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Sometimes a ring is just a ring...you choose to wear it because you love the stone, the design, the feel. Whether big, small, silver, gold, copper, bronze, iron, stones, no stones - throughout time people of every culture and background have worn jewelry of all kinds whether for style or statement. We have worn rings for the sake of beauty, but also to signify status - marital, financial, educational. Want to know if someone is attached? Check the 4th finger of the left hand, aka the ring finger to get your answer.

How many are too many? I'm the wrong person to ask that question - at any given moment I wear at least five. Anything less and I feel naked. And don't get me started on how many bracelets I wear, that's a blog for another day. Wear as many as few as make you happy, that's my only rule.

But did you know that rings worn on the other fingers are also symbolic? Back in the day a ring on the left index finger represented royalty, these days it's just a great place for a statement ring! The right and left pinky were often reserved for a signet ring denoting professional status or education...think of an engineer's ring for example. Thumb rings in the past were also reserved for the wealthy, the bigger the ring the higher the cost. I have worn a thumb ring since my teens but it's not a sign of status, lol, just because I love the look of a thumb ring, especially on men.

Metaphysically speaking, each finger represents something different, as shown in this diagram from the Mind Journal.

So next time you're choosing a ring, either as a treat, a significant event, a gift, take a moment to honor the tradition of adornment...and then enjoy your ring!

One question I am asked over and over at the gallery is "how do I keep my silver jewelry clean and polished?"

Well, you can use a polishing cloth and a little elbow grease, a great method if there are stones in the piece you want to clean.There are dips available, but I personally am not a fan, and the more one can limit exposure to chemicals the better as far as I'm concerned.

A soft toothbrush, plain toothpaste (no whitening or abrasives), a little warm water and again that darned elbow grease works great if your piece has colored gemstones or diamonds - avoid using this method on turquoise, pearls or amber! Scrub, rinse well, dry and you're done!

My favorite method involves a little old school science...think lava and volcanoes, lol. This method works especially well with chains or pieces with deep recesses that are hard to get to with a cloth - do not use this method on mixed metal pieces, i.e. copper, brass, silverplate etc - usually safe for gold, but when in doubt clean by hand.

Take a Pyrex or ceramic bowl and place in a layer of tinfoil, shiny side up.

Sprinkle a few tablespoons of baking soda onto the tinfoil and place your silver jewelry on top of it (NO STONES - NO PEARLS - NO AMBER!) While this method is absolutely safe for cleaning your silver, many stones can be damaged or destroyed by the process so stick to a polishing cloth or the toothpaste method for those pieces.

Bring some water to a boil, remove from heat, and pour into bowl, enough to submerge the silver.

Now the science part - oooh and ahhh as the baking soda and tinfoil react and bubble like mad, all the while removing the tarnish from your jewelry! Leave the pieces submerged until the water cools, remove it from the bowl and rinse thoroughly, and voila!

Once your pieces are clean, rinsed and dried thoroughly, a great way to keep them nicely polished is to place into a ziplock bag along with a piece of chalk, or one of those little desicant packs you find in food products or new shoes - tarnish comes from moisture and oxygen so placing either of these in the bag helps keep the pieces clean and shiny when you're not wearing them. 

That's it!

P.S. Use caution with the boiling water, glass or ceramic bowls, and yes even the tinfoil...kids, don't try this at home without an adult present. Adults, if you've been drinking, do this another time...and again, if you have any doubt about the piece you want to clean take the safe route and clean it by hand.

Why the dragonfly jewelry? Well, for me it’s about the symbolism connected to this beautiful insect. Many believe that the dragonfly has the power to travel between realms, and is a connection between the living and those who have passed – it is one of the reasons that the dragonfly is connected to hospice.

Many years ago we got a call that my father had collapsed at work, and that it would be best to get to the hospital as soon as we could. Oddly enough, earlier that day I had a discussion with my mother, to let her know I had decided to try to reconnect with him, as we had been estranged for several years. Since I was 6 months pregnant at that point, I felt it was time to try and forge a new relationship if possible, and see if we could mend fences and find a way to forgive one another. We got to the hospital expecting to see him, and instead were taken into a small room and told that in spite of their best efforts, he did not survive his massive heart attack.

It was late in February, and as I stepped out of the hospital to gather myself and try to process what had just happened I sat down on a rock to think.  As I sat there on that rock trying to process what had happened, and the bizarre timing of it, I started to notice a large number of dragonflies hovering near me. While it was pretty warm that winter, it still struck me as odd to see them. It wasn’t until later in life that I first found out about the idea that in many cultures dragonflies are thought to be the spirit of a loved one who has passed, who has come back to see you. To this day I often find myself surrounded by dragonflies at odd times, and each time I see one I feel a sense of peace, and wonder if my father somehow knew that I was ready to forgive and, if not forget, at least try and move past the anger and hurt.

