crinoids

From the Greek word krinon ("lily"), crinoids are beautiful and brilliant marine animals. Known for their many feather-like arms, they resemble flowering plants on the bottom of great bodies of waters, but possess nervous and circulatory systems. As a class, they date to the Ordovician period over 450 million years ago, although only one of five of the subclasses still exists. Parts used in these designs are fossilized columnals from the arms, which resemble small donuts. What I love about crinoids is their individuality - every columnal piece you find is different, from the inner marking (sometimes perfect circles or five pointed starts), to the color (bone white to dark beige), to the size (no bigger than a large grain of sand to the size of a nickel). It reminds me constantly of how many species we share the earth with, and how much more we can see of them if we just take time to look.

...and more

more beach glass jewelry

beach glass

Beach Glass
Many beachcombers all over the world search out the beautifully frosted and tumbled glass that washes onto the shoreline. Here on the shores of the ever-gorgeous Lake Michigan, we get pretty lucky. Also known as mermaids' tears, beach glass is the product of an incredible process of revision, rediscovery, and interplay. The constant motion of the lake waters grinds stone down to sand. As a principal ingredient in glass, the sand in heated, molded, and colored for its new life as a bottle, piece of glassware, etc. Over time, it is lost or discarded and some of it makes it back to the lake to be tumbled for decades or centuries, only to be rediscovered again as a gem of unique color, shape, and history. It's nature's ultimate example of up-cycling. While the most common colors (clear, kelly green, and brown) usually come from various drink bottles, the rarer cobalt blues, aquas, pinks, and lavenders can be traced to more interesting sources. I especially like the cobalt blues (Milk of Magnesia, poison, and perfume bottles all came in that vibrant color), the pinks (Depression glassware, often given away as "freebies" for other purchases), and the aqua blue, a beautiful color found in old coke bottles.

All of the glass that I use in my designs is genuine beach glass that I have found on the shores of Lake Michigan (or have been given by a generous family member who found it there). None of it has been tumbled or altered in any way except by the lake's natural tumbler.

beach inspired jewelry

Ever since I was born, incredible artists have surrounded me in my family. Both of my grandmothers were accomplished and passionate artists in many mediums, and they inspired the same compulsion to create in their children and grandchildren. Although we all work in many fields, it's never long before you'll find all of us with new projects in hand.

One of the things that bring me back most strongly to those roots is spending time at the cottage my grandfather built on shores of Lake Michigan. Every year we return, just as if it was a pilgrimage, and we spend time to reconnect and reinvigorate. One of my favorite things to do is to walk along the beach as far as I can go. It serves me as a time to mediate and appreciate the beauty of all of it. It wasn't long before some of those beauties started coming home with me in my pocket and inserting themselves into my art, as a tribute to the peace I felt there.

With each of my pieces, the design process is born while I am walking along the beach collecting treasures. Because each piece of beach glass and each crinoid columnal is unique, I believe that each merits its own design. I love diving into my collection and touching all the pieces, trying to remember the circumstances of each discovery, and imaging how best to display it. I feel that each piece of beach glass or crinoid columnal itself is a thing of wonder with a rich history, waiting just a little longer to be a part of something bigger again.