Ivonne Escobar de Kommer

Ivonne Escobar de Kommer, a native of Santiago, Chile, has worked in many artistic mediums, from photography to jewelry and textiles. But after discovering metalwork, she said she “never stopped hammering.”

While she works in bronze, aluminum, brass and silver, her copper repoussé sculptures have become her trademark.

For her commissioned piece for the Vashon Allied Arts auction, “Rainflower,” Kommer sculpted 19-gauge copper into smooth, soft clouds, which billow around a beveled mirror.

“Living in the Northwest, where it rains so much, I wanted to show how clouds make rain that brings all the beautiful flowers,” she said.

Her process begins with an idea followed by a full-size sketch that becomes a template for the copper. She fills framed copper hollows with pitch. After it hardens, she begins sculpting, pushing and defining lines with her handmade tools, working in positive and negative space. Then she torches the piece, lets it cool and again fills it with pitch to refine details.

Kommer’s work is frequently exhibited at Silverwood Gallery — this month’s Silverwood exhibit will include pieces by Kommer. She also commissions pieces for private collections and teaches metalwork through Vashon Artists in Schools and for Vashon Allied Arts’ summer arts education programs.