Featured Artist – MGChains

If for some strange reason you happened to be looking at my college transcript, you might notice an odd course tucked in between “Poetry/Prose Workshop” and “Discrete Mathmatics” – a course labeled “Chainmaille & Calligraphy.” The calligraphy part was fun, but it was the chainmaille that really grabbed my attention.

I started by learning basic armor weaves on cheap galvanized steel, but it wasn’t long before I started experimenting with colors and patterns in anodized aluminum. After a few years of playing with bright shiny colors, I needed a new challenge so I ‘graduated’ to silver and gold. I’ve been working with chainmaille for 8 years now, and the best part is that I’m still learning new things all the time.

I’m currently splitting my time between grad school in Boston (hoping to end up with an MA in graphic design) and weekends with my boyfriend and our cat in Portland, Maine.

Materials I work with:

Silver & Gold:
I work on “micromaille” with tiny rings made of sterling silver and gold fill. I love the challenge of weaving thread-thin rings of silver into intricate patterns, and I love the silky look and feel of woven silver.

Color:
Aluminum is strong and lightweight, perfect for weaving into chainmaille. I love to play with color combinations, and will do custom orders for color requests!

Heavy Metal:
Galvanized steel was what I learned with, and I still love to return to my roots and weave heavy, industrial pieces to satisfy my inner goth punk. My galvanized steel rings are hand-cut, which gives them a slightly more rough-edged industrial look.

I also work with stainless steel, which has the same satisfying weight of galvanized with the bonus of being easy to keep shiny and clean.

So whether you call it Chainmail or Chainmaille or Maille or just Chains, welcome to my world of woven metal rings! 

You can find my work at my Etsy shop.
Follow me on Twitter.

                         

Tags: aluminum, armor, chainmaille, colors, galvanized, gold, heavy metal, maille, micromaille, rings, silver, stainless steel, steel, weaves

Posted in Handmade Harbor