Robert Padfield
Penzance Copper
RPPZ
What does RPPZ stand for?
Well, these are my initials followed by PZ for Penzance. Simple. It gets cut into most of my work, unless I feel it would detract from the look of the piece, … or unless I’ve simply forgotten.
In fact, it’s not unusual for me to sign a piece just as someone is on the point of buying it.
A brief history
Having been a painter for a number of years I then moved on to copper. Something flipped in my brain and I went from obsessing about the next painting to obsessing about the next piece of metal I could work. Maybe it’s just my inner magpie. a number of years ago an artist had a disc of copper in his studio
Antiques
Since I moved in with my partner, over a decade ago now, we have run an antique shop together. There has always been a flow of brass and copper through the shop, and I would always be the one to polish it. This was what piqued my interest, ultimately giving me a sound grounding in antique metalware (and, not least, a respect for the celebrated copperware made in Newlyn at the turn of the 20th century). The antique shop has proved to be a fertile hunting ground for those items that I can cut up, refashion and put to better use … after all, there’s only so many warming pans I can polish before deciding they’d be better off as something else.
Sourcing Metal
A lot of my work uses broken bits of brass and copper salvaged from the antique shop, auctions and boot sales - and if they weren't broken before I got hold of them, then they were soon after!
The most popular item I produce are the wreaths. These can be made from oil-lamp bases, warming pans, jugs, trays, kettles … really, any bits of scrap metal I can get hold of that isn't of sufficient age or quality for the antique shop. I also like repurposing items that have themselves been recycled; it’s not uncommon to see in new works some decoration or patina from earlier incarnations.
However, I’ll also buy sheets of metal, plumbing pipe, electrical wire, or anything else that takes my fancy at the scrap yard. For me, part of the joy in making things is to turn something unloved, boring, ugly or broken into a beautiful object that will be treasured.
Cornwall
I have yet to meet a craftsman or artist living in Cornwall who can say they haven't been influenced in some way by the majestic landscapes or rich history of the place - I certainly have been!
Clues in that context include: the recurring theme of 15, deriving from the gold coins of Byzantium (or bezants) that the people of Cornwall raised (one and all) to ransom the duke of Cornwall; the relics of industry; the beauty revealed in polished stone from the Lizard peninsula; the fascinating cultural traditions of the people; the awesome might of the storms, or the simple pleasures of watching the gulls as they circle fishing boats returning to port laden with fish fresh from the clear blue sea.
Serpentine
Quite often, when looking for a way to enhance a simple mirror or the lid of a copper box, I’ll turn to one of the treasures of Cornwall: a rock formed long ago, deep underground, forced to the surface by mighty geological forces to emerge today in majestic Cornwall. After the stones have been gathered, cut and polished, I then set them in copper. They’re a testament to the heritage and hidden beauty of ancient Cornwall. There are few stones with as much variety of colour and pattern.
Silver
First thing i will say about this is that i am not a jeweller, i don't do much work in silver, more often than not the way i work silver is very labour intensive, instead of buying a sheet of silver i will melt worn coins, broken jewellery, or other scrap i find down into a silver ingot, then hammer that out to my desired thickness and then make what i want. So my silver work is unusually thick and heavy, which does have a lovely feel but it makes it expensive both in silver and time.
On commissions
I don't particularly like commissions, that's not to say i wont do them, but my preferred way of dealing with requests is, if its a project i like the idea of, i will agree to it and give the person first refusal, its a method that's worked well for me so far.
Gemstones
Like with serpentine i use gemstones to enhance a piece of copper or i set them in a pendant. I use lapis lazuli, malachite, agate, rose quartz, rock crystal, amethyst, labradorite and tigers eye. I try and use stones that work well with copper. some stones I buy ready polished and some I polish myself. My particular favourite is lapis, there's something very rewarding about starting with a pretty boring rock and finishing with a rich blue cabochon set into the top of a box.
Enamel
Theres something particularly satisfying about putting a load of boring nondescript powders on a piece of copper, roasting it at a stupidly high heat and melting the glass onto the metal.
If youve ventured this far you might have found some of my enamel work, or you might not have, if your interested theres certainly some of other pages
A note on polishing
Copper is a delightful metal to work with but also a to watch age and mature over time, i’m not a purist either way when it comes to polishing, its pretty much a matter of individual taste, some things i find do well with a regular polish, some things i think look better if theyre just left to age naturaly, and some things a semi regular wipe over with wax furniture polish to bring the oxidisation up to a high shine without actualy polishing the metal back to “new”
For this reason my work changes and evolves as i keep it and rotate it in and out of my displays, so if you wish to purchase a piece, contact me, and ill suply photos of it as it currently is, and if you want it polished to a high shine ill gladly do that too.
