A BOLD AMBITION
SIX YEARS of battling Lyme disease that included
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WBM october 2017
being bedridden for two years ignited a fire within
Sara Westermark’s creative spirit that is just getting
started.
“It’s like playing,” she says. “I completely feel like a
kid; I’m giddy.”
After many successful years as a metalsmith specializing in set-ting
precious and semiprecious gemstones, Westermark’s appar-ent
setback transformed her body of work.
“My whole work has shifted toward enameling, partially because
I love the color and I want to celebrate life, and also because I can’t
set stones as easily as I used to be able to do,” she says.
Last year she bought a kiln and invested in tools and materials
to bring her ideas to life. A hydraulic press stamps out her designs
onto sheets of metal to take the pressure off her hands.
“It feels right,” she says. “It feels fun for me.”
Conscious of the health risk in working with certain types of
enamel, Westermark steers clear of lead-based colors, but still
manages to find the most colorful shades she can. Her distinctive
rainbow necklace and enameled earrings cover the spectrum.
“When I enamel it, I want it to be on purpose,” she says.
Top: Sara Westermark works in her home studio. Above: Westermark
trims the tab from a die-cut piece of copper and then forms it with
stake and die to give it a curved surface.