Jewelry Inspiration: Nature Calls

The Carrotbox is a site dedicated to all those wonderful rings made of glass, lucite, resin, plastic, jade, wood, bakelite, metal, and even stone. Alice Matsumoto from Vancouver, BC, Canada has a ring shop and has kindly given us permission to inspire our jewelry lovers at Sheffield with her discoveries. In this post, Alice focuses on rings inspired by nature.

These shapes aren't just inspired by nature — they're colored by nature, too, in the form of dyed paper. Rings by Greek jeweler Silina Pandelidou.

Bonus

UK jeweler Karen Fox is inspired by "architecture and urban landscapes" rather than nature but she, too, has a paper ring. This piece is from her "Pleat" series.

Even more jewelry:

• Julia Magr (Germany) - paper pebbles
• Natalie Gock (Australia) - modern metal
• Evelyn Pelati (Connecticut) - contemporary silver

Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

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Jewelry: Nature in Design

(Dendro ring by Carrie Bilbo)Artists and designers find inspiration everywhere but nature is where most turn to for ideas.  Designer Carrie Bilbo scrutinizes the fine details of nature and transforms it to her inventive jewelry.  In the Dendro ring above, Carrie takes the serene colors of a cicada wing and places it under resin to create this unique ring.

(Round wood ring by Carrie Bilbo)Trees have also become a source of inspiration for Carrie.  She slices a tree branch and turns it to the center “stone” for the wood ring above. You can see the tree rings and medullary rays clearly – a great capture of life. For the cuff bracelet below, Carrie creates a lacey pattern of branch foliage by using liquid rubber.  The cuff itself is copper and plated with gunmetal. 

(Cut out cuff by Carrie Bilbo)

Interested in learning more about jewelry design?  Take a look at Sheffield School's course in Jewelry Design.