in july 2014, mary, one of my very first clients, came to see me at the new mexico arts and crafts fair in albuquerque. her birthday was coming up and she was looking for that special piece for her celebration. she decided on a "arrows of love" theme piece.  it was very exiting for me to custom design such an extraordinary necklace and earrings for her.

i layed out out the necklace design and emailed the preview to her.

i spent a full week in my studio bringing it to life...

the design and craftsmanship of this piece is an homage to the ancient artifacts i used. the 2 centerpieces are made of authentic glass-shards from the bactrian kingdom (roman empire) and date back to 230 BC.

they were handmade by an alchemist over 2000 years ago and belonged to a member of the royal class. the art of glass making was a secret amongst the alchemists. rare, large baltic amber trade beads add a warm honey color. in the roman empire a piece of amber was valued higher than a slave. precious amulets always had amber parts in them. i hand sculpted every piece of adornment individually in white steel and fired it at 1,700 F in the kiln. the entire process from sculpting to finished part consist of 7 steps. then i connected all with hand cut sterling silver links.

the sterling chain in the back is adjustable and ends in a white steel arrow tip.

needless to say how much mary loved her piece......