Four Horsewomen

Four bracelets featuring South Dakota Agate, four women, and four horses.
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I was honored with a commission to make bracelets using agates collected by my customer during a "girls only" horseback riding trip in South Dakota's Badlands. I shaped and polished each stone according to its unique beauty with pleasing results. Still, something was missing. I wasn't "feeling" the design yet. I'd seen a photo taken during that trip and it kept coming to mind, evoking a sense of power, and of bonding. I wanted to somehow convey that feeling into the bracelets.

Etching an actual photo into sterling silver was an experimental idea that, once thought of, would not rest until I tried it. A long messy process complete with its own failures and successes followed until finally, success. I found the missing design element and bracelet construction began.

If you look closely, you can see images etched into the silver panels flanking each stone like ghost images. Bracelets depicting memories of a powerful moment shared by four women and their horses.

And one stone left over for fun earrings!

Note: discovered this 2017 draft post just today, 19th of June, 2019! Better late than never, hope you enjoy!