Wire Wrapped Matched Pairs

I am not a trendy person. But I have to make an exception when something comes along that fits perfectly into my genre of rustic, tribal and primitive jewelry. Sets of matching stones are nothing new, but in the past year or so more natural edge slab cut stones are hitting the scene. Cut with the intention of being used in earrings, they often have mirrored patterns like the traditional matching pairs and are fairly thin so that their weight would not be prohibitive in an earring design. The fact that they are left with their organic looking natural cut edges is what sets them apart and makes them irresistible to me.

Because I am not the first or the only artist who loves these stones and uses them in earrings, I try to come up with a variation from the straight wire wrap presentation. Each pair will have a distinctive twist to identify it as mine. I'm having fun with these stones, and I hope you like the end results as much as I do.

You can find the earrings in the collage in my Etsy shop, Chrysalis Too!

Metal Therapy

When designing jewelry, my ongoing challenge is finding balance between disciplined technique and crazy unbridled creativity. I really can't have one without the other. Too disciplined is uninteresting, and too crazy is just chaotic. The earrings above lean more toward the disciplined end of the spectrum. I hammered the copper shapes and applied a darkening patina first, then the red patina later, and finished them with wire wrapped connectors. While the earrings below are a little crazier, with two colors of patina (blue and green), that have been wire brushed to reveal some of the brass metal beneath. Then a layer of slate gilder's paste over the patina to give a little added dimension. I have connected the brass charms to donut beads (from Outwest) with antique bronze wire and darkened copper wire.

Chrysalis Jewelry on Artfire
Chrysalis Too on Etsy

"Ancient" Artifacts

For this weeks AJE Earring Challenge Reveal 20, I designed earrings to look as though they were just uncovered at some remote archeological dig. Darkened copper with a layer of copper relief to which I have added a verdigris patina. Brass rivets add to the primitive look of the design.

Another primitive earring design using copper metal clay discs from Kristi Bowman and terracotta colored ceramic daggers from Petra Carpreau, that have ancient looking characters painted on them in black, very similar to what you might expect to find on the wall of a prehistoric cave.

Copper Relief Earrings
Ceramic Dagger Earrings