Showing posts with label tentacles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tentacles. Show all posts

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Carnivore Crinoid Brooch


I sold a piece! Yay! This was my entry to the Regal Castings Contemporary jewellery competition - which was part of the NZ Jewellery Show, Auckland. I didn't win anything but my piece actually SOLD!

This brooch features a piece of fossilised Crinoids that I bought from Heart Of Stone Studio. Crinoids are lovely & graceful-looking sea creatures that resemble fern-like plants, but are really animals. Commonly called sea lilies, they are Echinoderms - relatives of sea urchins and starfish.

They are one of Nature's success stories, having been around for 530 million years. Ancient Crinoids sported feathery arms sprouting from a stalk anchored on the ocean floor. Thier soft, filter-feeding bodies are supported by a framework of calcium carbonate segments called ossicles and it is the ossicles that you see in this piece of fossil.

I created a man-eating, parasitic, Triffid-like base structure for the Crinoids to happily live and lurk within (even though Crinoids don't actually have teeth).

Other materials used: brass sheet, bronze sheet, patina (green & heat), prismacolor, plexiglass, sterling silver, merino wool roving, microscrews, fine silver heishi (Thai Karen Hills Tribe - Fair Trade), brass heishi, pink natural freshwater pearls, brown pearls, thread, craft wire & plastic aquarium plants.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Musical Sea Jelly



This is another piece for the 'Melodious Art' Exhibition at Uxbridge, Howick's Creative Centre during August 2009, again inspired by The Hebrides Overture.

Its a jellyfish and the focal gemstone is a brilliant piece of Shattukite turquoise from Designer Cabochons in the UK (note - they have some AMAZING boulder opals for sale). This is a rare type of turquoise which contains red cuprite and only small amounts come out of the Congo each year.

I've also used merino wool, silk threads, plexiglass (clear), copper (heat patina and prismacolors), brass microscrews, amethyst cubes, sterling silver chain, sodalite beads, brown pearls (very yummy), fine silver tiny beads purchased Fair Trade from the Thai Karen Hills Tribes & a sterling silver disc stamped 'Musical Sea Jelly'.

The bone skulls on the tentacles are cool as they are handcarved in Tibet from yak bone! Making me feel like Halloween already.

Musical Sea Jelly is a total of 26cm long (the body is 8cm long) and is a pendant/brooch. One more blue/musical/sea piece coming up next week I think......

I'm really busy with my knitting at the moment. Or addicted to it - can't put it down. Finished my first scarf last night and have now moved on to a jumper for myself - as only I will ever appreciate all the effort that is going into it. Its the most lushious carribean sea / tropical parrot colours and I will post a photo when it is finished, as I think I'm going to be very chuffed with it! No dropped stitches so far.......