Cuprous- Ferrous Foliis

My copper-iron leaf evolved from salvaging the rusty, skeletal innards of a mattress found dumped on the side of the highway between Lithgow and Bathurst. This old, twisted carcass had lots of wonderful rusty springs and zig-zaggy pieces of iron and looked like a bit of a sculpture in its raw form.
Eventually decided to make a variety of metal baskets from the different interesting shapes and eventually all that remained was the thick edging metal, one big continuous square. What to do with this piece? It was lovely, solid but malleable. I could bend it by hand. Being surrounded by vineyards my inspiration soon took shape. The outline of a grape leaf came into form.
Next I spotted my bucket of shiny salvaged copper wire, looking like discarded orange locks of hair in a salon. I had recovered this wire from all the household and garage appliances which had “spat the dummy” over the years figuring “one day it will be useful”. Working with individual strands of copper the veins of the leaf began to take shape. The leaf took a couple of weeks to create and usually swings gracefully in the breeze outside our winery. At certain times of the day the sun catches on the copper wire and glows life into the veins. A second life for the dumped and discarded.