I have always referred to Blavk Jewelry as an exploration in sacred adornment. A little over five years ago, I set out to connect my spiritual practice with my love of adornment. My earliest pieces were centered solely on gemstones I’d cleansed and held onto. As my spiritual practice deepened, I began to think about my connection to bodies of water and their sheer force. I imagined what our coastlines would look like if our environment hadn’t been altered by greed, capitalism, and colonialism. These meditations birthed the landmass series. Since 2020, I’ve used this visual language to conjure up oceanic daggers, imagined islands, and remind people of the sea.
As I enter the 5th year of this experiment, I’ve found myself bumping up against the limits of my stylistic decisions. Which, for me, is always a good indicator that it’s time to play and explore. This is the moment for me to build on the skills I’ve taught myself throughout the years and challenge myself technically. The sources of my inspiration are expansive, but ultimately lead me back to the land and sea. I know I’m on the right track when my breath catches in my chest and my hands feel like they aren’t working fast enough to actualize the vision I’ve seen in my mind. Towards the tail end of last year, I began exploring new ways of incorporating texture and introducing more dimensionality into my work. I’m pulling from my previous travels to Iceland, the aquatic life I’ve witnessed on the east and west coast, and the mangrove trees I encounter on kayaking trips in Florida.
Experimenting and exploring take time, so new pieces have been slow to appear, and subsequent pieces may take even longer as I transition into full-time work for the first time in seven years. It’s my hope that this shift will allow me to create at a speed that this work requires, instead of continuing to churn out pieces in a style that can no longer hold the emotions, themes, and feelings I want to convey. A few of these experiments are available in new arrivals, and I wanted to share how they came to be.
Icelandic Landscape
In 2017, I took my first trip to Iceland solo and set out on my first hike in life straight off the plane at 4:30 a.m. Personally, I think those choices say a lot about how I approach life and exploration. I spent 7 days driving around the island, getting a little bit lost and taking in landscapes I’d never seen before. That trip shifted something in me, and I am forever changed by that experience. Eight years later, and I’ve finally integrated that trip and a subsequent one in 2019 enough to finalize two rings and a necklace that remind me of Halsanefshellir, a cave at Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach. I paired these pieces with Rose Quartz and Garnet gemstones because my love for the island of Iceland is unending. If you never make it to Iceland, I wanted to craft some pieces that share a little bit of its wonder with you.
Barnacles & Aquatic Life
In 2022 a former partner and I traveled to the west coast for a concert and I convinced him that we should drive out to the Oregon coast. Out there we came across so many types of starfish, sea anemones and different barnacles. When we got back I started layering different groupings of gemstones on top of each other. It took me until last year to feel confident enough to attempt connecting the gems to replicate the some of the sea life I experience out on the west coast. This is an exploration that is very much still in its infancy. The juxtaposition of combining rough Serpentine with faceted fancy cut hints at the wonder I felt coming across new (to me) aquatic life out west. There are two necklaces and a pair of drop earrings available for purchase.
Tree Roots
A recent commission led me to spend some weeks researching tree root systems. In preparation for this commission, I’ve spent time practicing techniques to replicate the twisted visible roots of Banyan trees. From those many tests I produced a few rings that are too good to keep all to myself, one featuring Hessonite Garnet and the other “Snakeskine Agate” from Indonesia. For now, it’s unclear if I’ll continue working in this style but I’ve appreciated the practice and exploration of replicating natural textures in my work.
