The Beginning!
The first piece of jewelry I ever made that I was truly proud of was my Rocker Chick ring.
I'd been dabbling with jewelry making for a while, and making the things most new jewelers make: blobby circles, overly-hammered linked shapes, etc.
Then I took a wax carving class and everything changed.
I realized I could create in metal any shape I dreamed of, beyond the limitations of wire and sheet. I traveled to Thailand for vacation and was inspired by a random shape I encountered while wandering one day: a sleek, curved horn with two pointed ends. I envisioned it as a ring, long enough to cover multiple fingers. I sketched it in my travel journal, and when i returned to the states, i carved it in wax and cast it in sterling silver.
When I finally had the finished product in my hands, I knew that this piece was the beginning of everything I had envisioned for my jewelry line. It was a balance of hard and soft; the curving form was enduringly feminine, while the pointed ends were tough and masculine.
To this day (13 years later!) it's still the ring that i wear the most. And I have such a personal affinity for this ring, whenever a customer buys it, I have to control myself from hugging them. This ring is where my life as a jeweler and a small business owner began and when someone else falls in love with this ring, I feel like maybe I'm meeting a kindred spirit.