Verso

Melanie Brauner is a metalsmith, letterpress printer, bookbinder, and papermaker working in Shoreline Washington.  She holds a BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft, where she studied books arts and metalsmithing.

Her company, Verso Jewelry, is made from wire forms dipped into abaca paper fibers suspended in water. The fibers cling to the wire and shrink as they dry.  A tight 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, one at a time.