Romanesque

Romanesque means Roman-like...
and it references the the 11th and 12th century metal work done in Europe. This was a prosperous time when artisans looked back at a great empire and tried to mimic the art left by the Romans. They were so eager to rise out of the dark, dingy and cold middle ages that focused just on survival. This new generation of Europeans wanted a future full of rich culture in the arts and education. They looked at the time when the great Roman empire thrived and built schools and museums in honor of knowledge and human development. These people were impressed by education and deep, insightful cultural expression.
Unfortunately, the skills and training that the Roman artisans had were not available to medieval Italy and other European societies in the 11th and 12th century, they had to improvise until proper training was available. The roads were not safe and the Byzantine artists who maintained the old school traditions were not eager to risk their lives for travel to the western world. It was just too dangerous.
Although the old Greek Orthodox artists from Constantinople were hesitant about traveling to the Roman Catholic world, the roads eventually became safe and the money enticed their appetite for new adventure. They brought their skills with them to the western societies and taught these techniques to many monasteries where crosses and small figurines were in demand. In fact, this was such a lucrative trade that many of the monasteries became rich off of selling 'cloister crafts' to medieval Christian families.

Like these early Christians, I share an appreciation for Romanesque style and the ancient skills. I love the mixed metals they used and even though they did this because of lack of resources for an abundance of one metal, married metals became a new style. The 'marriage' of more than one metal into a single art form creates a beautiful and unique look. I've always loved copper and silver or lead together so I really enjoy making these crosses. Every one of them is a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art. I've sold over a hundred of them to different churches and people browsing through crafts fairs and festivals.

I hope you will find the charm in these small one-of-a-kind artifacts, too.

You can find my crosses for sale on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/122739671791?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
just click the above link or search dcurtis on ebay...I will be listing more each week.