When a line becomes a circle.
Violet Light earrings.
Handmade with iolite and recycled sterling silver.
Golden Light
This week's challenge: large, luminous, lightweight earrings.
Golden Light earrings.
Handmade with Chiapas amber and recycled sterling silver.
Banged Up
“I want a black thick banged up ring.
”
I hope I got this right.
#whyIneverdocommissions
7 Years of Jewelry
I created my first jewelry collection seven years ago this month. Since then, I have designed and hand-built over 1,500 one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces.
I still consider myself a beginner.
These are some of my favorite pieces from the past seven years.
Most of them have sold, and I do not repeat them.
You can see what is available in my online shop.
Recycled Silver
Before I began to work as a jeweler, I was hired as a translator for a group of Canadian filmmakers who wanted to document the ravages caused by current mining practices in Mexico.
The film crew and I visited a large Canadian-run mine in a colonial town called Cerro de San Pedro, in the state of San Luis Potosí. The San Pedro mountain was originally a sacred site for the local indigenous population, but it was transformed into a mining town when the Spaniards discovered gold and silver in the16th century. For the next 100 years, the metal ore was extracted from underground tunnels using handheld mining tools.
Today, the fine metal ore in the underground mines is scarce, and can only be extracted using a modern system called “open pit mining.” This method uses thousands of gallons of water mixed with cyanide to extract metal from huge mountains of previously crushed underground rock, a practice that is highly toxic for the environment.
When I returned from the visit, I had already decided to become a silversmith, so I knew I had to find a way to do it without further harming the planet. I eventually found a local source that supplied sterling silver recycled from x-rays and photographic processes. This is the silver that I use to make my jewelry.
Shop Update
The Double Stone rings are now available in my online shop.
If you no longer see the piece you are looking for, it means it has already sold.
Double Stone Series
I will add the Double Stone ring series to my online shop tomorrow, Monday, between 1 and 2 pm, Mexico City time.
Sign up here if you want me to notify you the minute they are available.
Every ring is one of a kind and I can cut it to fit any size between 6 and 9.5. If you need help calculating your ring size, please follow these instructions.
Echo
She cut and filed. Then layered, soldered and set. Her work had a ripple effect.
Echo ring.
Handmade with blue chalcedony and 100% recycled sterling silver.
This Monday in my online shop.
Sign up here and I will email you as soon as it is available.
Shadow
In most of my dreams I learn this: befriend your darkness.
Shadow ring.
Handmade with star diopside and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Sign up here if you want me to notify you when I add this ring to my online shop.
Reverence
Art is my religion.
Reverence ring.
Handmade with natural turquoise and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Sign up here if you want me to notify you the minute I post this ring to my shop.
Ventricle
This is turning into a large series. I hadn't made rings with two stones before, and there are so many variables to explore.
Ventricle ring.
Handmade with Carnelian and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Sign up here if you want me to notify you when I add this ring to my shop.
Adaptation
I recently saw a documentary that showed how a wild tiger hunts its prey by moving its 500 pound body across fallen leaves without making a sound. It fails more times than it succeeds, but this practice makes it one of the most graceful and magnificent animals in nature.
Adaptation ring.
Handmade with Chiapas amber and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Departure
“Where do the words go that did not remain?
Where do the glances go that one day departed?
Do they float eternal, like prisoners of a gale?
Or do they snuggle, between cracks, seeking warmth?
Do they roll on crystals, passing for raindrops?
Do they ever turn into something?
Do they go?
And where do they go?
Where do they go?”
Departure ring.
Handmade with labradorite and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Recognition
I think I should title every piece: Look mom, I made this.
Recognition ring.
Handmade with chrysocolla and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Lighthouse
“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive - to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.”
Lighthouse ring.
Handmade with transparent quartz and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Jumpstart
Jumpstart my heart.
Vision ring.
Handmade with iolite, amethyst, and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Shop Update
The Seed bracelets are now in my online shop. If you no longer see the piece you are looking for, that means it has already sold.
Seed Bracelets
I will add the Seed bracelets to my online shop tomorrow, between 1 and 2 pm, Mexico City time. Sign up here if you want me to notify you the minute they are available.
Jade
Hills covered in grass, wet earth, deep breaths.
Grassland Bracelet.
Handmade with jade and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Origin
I once read an interview where an artist couple was asked how they learnt their craft. We had to make a lot of mistakes until we got really good –they replied– and then we had to get bad again, because being really good is not that interesting.
Origin bracelet.
Handmade with hawk's eye and 100% recycled sterling silver.
Next week in my online shop.