Oh friends, this collection has been so very long in the making! Every time I thought it was finished, I would find another piece of frothy, crackled amazonite in a Fenton bowl or in the pocket of a sweater, and the little stones would ask so politely to join the others.
How could I refuse?
But, here they are! Each piece features a unique amazonite gemstone. They are all minty and aquamarine colored with tiny flashing crystals just under the surface, like sunshine glinting across water. The stones I chose for this collection are perfectly imperfect. Some are freeform shape, falling and tapering where the rough led the gemcutter, which makes the stones look liquid in the way in which they fill their little cups.
I chose stones with ripples and striations, cracks and inclusions, because these features give the stones their frothiness and movement. The irregular patterning replicates the white-capped surface of an ocean viewed from above.
Darting behind and around the stones are tiny seahorses. Prim and coquettish, delicate and furtive, there are seahorses on each piece, if you can find them. I like to think that these are the types of jewels they would adorn themselves with as they promenade along coral paths and dance with one another in the tall grasses to the rhythm of the Mediterranean.
To accent the stones, I have added fans and hand-forged, sterling silver bubbles. Bezel walls with a scalloped pattern to give the sense of movement and undulation. Ring bands shaped like fins gently wrapping around the finger.
As long as I can remember, I have had a soft-spot for these little fellows. Dainty and slightly ridiculous, they seem not made for this world. Like Elizabethan courtiers bedecked with flounces and costume rouge, impractical lacework catching on passersby, ruffles and puffs to attract the eye, twirling with chosen dance partners in the sun-dappled seclusion of the reef. Seahorses are exactly as they should and should not be.
I read once that the seahorse’s body shape is so odd and poorly designed for swimming that they are known to perish of exhaustion when caught in strong currents or storm-tosses seas. Somehow that endears them even more to me. By sheer persistence and proliferation, these strange creatures endure. Rather than cast off their impractical frills and develop fins along more traditional lines, they have found their niche. They continue on outlandish and ethereal among the corals and tall grasses.
I could make a thousand pieces as odes to these splendid, strange creatures, but for now thirteen will have to suffice.
All of these pieces will be in the shop tomorrow, July 18th at 8:00 p.m. EST!
(I had several requests for these pieces to be in my Etsy shop to allow for swifter checkout, so that is where you will find them.)
Swim gently, my friends.
