Before I began crafting tiny metals, I worked as a production assistant for a couple of beaded jewelry designers. When I started to do my own work, I felt limited in just stringing beads and so I went on to Penland School of Crafts to hone my skills in metals. Lately, I’ve been going back to my beaded roots and mixing it up with some hand-cast pieces. Here are some results.

Cast Auger Shells & Clasp strung with Kelly Green Thread and Granite Agate Beads.

Cast tiny Cocina Shell with Teal Seed Beads and accent Gold Seed Beads.

Cast mini Anchor with Poppy Seed Beads and accent Gold Beads.

Cast Blackbird Cameo strung with Poppy Thread and Indigo Seed Beads and Black Matte Heishi Beads.

Detail of cast Bronze Clasp.

Knotted Turquoise 6mm Beads with Gray Thread and finished with Braided Bronze Clasp.

Braided Bow Necklaces from the Memento Collection. Comes in beautiful colors of teal, mustard and purple.

I’m excited to be included as a designer in a very cool store, END OF CENTURY in NYC. Check them out. www.endofcenturynyc.com

To document my latest work, I recently had a wonderful photoshoot with a very talented photographer, Alex Minkin- www.alexminkin.com

Here’s a few images of some chunky new rings I’m making for men and/or women.

It wasn’t so easy getting these rings to stack up like a totem pole, but I love the resulting image.

Gouged Wood Ring is what I’m calling this style. I’m making a few pieces with this same texture that is inspired by my daily walks in the woods of Central Park with my dog, Ramona.

Glacier Ring is the name for this texture and shape that is inspired by elements found in both ice, rock and also wood. I’ve designed some other pieces with this same texture. The shape of this new ring is similar to an older design I used to fabricate in metal called the Pinch Ring.

Relic Ring with embedded shark tooth and anchor.  I was thinking about fossils and how shells have hitchhikers of other shells that have attached themselves. I also wanted to use my shark tooth in a chunky ring that a man would want to wear, but I knew my original shark tooth was too delicate. This ring is certainly not delicate. The anchor found it’s way into the design in the later stage of the wax carving process.

Right now, I’m working on some new designs for men. I’m still in the wax carving stage, but hope to have some pieces cast in the next couple of weeks.

Since I’m thinking a lot about jewelry for men,  I decided to include some old designs. The rings below are a small selection of custom wedding bands I’ve made for guys.

Rough faceted file marked band. Shown in yellow gold with an antique finish.

The client had made a temporary ring from a washer at a hardware store that he wrapped in rafia. He wanted the custom ring to be similar to his original. Shown in silver with a patina finish.

This custom ring is made for a client that is a green builder. He wanted a ring that looked like a nut that he’d use in his own design projects.  This client was featured in Charleston Magazine and he said my ring is one of his favorite things. That’s so awesome! Shown in white gold.

Custom three ring band. This ring was designed to compliment the bride’s wedding set I made that had several thin stacking rings in different gold hues. Shown in silver.

I call this my doily ring, but that doesn’t sound very masculine. I call it that because the wedding ring for the bride did look like a doily. Her ring was tiny open circles that linked together and very delicate like a doily. His ring is very sturdy and not delicate. Shown in white gold.

My next posting will have some pictures of the bridal rings I’ve been referencing.

Wild Onions & Hearts Charm Bracelet- Blackened Silver

Custom Man’s Link Bracelet- Blackened Silver & Gold

Charm Bracelets- Blackened Silver, Gold Thin Bangle

Charm Bracelets- Blackened Silver, Textured Cuffs- Silver & Gold

Textured Bangles- Silver

Thin Cuffs for Men

Cuffs & Bangles for Women

Circle Stamp Cuff- Silver

Drilled Cuff- Silver

Custom Gold Twig Bangle with Chocolate Diamond

Thin Grid Texture Cuff- Gold

Custom Oval Grid Bangle- Gold repurposed from client’s old gold.

Antique Mirror Locket
This is a custom piece I made for a client as a “Push Present”. I had no idea what that was – it’s a present the husband gives to his wife after she’s given birth. Typically, most presents of this nature result in something like a tennis bracelet. No thanks. I’m so happy to have been commissioned to make this instead. The inside has the baby’s initials engraved in a lovely script and of course, the opposite side is for the wee babe’s photo. It was a challenging custom job, but worth the effort!

I found this sweet little rose thorn when I was out walking my dog, Ramona. It’s utterly feminine and really edgy all in one. I love Mother Nature. She’s just the coolest.

Rose Thorn Necklace
Mixed Metals, silver thorn & gold cable chain

Multiple Rose Thorns
Blackened Silver & Open Link Chain

Rose Thorn & Lapis
Blackened Silver & Snake Chain