Kate's Crow - fire screen design

I mentioned before that I'd been in touch with an artist blacksmith to make a fire screen to frame Kate's Crow, and was waiting to hear back from him. Well, Brian Russell from Little Newsham Forge has got back to me, we've discussed what I'd like, and he's happy to go ahead.

I want something that will complement the embroidery but not compete with it. Wrought iron would seem to go with the black and silver design better than wood, for instance, but I still need something appropriate to do with it.

Here's the sketch I sent to Brian:

It still has spirals, but very different ones. I felt that spirals in the same style as the embroidered ones would be too much, and could overpower the stitching. So, I went back to a much earlier style, the Bronze Age cup and ring carvings of Northumberland or Newgrange. It's funny how a design based on something several thousand years old can look so contemporary!

Not knowing a thing about metalwork, I wasn't sure if this design would work, but Brian assures me that it will. The next step is to stretch the embroidery onto a board and send it to the forge, so that they can be sure that everything will fit as they make it.

I'm not sure how long it'll take to make (they're very busy, apparently), but I can't wait to see it finished!