Koi Fish by Jill Tower

Brooch / Figurative Playful

1st Place Winner.

My brooch is a koi fish. My inspiration piece from the Halstead kit was the sterling silver “polka dot” grid. It made me think of feathers and fish scales, and my koi fish design was born. I thinned the brass sheet, and cut corresponding “scales” to alternate with the sterling silver so that the final fish could be in a white, gold, and black color scheme, like a “real” koi fish. I found a vintage brass button with a tiny frog on top, which I thought would be perfect to live in the lilypond with my koi fish. The fish head snaps open (put a fingernail under the edge and pop it up), and the frog button can be safely “hidden” inside the mesh head, or swim ahead of the koi mouth attached by the kit chain and jump rings. On the back side, I etched a lily pond design, and bezel set a leopard frog cloisonné as a nod to my primary work as an enamel artist.