Dragonflies also represent luck, spirit and light, transformation and change, metamorphosis, power…the list goes on and on. All that, and gorgeous to boot!

Each time I sit down to make a new dragonfly, the only thing I know is that I’m going to make one. I simply start hammering away at the silver and wait to see what appears as I form all the different components. I strive to make each dragonfly with its own personality, so that the lucky wearer knows that they have a piece that no one else has. My goal with each dragonfly pendant is to create a beautiful, absolutely unique piece. Some are quite large, some are absolutely tiny and seem to float on their chains, and each one is one of a kind. I have been asked whether I ever get tired of making them, and the answer is a resounding “no!” Each one presents its own challenge due to the many components – wings, body, head, feet…do I add a stone or don’t I? Will it be upright or swooping down? Will I add a patina or leave it highly polished? The possibilities are endless, and as long as I can keep making jewelry, there will always be room on my bench for dragonflies.

“Where do your ideas come from”? As an artist in several different mediums besides jewelry making, including carving stone and wood, painting and sketching, that’s a question that I’ve been asked on more than one occasion, and there is no definitive answer. Ideas and inspiration come from all over…inspiration can hit at any given moment, and often there is no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes it’s a thought, sometimes it’s a random shape in a cloud or a rock, and sometimes even a coffee stain can spark a design you may not have thought of otherwise!

The important thing is to be open to random ideas and keep in mind that sometimes what works on paper may not work in a finished piece, and that’s okay too. It’s how we learn (hopefully) what to change or alter in the next attempt. Because I have a background in carving wood and stone I like to get sculptural with my jewelry as well, building up textures and overlays, or turning to carving the pieces in wax which will then be cast in silver or gold. I often start with just a vague sense of where I’m headed and build as I go. I once read a quote (and if you know who to attribute it to I’d love to give them credit), that went something like this…”as a jewelry maker you are always one step away from disaster, and one step away from brilliance”. I can’t tell you how many pieces haven’t worked, have melted, have had solder joins pop open just as you think you’re almost finished, or have been just plain ugly once fabricated! Truthfully, that’s okay too. Not every piece is a masterpiece, but you move forward, hopefully you learn from the mistakes, and then you try again. Given the option I would always much rather have a piece fail in the fabrication than have someone spend their hard-earned cash on it only to have it fail later!

One of my favorite designs to create is a dragonfly, and I have made many in my career as a jeweler – I have also melted many wings, had the multiple elements fall apart in the final soldering, had pieces fall away in the final polishing or stone setting, and yes, have had stones crack when I can’t resist just one more pass with the burnisher while smoothing the silver, and yet, I continue to make one of a kind dragonflies and they are always a popular item at the gallery. There is all kind of symbolism attached to the dragonfly, and they are meaningful not only to me, but to many. Because each piece is unique, there is always something new to learn along the way, and that’s what it’s all about. Frustrating at times? Sometimes absolutely yes! Satisfying when it works and I create a piece I am proud to display in the gallery? Always!

When I create custom work for a client I am bound by certain design elements and restrictions bases on what the client is hoping for in their finished piece. That in itself is much more challenging than the pieces I create just  because I’m inspired to. There are so many elements at play – customer expectations, absolutely clear communication about what is and what isn’t possible, sometimes multiple fittings and adjustments being done in early fabrication, and being able to gently steer a customer in a certain direction if what they want won’t work – essentially being an educator as well as an artist. I’ve learned never to take these words at face value – “Do whatever you want – I trust you”, lol. While it is a great compliment to have a client place that kind of faith in you and your work, it can also lead to disappointment. Jewelry is personal, it is intimate, and if you are hoping to have a custom design it is essential to provide your input into the design process and try to be as clear as possible about what you are hoping for; it is much easier to adjust a drawing than it is to rework a finished piece of jewelry. When you are having a piece designed there is a good chance that you will wear if often, perhaps even every day, so you want to see it, love it, and be proud to wear it…don’t be shy about asking for what you want, what will make you most satisfied with the outcome. Having pointed that out, it is also important to consider that your artist is probably an expert at what they are doing, so if they tell you something won’t work or needs to be adjusted that is experience speaking, so be open to adjustments and work with your artist to find the compromise that will give you a beautiful finished piece that makes you happy, and lets the artist do what they do best, and what they want to do most…design something they will be proud of, and that will make you feel good every time you wear it!