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Handmade Sterling and Gold Contemporary Jewelry
Inspired by the masters of smithing and illumination from ages past
 New Work! Pins, Brooches, & Pendants Rings Torcs, Bracelets, Neckrings &Armlets
Earrings Just Celtic Crosses Custom Work How to purchase my work
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I continue to be amazed at the artistic feats that "primitive" cultures could obtain without the benefit of technological tools. People of this time were in tune with their surroundings and saw art in everything. The simplest of tools, perhaps even the lowly fishhook, were honoured and cherished with adornment. To devote such time to decorate even these simple implements stands as a sad reminder of what our own modern, throwaway culture has lost, and it is that very spirit which I am trying to recreate before the loss is complete.
People often ask me what the specific symbols might mean, and I think this is somewhat an unfair question to give an answer to. Intangible concepts such as time, nature, chaos, our life's journey and god are presented in each and very knot as it turns upon itself. How each of us reacts in the presence of these paradoxical themes is a personal experience and beyond words. It is more like music, jazz, an order that emerges from apparent chaos. Certain motifs will evoke certain themes as they resonate deep within our psyches. I wish I could better use words to state these themes but that is the role of a poet. I'm just a metalsmith. Still, I hope that my work evokes some primordial memory for you.
I am completely self-trained in metal smithing, and everything is done by hand, no high-tech photo-etching, computer-assisted milling or mass-produced die-stampings here, just lots of blood, sweat, and tears! In learning the designs, I have spent many an hour over old manuscripts and museum pieces, but I must recognize the value that George Bain's book "Pictish Art, the Methods of Construction" originally published in 1951 has had in my study of the motifs. His almost single-handed efforts to rediscover, preserve and pass on this tradition of art has been a rallying banner for like-minded artisans. I heartily suggest you find his tome, now published by Dover Press under the title "Celtic Art, the Methods of Construction".
| New Work! Pins, Brooches, & Pendants Rings Torcs, Bracelets, Neckrings &Armlets
Earrings Just Celtic Crosses Custom Work How to purchase my work
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