Hi ,I’m Mel Berman, a South African born pewter and mixed media artist artist now living in the U.K. I have always been a creative person. I did art at school and a year of a general art diploma in college, but didn’t carry it on. I was always doing something creative….always dabbling in some form of craft, from making 3-D sculptural cakes to working with the City Council on craft projects in the libraries , to sewing children’s fancy dress costumes and doing a bit of face painting and making fairies, but have never been able to stick to one medium for long…..and then I found metal embossing!!

On a trip back to Cape Town a few years ago, I joined a friend on a pewter embossing workshop and was captivated by this versatile metal. Pewter has a lustre that can captivate light or darken to form shadow. It’s malleability enables it to be engraved and embossed with a few simple tools.…and can be used to decorate a variety of objects or be used in mixed media works.

Three years ago, after being made redundant from my cooking job, I started Metallix, fulfilling a lifelong dream to have a studio and to teach things that I love doing. I can try new ideas, try different mediums, and I don’t even have to tidy up after a long day unless I have a class to run.

I work in both pewter and copper, as well as a bit of aluminium and metal tape, along with different coloured foils, waxes and inks to enhance or distress the surface pattern, and incorporate wire and free machine embroidery into my mixed media artworks. These metals can be used to embellish anything that has a flat surface, from embossed journal covers to jewellery boxes and mirror frames

As well as doing mixed media canvases in a variety of styles, I also take commissions for larger artworks.

I draw my inspiration from my love of nature and the scenic memories of my African heritage. Architecture and landscape hold dear in my memory bank and my many photographs of exploration of other cities and cultures give me a multitude of ideas to work from.

In any spare time that I have, I teach workshops from my studio in The Old Print Works in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, as well as travelling to other venues, from people’s living rooms to coffee shops and craft centres.

All my workshops are beginner friendly. Come and learn something new and make an awesome notebook or box. I have Christmas workshops too.