Stromatolites - Nature Inspires!

One lovely morning not long ago, Peter and I went to the Prescott Gem and Mineral Show.  Having lived in Prescott for 8 years and making jewelry, you'd think this would have been one of my first stops.  Like many people I know, exploring our own town gets pushed aside until we have visitors. 

The Prescott show (held in Prescott Valley Civic Center) was a pleasure to visit.  It was very interesting and not overwhelming.  We actually had space to look at the items and talk with the vendors.  Lots of variety in both polished and rough stones and in finished jewelry.  This was a welcome experience having attended the gem show in Tucson which covers the city of Tucson and takes days to see.

At one of the booths I was introduced to stromatolites.  A small stone that had layers and concentric circles making a very interesting pattern caught my eye and my imagination.  It would make a great mold for metal clay and polymer clay.  Once I zeroed in on the stone and found it was called a stromatolite, I had to know more.  These are fossils, the oldest found 3.7 billion years ago, formed by the growth of layers of cyanobacteri.  The stromatolites provide a record  of ancient life.  You can find out more about the fossil at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromatolite

Stromatolite

I really wanted to make jewelry from the pattern in the fossil.   Sharing a quick peek at my process.

First I dusted the stone and mixed my two part silicone mold putty.  I've found the best way to get equal parts of A and B is to use a small scale and mix the two colors until they are one. 

The stone needs to be pushed into the silicone putty quickly and well to get a clear impression.  The mold dries in a few minutes.

Mold and Stromatalite

Black polymer clay was on my desk and I could hardly wait to see the impression.  Conditioning the clay and rolling it to the thickness I wanted were the next steps.  The polymer was placed into the mold and carefully pressed into all the crevices.  It's important to be careful to keep the clay in the same place preventing a shadowing of lines.

The fossil design is a little large for a medallion in polymer clay but will be perfect for metal clay because of the shrinkage factor.  The project continued  using a circle cutter to cut the pattern, finishing the edges and dusting gold embossing powder on the medallion.  The  bail for the medallion is also polymer clay.  When everything was finished, the piece was cured (baked in a 275 degree oven for 30 minutes).  Then it was buffed and waxed. 

Bail

Next I wanted to see the pattern in a lighter color and I used a gold polymer clay and added a little bling.  You can see the difference a change of color makes.  It's also fun to see how nature inspires and influences my jewelry designs. 

Same mold - different colors