Note Type
Artist StatementNote
Retrieved from the Enamel Arts Foundation website: [https://www.enamelarts.org/lucky-strike/]
The snake depicted in Lucky Strike Brooch is a Timber Rattlesnake, the only species found in the northeastern United States. Freda first developed the idea of working with aluminum when he was living in upstate New York. During this period, he did a series of works combining aluminum panels and enamel. In this piece produced about ten years later in 2002, he particularly liked the way the aluminum melted and wrapped itself around the edges of the form. While this work is among the most menacing of Freda’s decorative brooches, the artist seems almost to revel in the beauty of the serpent’s head. As with the Sparrows necklace, Freda’s arresting jewelry, while grounded in a close observation of nature, is not for the faint of heart! The artist has stated, “I like the challenge of taking repulsive things and making them beautiful. When someone says ‘jewels’ to me, I think of frogs and snakes. I want people to see what I see.”
[IR 06/24/2025]