Petrified Wood and Thunder
Petrified Wood and Thunder
Not all petrified woods are just stones. Some of them are ‘gemmy’ and this one is a good example. The wood grain striations are not just opaque but translucent and light is held in the cells in a luminous way. I recently viewed some petrified wood under an old microscope, using a mirror instead of the light-bulb for light. The scene was magical; every cell that had been crystallized lit up with the spectrum! These woods do light up the forest. On top, a 5mm Thunder Egg Agate shares the same colors but in a bulls-eye pattern, that of tube agate. These two stones are lovely and earthy to look at and even more exciting on close inspection.
Folks keep on asking me; ‘You say you like to use the stones in their ‘natural shape’ so how do you end up with the circles?’. Great question. I do like to use the organic shapes the stones choose. When I have small material (after a stone breaks), if I want to still polish it and keep my finger prints and finder nails, I have to put it on a stick or a ‘dop’. My dops are round (like dowels) so as I am grinding and polishing, there’s a good chance that a raw stone will end up minimizing to the shape of the support it’s on. This ring was made from three such stones that adopted the dop shape. I love using the dop round stones like paint in my palette. They add color variety and interesting rhythm to the jewelry design.
The back of the Petrified Wood is left open to see through the stone and have contact with it. The pendant is hung by a 3.5mm, fair trade Greek Leather cord fastened with a Sterling Silver hook and loop closure. These stones were sourced in Oregon, hand polished, and the setting fabricated from scratch by Karen Britt. Each piece is a one of a kind piece of art, because no two stones are the same and the settings are created by hand, no two pieces are the same (even the earrings). It should be mentioned that all stones are used in their natural state; never dyed or heated to change their appearance. All the metals used are either recycled or fair, humane trade verified and all components used in the jewelry will return to the earth leaving no footprint. Thank you for enjoying the art.