DARK STAR
Inspired by the mysteries of extraterrestrial life.
It begins with an idea…
HD149026b, better known as “Smertrios”, is a planet located approximately 250 light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Hercules orbiting a red dwarf star. It is known as both the hottest, and darkest planet ever discovered.
With surface temperatures reaching as much as 3,700 degrees Fahrenheit (or 2040 Celcius), it contains a glowing surface on one side where it is believed to absorb the heat from the star which it faces. It is truly a remarkable figment of nature, though how might life and human-made objects look in such a mysterious place?
Welcome, to the Dark Star collection.
image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Nebula”
1st edition
The first rendition to this collection is my favorite and most popular piece to this day, ‘Nebula’. This was the very piece that sparked my journey in embracing the curiosity I sought to chase in my creations…
It is forged with the 4.5 billion year-old meteorite, the Muonionalusta, in a San-Mai Damascus Steel construction consisting of high carbon steel alloys such as 15n20/ 1084 in over 2000+ layers. The handle is forged into an integral construction with 24k gold highlights scattered across the forged textured surface, with an ancient Wooly Mammoth tooth from the permafrost of Alaska carefully inlaid into the pocket of the handle. With Ethiopian opals set into the blade, this piece was built by material and design to ‘feel ‘ like it came from an otherworldly civilization. This, was the beginning…
2nd edition
photo credit EatingTools
“Eclipse”
The second embarkment of this collection was inspired by organic plantae, and how that might look on a scorched alien planet. The handle on this piece was entirely forged by hand, and built into a ‘floating handle’ construction using hidden hardware to seem as though it’s ‘latched’ on to its host…
Forged with the Muonionalusta meteorite, it consists of a high carbon Damascus Pattern-Welded Steel blade in my “fire in the sky” pattern. Illustrating the concept of a comet coming into the atmosphere, the pattern was hand-forged to bend and manipulate the hundreds of layers of steel to represent the fiery trails moving around the debris. The handle is embellished with 24k gold highlights scattered across the textured surface, with the delicate meteoric Widmanstätten crystalline pattern carefully preserved into the blade…
3rd edition
“Peridium”
Fungi is a fascinating phenomenon of Earth, and the idea of an otherworldly eukaryotic organism deteriorating its host inspire this piece… The handle on this piece was carefully carved by hand over multiple days from a bar of damascus steel, and built into a ‘floating handle’ construction convey the thought that it is slowly infecting, and spreading through its host…
Forged with the Muonionalusta meteorite, it consists of a high carbon Damascus Pattern-Welded Steel blade in forged with the world-renowned Bertie Rietveld composite steel. Illustrating the concept of tearing, cracked and aging materials; the pattern was hand-forged alongside 24k gold highlights scattered across the textured surface of the handle, representing the idea of a story told through ancient age.
4th edition
“Serenity”
In very harsh conditions of both darkness and overwhelming heat, the surface of a planet in such circumstances will shift, crack, and split… This is a concept of heat and pressure exposing the hidden beauty within.
Forged with the Muonionalusta meteorite, this Push Dagger consists of a Damascus Steel blade in a custom pattern illustrating stretched layers of mosaic construction. With small ‘planets’ of meteorite plated in 24k gold, it compliments the bright colorful shine of the handle embellished with 24k gold scattered across the inner surface of the hand-carved handle… This was a concept I wanted to be visually interesting, yet functional and comfortable by design. With a hollowed handle construction, this piece was built to be well balanced in the hand.
The idea of a surface ‘breaking open’ got me thinking, so I tried something different for the next one…
5th edition
“Photon”
Featuring ‘Photon’, inspired by organic life surviving beneath the surface. In thousands of layers of alloys shooting across the blade in my ‘lightspeed’ damascus steel pattern, it is forged with high carbon steel and meteoric iron of only 40 fragments known and one of the oldest meteorites ever recorded.
Incorporated into the handle is “Tentacles” emerging from the inner workings of the handle, consuming what it can as it wraps around the blade in a ‘floating tang’ construction. I wanted this piece to feel powerful, dangerous, and be nothing like anyone’s seen before…
Forged with the Muonionalusta meteorite, the handle is hand-forged from multiple pieces of mild steel to create this opening in which tentacles emerge from a multi-hollow and solid handle in a floating handle construction. With 24k gold highlights scattered across the surface of the handle, this is the most complex handle I’ve ever made.
6th edition
“Oblivion”
Derived from thousands of layers of Damascus Pattern-Welded Steel, I present “Oblivion”, carefully crafted from the most fascinating materials I’ve worked with to date.
Forged with the Muonionalusta meteorite, the delicate yet wildly beautiful Widmanstätten crystalline structure of the meteorite is preserved in a subtle topography underneath the 24k gold plated portion in the center of the blade. This was a concept I still wanted to be functional and comfortable by design, with such came the challenge of forging the entire handle of this blade into a hollowed construction; to hold a meteoric crystal known as Libyan Glass… Formed from when a comet impacts environments of sand, this specimen inhibits a beautiful yellow/ green color and a phenomenal glow in the light.
This piece was heavily inspired by the original blade of this series, ‘Nebula’, and the challenges faced when making it was very much worth the outcome.