Melanie Brauner is a hand papermaker, metalsmith, and sometimes book artist living and working in Everett, Washington. Her jewelry line, Verso, is made from hand-fabricated metal forms cast with a paper skin and coated in resin, and her mixed media sculpture is made from her own handmade paper, metal, wood, reed, and paint. Her work explores the Kantian concept that beauty can be universal, and that imitation of nature may be the path to a universal beauty. She graduated from Oregon College of Art and Craft with a BFA in 2014, where she studied book arts and metals. She launched Verso in January 2016, and now sells her jewelry at art fairs year round, and at galleries, art museum shops, and boutiques all around the country.

Here are a few images of her jewelry:

People often question the durability of paper jewelry. Melanie’s pieces are resilient and waterproof!

We talked a bit about her sculpture:

And this is the supplier she mentioned for kakishibu (persimmon tannin).