OAK LEAF

This Collection is inspired by an enormous Oak Tree in the front yard of the home where I grew up, in Morada, California. I have such fond memories of long, hot, summers playing in the shade of this tree, and the beautiful shape of the leaves is permanently imprinted in my mind. Images of leaves and stones and water remind me of another childhood memory – the rains. My father was a farmer, and waiting for the rain was always a topic of conversation. When they finally came, everyone was in a good mood, and I will always associate the memory of wet oak leaves plastered over the rocks and on the pavement as I walked to school with happy times.

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The collection incorporates expertise in both traditional metalsmithing and digital jewelry technologies. I worked with the Form 1+ 3D Printer to create castable resin molds for this collection. The challenge was to capture two important aspects of my memories in the metal – the wetness of the leaves, and the wrapping effect. This meant playing with lots of textures and making lots of adjustments to the position of the leaves as they wrapped around the stone. I printed my ideas every day for three weeks until I got the effect I was going for.