My name is Whitney Waters and I’d like to share with you the Passion Behind Copper Soul and how copper began my journey to becoming an artisan jewelry maker.

I’ve always like art, starting with drawing then graduating to painting. And whenever there was a craft project to be done, I was in.

My boyfriend saw my creative bug and realized I could do even more with new tools and a new medium. As a birthday present, he gave me copper metal clay and a book on how to use it. It sat on a shelf for a couple months because it was new and intimidating. I finally read the instructions a couple times and pulled out the clay to start molding. I made a few simple pieces and was amazed at the transformation of clay into metal when fired in a kiln.

When Christmas came around, he surprised me again with Electro-forming equipment which was even more intimidating than metal clay but this time, I didn’t let it sit so long. I learned what I could about the chemistry, electricity, conductivity, copper, plating, etc… and then I experimented. During the trial and error period, the first piece I tried to electro-form was a small pinecone; It sat in the solution for hours with nothing happening and I was so frustrated. The pinecone turned mushy and made the solution dirty. The conductive paint cracked and chipped off. Pushing past the frustration, I finally realized there’s a button to push to make the electricity start flowing from the power supply!

Learning and tackling these different types of media gave me confidence to try other materials and scour YouTube for directions. So while I make jewelry with many different substances, the name of my business is Copper Soul for two reasons. Copper started this entire journey, endearing itself to my heart. And copper jewelry gave me the passion to do more, to reach further, to not be afraid. I pour passion into every piece I make, and I hope you wear the jewelry while you’re doing something that you’re passionate about.