"on the second sabbat
Strange the Dreamer
of twelfthmoon,
in the city of weep,
a girl fell from the sky."
- Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer
This collection is based on the book, Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor. What drew me to this story was the lack of "purely good" or "purely evil" sides or characters. It is about two people who pick up the pieces after war and atrocity. Each is a mix of light and dark, from the hero who is torn by shame for the acts he committed to free his people, to the child of war who seeks vengeance for the stolen lives of her siblings, even at the cost of the few who survived. It's that complexity, that look beneath the surface to reveal a person and all of their colors, that I sought to portray in my work.
Each piece within the collection was created to embody a character or interaction between characters. The rings were inspired by the five godspawn - half human half blue-skinned god-who each have distinct powers that reflect their personalities. The brooches portray the link between two characters, each of whom has dreams that the other has the power to fulfill. That link is further explored through the crown, which represents the two characters coming together.
sparrow
cast sterling silver
fall 2018
This ring was inspired by Sparrow, who has the power to nurture plants to grow and flourish, even from death. Sparrow is a caring and thoughtful spirit, bright and sweet like the orchids she grows.
The band was carved out of one block of wax to be a circlet of leaves, and was accented by orchids made from sculptural sheet wax. The wax model was then casted, then refined and polished.
Feral
cast sterling silver
fall 2018
This ring was inspired by Feral, a godspawn who brings and banishes clouds from and to other lands. He is emotionally distant and removed, with his head in the sky.
The ring band was filed down to reduce the width of the original mold, then molten wax was scooped onto the band and built up. The wax model was then casted, refined and polished, with a finish of raised fine silver.
This ring was inspired by Sarai, who uses moths made up of her consciousness to enter and control sleeper's dreams. Sarai has the gift of seeing the perspectives of others through her moths, which gives her the gift of empathy in a world torn by war.
The band was sculpted out of wax to resemble the movement and creation of the moths from smoke and darkness, then drapes of sculptural sheet wax and sculpted wax moths were added. The wax model was then casted, then refined and polished.
fall 2018
cast sterling silver
keum-boo
Ruby
This ring was inspired by Ruby, who has the power to summon fire. Ruby is warm and passionate, yet also dramatic and volatile, just like the flame she controls.
The band was carved out of wax , then pieces of sculptural sheet wax and were added to resemble tendrils of flame coming up from the hand. The wax model was then casted, refined and given a high polish finish with glimmers of keum-boo (Korean technique of fusing 24 karat gold sheet through heat and pressure).
Sarai
cast sterling silver
fall 2018
"Sarai didn't scream sound. She screamed something else. It issued forth: soft, boiling darkness. It looked like a cloud.
It wasn't a cloud.
Five seconds, ten. She screamed her silent scream. She screamed an exodus.
Streaming forth into the night, the darkness fractured into a hundred fluttering bits like windblown scraps of velvet. A hundred smithereens of darkness, they broke apart and reformed and siphoned themselves into a little typhoon that swept down toward the rooftops of Weep, whirling and wheeling on soft twilight wings. Sarai screamed moths. Moths and her own mind, pulled into a hundred pieces and flung into the world."
-Laini Taylor Strange the Dreamer
fall 2018
cast sterling silver
sterling silver chain
Minya
This ring and bracelet were inspired by Minya, who has the power to capture souls of the recently departed and keep them from fading into the afterlife by binding them to her will. Minya is fiercely stubborn and uncompromising, but also bound to chains of the past.
The ring band was carved out of wax, then pieces of sculptural sheet wax were cut into the letters to spell "Carnage," which were then layered on top of each other. The bracelet was formed from a sheet of sculptural wax and textured, with the line from Minya "They were all I could carry" inscribed across the cuff. The wax models were then casted, refined, polished on the interior, then finished with fine silver and lightly sanded.
cast sterling silver
sterling silver chain
larimar cabochons
Something Beautiful
and full of monsters
fall 2018
This set of brooches portrays the mindsets of two characters, one who is a dreamer, a lover of fantasy and magic, the other who fears her own dreams and wishes to be human. The chain represents the eventual coming together of these two characters, and the intermingling of their perspectives.
The feathered brooch was hand modeled in wax, each feather individually sculpted then applied to the base in order to replicate the layered texture of wings, while the other was hand carved from a wax block. The wax model was then casted in sterling silver, refined and polished. A double pin mechanism serves to better distribute the brooches' weight, and to serve as an attaching point for the detachable triple layer of sterling silver chain. Each brooch is set with three larimar cabochons.
fall 2018
to be in your story
sterling silver
To be in your story represents the coming together of the Dreamer and the Muse of Nightmares. The two are able to circumvent the physical distance that separates them by meeting in their dreams. The circlet form was chosen to highlight the mind, the kingdom of dreams and imagination. The Muse of Nightmares is represented by her moths, her gateway to sleepers' psyches, while the fireflies stand for the Dreamer, who proposes she turn her nightmares into fireflies to keep in a jar.
The moths were sculpted from wax and casted, while the fireflies were fabricated from cut silver sheet that was then textured with a hammer. The wires were drawn to the desired gauge, and balled at the ends with a smith torch. The wings were soldered on, transforming the balled ends into firefly bodies. The firefly wires were then grouped and soldered together. Finally, the groups were all connected to meet at the central moth that alights on the wearer's forehead.