Master engraver translates microscopic world into art

Laura Brazan is fascinated by the microscopic patterns that appear in the world.

As a designer, master engraver and gold inlay artist, she works in fine detail to make those patterns part of her work featured on rings, belt buckles, pins, knives, earrings, letter openers and money clips.

“I like taking organic forms, showing the beauty of that by breaking down how the light looks under a microscope and expressing that experience in my work,” she said.

She uses a delicate balance of her hands and body while keeping her mind free to achieve her delicate designs from traditional engraving and inlay to her more modern original designs.

“I have to have the right state of mind to work,” Brazan said. “I spend time meditating and empty my mind. I have to do that if I’m going to create something of beauty. It’s spiritual for me.”

Brazan has spent decades mastering the arts of hand engraving and gold inlay. She previously worked to create a custom engraving of a gun for former President George H.W. Bush. and famous collectors and worked in the custom design department of Tiffany & Co. and Turgeon Raine Jewelers in Seattle.

After graduating from UCLA with a master’s degree in fine arts she studied under master engravers. She then began her career as a master engraver for Tiffany & Co. in New York City and Stuart Moore Jewelers.

In 1986 she left New York to establish her own studio just outside Whitefish. She is married and has three children. In addition to her artwork, she has also been a volunteer art teacher.

Brazan recently began experimenting with original designs. While more traditional engraving has set patterns and styles, she’s looking to move beyond that with a more organic feel.

She’s been studying light and reflectiveness made by the different ways of engraving patterns onto her jewelry. The result is a more modern, almost three-dimensional aesthetic with tiny lines creating movement across earrings and bracelets that appear as small pieces of artwork.

“I’ve mastered all the styles and now I’m looking to develop my own line focusing on nature and the outdoors,” she said. “It’s time for me to express myself.”

Brazan says she’s inspired by organic forms from nature that can be translated onto her jewelry through lines that break up the light and reflect back the colors around them. One of her bracelets features waves of lines inspired by leaves, while another piece has detailed curving lines that seem to mimic flower petals.

“It’s fun to do something innovative in a traditional medium,” she said. “Shadows and shapes can be just as interesting as color.”

Her collection “Sacred Works” is on display at McGough & Co. in Whitefish. For more on her work, visit www.LauraBrazan.com.