Dragonfly wings . . .

Montana Agate - Dragonfly Wing

Since my first post last week mentioning Rachel's real dragonfly pendant, I've been itching to get another necklace made from the beautiful Montana Agate on my bench.  I have a handful of little palm-sized slabs that I saved from the 'dollar bin' at a gem and mineral show and I've been cutting and polishing whenever I get an hour to play - not often enough.

Lately, I've been in the midst of working a batch of things for the local galleries and have felt rather 'production-ish' from time to time so I took a couple of hours last night to set this slice of 'dragonfly wing'.

Set with an open back, this is yet another stone and pendant that just glows.  

I'm so pleased with it.  Delicate and substantial at once - nothing showy or ostentatious but simple and clean-lined.  Not only is it a divine stone and setting, I've scratched the itch to create a thing of beauty.

Zinnia Zen.spiration . . .

Now that the weather is cooling a bit and things aren't struggling to survive - yes, even the heat loving zinnia struggled to catch a breath in August - the buds are prolific on the zinnia and marigold and even the daylilies are sending up a scape or two.  In fact, there are a few daylilies that are sprouting new growth on the scapes and I couldn't be more tickled!  Quick and easy new plants without coaxing seedlings!

The buds on the zinnias are things I'd never contemplated but as I was deadheading and saving seed heads for next year (yikes!  I'm already thinking 'next year'!?!), these buds reminded me of eyeliner (I know, my brain goes in funny directions) and how precise the edges are.  Nature doesn't get terribly sloppy but seems to have a sense of purpose and direction and a reason for doing what it does.  There's a protection in the tightness of the bud and a slow unfolding in a uniform manner.

Nature unfolding as it should

The rhythm of the scallops inspire me to move my metalwork in a softer, more rhythmic direction - somehow in metalwork, we anticipate a hard edge and softening the edges is the unexpected.  

Softening, protecting and unfolding.  Words for the day.  

Dragonfly wings . . .

It was a revelation of sorts.  

My darling friend Rachel 'Two Dog Pond' dropped by last week to take a look at my torch and haul off my wrought iron outdoor bench and table (okay, you didn't really need that information) and she had on the most interesting and lovely necklace that I'd seen in a while.  She had found a dragonfly wing down by the pond (yes, there really is a pond) and sandwiched it between two pieces of glass, worked her magic by soldering it between the glass pieces and made a pendant.  My comment to her was that it looked so much like the Montana Agate that I've been working with that I begged her to let me copy it.  So here you have the first in a series of Dragonfly Wings.

My first pendant is not set with an open back - rather, it's been pierced with two cattails that are only visible from the front when held to the light.  Still, I like having hidden elements in my jewelry so that when one comments on the piece, it opens a conversation to show them the back and start a little info sharing about the jewelry.  Maybe it's just me - I can talk to anyone and don't always need an excuse.

I digress.  This is a nice, simple pendant and I'm absolutely itching to dig deeper into the pile of Montana Agate and recreate the Dragonfly Wings in stone.  Lovely.