I was asked to design a couple of cremation necklaces for a sister and brother who had lost their father. This design request was both technically challenging, in that I’d never made this type of vessel to hold something so sentimental and also to create individual vessels for each sibling that was representational to them and in their relationship to their father. I also wanted the pendants to have a similar design esthetic even though the siblings live in different parts of the country.

When I began to research cremation pendants, what I found looked like a little flask with a screw top. I’m not a designer who is into mechanisms and I was more interested in designing vessels where the contents were contained inside with permanence. I had designed a necklace for a client who is an acupuncturist. She wanted a small vessel to contain elements of ground up sage, tobacco leaves and amethyst that ward off bad energy. I created a delicate necklace with a small conch shell I had cast in silver that had a tiny hole where I sprinkled the ground elements inside and soldered it shut. This was the same approach I went with for the design of the cremation pendants. Here is what I came up with.

The sister wanted something simple and understated. She said her father called her Sunshine. I created a tubular style vessel with a dot pattern of the sun. It’s abstract, but also representational.

The brother practices yoga. I decided a triangle shape was best for him in that it’s a pose in yoga and a bit more masculine in it’s structure than a tube. His only design request was to have the OM symbol somewhere.

I decided to put the OM symbol on the back of pendant. I wanted it to rest against his heart, bringing a sense of peace and closeness to his father.

Standing underneath a palm tree in Charleston, SC. The view is beautiful.

An azalea with morning dew.

Oysters shells, such amazing textural variations and so delicious.

I just created 3 new textures to add to my collection of men’s wedding bands. These will be found in the Manlier Collection of my shop.

From the top and working down the totem pole are as follows:

Herringbone- inspired by men’s suit fabric.  Glacier- inspired by ice, rocks and mountainous range.  Plaid- inspired by men’s suit fabric.  Grid- inspired by lug nuts and grids.  Bark- inspired by various tree bark.