In anticipation of the New Year coming, I’m launching a newly revamped website for 2018. It includes new graphics, a new line of jewelry, my 24K gold micro-mosaic line, and other design-related ventures afoot both professionally and personally.
The newly designed jewelry line includes studies in gold, sterling silver, and brass of cherished objects from nature – star anise pendants or Illicium Verum – which comes from the Latin illicio meaning “entice” – made from actual seed pods. It’s harvested in northeast Vietnam & southwest China, and the Chinese word for star anise translates to ‘8 horns’; our specimen, however, has lucky #7.. I spent several careful hours hand carving away the outer layers, reducing extra material, to reveal its most minimal shape. All the delicate detailing of each of the shapely seeds remains intact. Almost the entire collection of pieces went during OPEN STUDIOS this past week, and I’m excited to get started making an even lighter version that I’d like to cast in gold.. LUXE.
I’ve also included an updated version of the everyday stud – solid sterling silver clove bud studs – made from a selection of subtly different specimens so that no pair is exactly alike. This is an extension of a project I did for ‘The Mom Show’, a 2012 Turman Larison Gallery exhibition in Helena, Montana, of multi-media art by working artists who are also mothers, expressing the unique and particular challenges the two simultaneous tasks present, as curated by ceramicist, Jess Parker.
Last, I’d like to introduce my new maker’s mark. A jeweler’s maker’s mark is the stamp unique to that jeweler that identifies their work. Traditionally it’s a combination of initials or a symbol emblematic of the jeweler. I’ve dreamed of creating my own maker’s mark for 25+ yrs… at long last! The design is a stylized bee w wings of mirror image D’s, a drop of honey + appendages that form ‘XP’ representing my actual business name Xeno Praxis, ‘xeno’ (from Greek) meaning foreign, or different + ‘praxis’ (Greek + Medieval Latin) meaning method or way of doing things.
I’ve had a lifelong fascination with bees, the origins of the name Deborah go back to the Old Testament where she was a prophetess & a judge and had numerous associations w the bee. Some reference Deborah the nurse , some reference Deborah the Judge/Prophetess, some reference Deborah and the general associations with bees.
Creation of order, industriousness, service to others, manufacturing sweetness, I’ll take it.
jewelry | design 