Metal Scrapbooking
One of the reasons I love jewelry is because I’m a sentimental. Jewelry is very often a sentimental gift or purchase and a journey around someone’s jewelry box will reveal all kinds of experiences. When I look around mine it is a trip down memory lane, a metal scrapbook, and although I don’t wear all the pieces in my collection anymore, they still bring me back to that time and place when I wore that piece.
Which pieces cause the nostalgia? Everything from the sapphire gold rope abstract geometric ring reminding me of my Grandma’s quirky-fun style, to the heavily oxidized, chunky, silver choker with round, rough, cabochons that transports me to studying and traveling Europe. I wore it everywhere and was known to sleep in it. I have this tremendous, pear-shaped moonstone and sterling silver pendant I bought from a cart vendor of handmade jewelry, in a Washington DC airport. The purchase was total impulse on my first out of state business trip for the agency that hired me out of college. That piece was special; I still associate it with feelings of independence and empowerment. I also treasure my pearl, tanzanite and white gold necklace, the first gift from my beloved.
At present, I am always wearing this one, particular ring no matter what I am wearing. It is a plane round silver band. It’s made from recycled silver that was melted down into an ingot in a simple charcoal block. Then, the little hunk of silver was formed into wire using a mill and drawn down into a usable size. Next, the wire was sanded, formed and soldered into a ring, sized and, lastly, polished. I made this ring while at jewelry arts school, the ingot was my first, and, the resulting ring was my first following the ancient process step by step from scratch. I love that a bare bones silver band reminds me of the happiness evoked during this, almost spiritual, experience. I also love the slight anticipation of making the next, memorable piece of jewelry.