
- Iron nitrate patina with pigments.
- Polishing.
- Brushing.

Practical Information Dates
6th and 7th of April 2025.
from 9h30 to 13h and 14h to 17h30 (7h each day).


Number of participants 
12 maximum per workshop.
Level: all levels.

Price
290 euros (The material is included in the price of the workshop ).
+ 10 euros / homemade lunch (optional).

Languages
english, french (for personal talks, all the general explanations will be in English).


About Manon Mutel
​It is through drawing that the piece takes its initial form. By sketching on scraps of paper, I search for ideas and the overall appearance. Always fairly flat, with little sense of volume, drawing helps me place things.

When I like a drawing, I carefully adapt it to clay. I seek volume, attitude, and can envision it from different angles. The clay is a three-dimensional model of what the sculpture will become. It is not fixed; it’s a rough form, a base for the metalwork.  

On this draft, I then search for direction. I approach hammering like a form of textile pattern-making, with welding as the stitching. Each part of the sculpture, each piece of metal sheet, passes between the hammer and the anvil. What I enjoy about hammering is playing with the sheet metal, finding the rhythm of the hammer, testing the forces. In turn, I emboss, anneal, shrink, stretch, and smooth the metal. I take pleasure in assembling the pieces and reworking the fragments.  

The sculpture then gradually takes shape. Sometimes I enjoy combining hammering with more linear techniques, playing with drawing and volumes in space. Metal has this practical property of being very structural, allowing for impressive cantilevers.