I love making rings.

Heavy, blackened, organic and free form with surprising elements.

Elements one wouldn't expect to be treated so royally as to be set in silver.

 An ordinary shell like so many millions of others. 

An imperfect mold of wood grain. 

A melted piece of cracked glass.

Way back when I was first making metal jewelry, I tried so hard to be perfect.

Learning about the different metals, what they do with different temperatures of heat, how to make ends meet seamlessly, how to envision the completed item from the blackened, crusty thing you were working on.

And then it happened. The perfect set of rings!

I was instantly bored.

They sit in my jewelry box, as a testament that I could. But I don't wanna.

I wanna make stuff that I can't stop looking at. Stuff that is undeniably handmade. 

Hand Wrought.

I want my stuff to look damaged and asymmetrical.

Dredged up from the sea or dug up from a forgotten time, changed by the depth and heat and moisture of the earth.

When I look at the ancient ear rings from Roman times, their ring is crooked, uneven with varying thicknesses from hammering by hand with hand made tools. Time gave it character and nicks and gauges.

Ancient Roman Ring

I want that for my work.

I want the flaws to symbolize the beauty in being works of progress.
Souls with potential. 

I want the woman who wears my jewelry to feel empowered by its character, when she sees it on her finger to feel self satisfaction, when she hears it clink against her pen, computer keyboard  or cocktail to feel control.

I want her to gesture wildly while she talks so she can see how the ring moves with her hand. Watch it catch the attention of the listener so she can boldly state her opinion or knowledge.

I do not want the weight of the metal to be a status symbol but rather the weight of self awareness.

I hope this makes sense to some of you. I know it doesn't to some and that's okay too.
Jewelry has the gaudy right to simply be pretty without heavy analysis or symbolism. 

I was trying to explain to my neighbor what sort of jewelry I like to make and I used words like encrusted, ancient, used, chewed up. He replied "That doesn't sound very appealing."

Which made me laugh because he is right.

But it is a heck of a lot more freeing to create with abandon rather than try to produce something a machine can make in mere minutes.