Ammonoids

Ammonoids are extinct spiral shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) than they are to shelled nautiloids (such as the living Nautilus).

--Wikipedia page Ammonoidea

Design

I think originally I bought these big chunky Ammonites for my husband, who has a small but beloved fossil collection. They are real fossils, formerly alive, turned to preserved and over time replaced bit by bit with stone (most likely agate). At some point I acquired several smaller pairs and started brainstorming with them in my sketchbook. Squidy things. Tentacles. "Devonian" and "Stygian". I think I was originally more interested in practicing the color renderings of the stones, and those little swirls and eyes and tentacles were more exercise than inspiration.

But they stuck with me.

The notes on the page say the first drawing were done in July of 2022. Two years later, July of 2024, I finally cut into a piece of silver and started work, on this guy:

Mythology

As I worked, I was building a mythology in my head. Octopuses are, after all, surprisingly intelligent creatures, and the little eye below the shell gave this creature a face, and therefor a he needed a story. I started thinking about pearls that weren't pearls, but little glowing lights that floated down in the deep dark waters. Or were they waters? Were these creatures rather Beings of another world, dark and murky, where souls hung like beads of brightness, little eggs that needed care and nurture before they could blossom into lives of deep thought...

The liver of sulfur patina, applied to sterling silver, sometimes can be gunmetal grey but sometimes can create these vivid rainbow colors, like oil on water. I think that was what finally tipped them over into being Other Dimensional Beings. Since they are so non-human, I thought to give them names that seemed a translation of a word we don't have.

Who Collects, a creature selecting the brightest souls that must surely hatch soon, and should be watched carefully.

Who Conveys, one who moves the unawaked about in a careful dance.

Who Covets, an expectant mother/caretaker/brother/mentor

Construction

Each pendant is double-sided, presenting multiple layers of textured tentacle goodness, and making a good display for the half-ammonite so you can see both the curving symmetry of the inside of the shell, and the rainbow iridescence glinting on the outer surface. Patina and different textures highlight each layer, while the eye transcends all layers. The tentacles carry cultured pearls, and are made otherwise entirely of sterling silver.

Revisit

I would like to revisit these creatures in the future. I want to stylize the shapes even more, push into the abstract curves of the original sketch. Perhaps build up more layers near the shell so they don't feel as top-heavy (although that will create new challenges in stone setting). The next iteration should hang from a multi-strand necklace thick with small golden pearls - I have an image in my head that I haven't been able to find online for purchase, so I will have to make it myself.

I'm interested in trying out gold-filled sheet instead of sterling, which has a base-metal core and 24k or 18k gold outer layer, and I think this might be a great project to showcase it. However the limitations of the material include absolutely do not overheat and I am still a hot mess (pun intended) about soldering, so that's very risky too. But being able to use gold to highlight one layer on each side would be very special.

Hopefully it won't require another two years to come back to this project.

Wow, writing this has made me really dislike all of my photography 🙃 these images might change. -Kat