The Terra Collection and Lost Wax Casting

Inspired by the earth, sand, soil and rocks from which so much natural beauty emerges, this collection is a foray into a “new to me” technique and way to create jewelry: Lost Wax Casting. This ancient technique dates as far back as 3200 B.C. to a copper frog, made in Mesopotamia, which is thought to be the oldest known casting.

I started to experiment with Lost Wax Casting in 2018 but it was only at the beginning of this year that I have been able to fully dedicate time to experimenting with it. I have taken a handful of classes and worked through a variety of wax carving technique books. I also dedicated one evening a month to a Wax carving date with two of my friends. You can see some of the process below:

The way it works is such: you carve, or model shapes and designs out of specific types of wax. These pieces are then placed into a material called investment. The wax and investment is then placed into a kiln where over the course of several hours it is heated up to 1000’ and the wax is then “burnt out” of the investment. A “hole” the shape of the wax is left over. Molten metal is then poured into this “hole” and after being cooled the metal which remains is the shape of the original wax piece. Once that metal piece is created a mold can be made of the original and then duplicates can be created. There are several different ways this technique can be done, what I have described is just one version.

I think this technique is a more evolved and more complicated way to create metal work. It takes far more tools and steps than fabrication (which is how I usually create my designs) but there are many advantages to it. Casting opens a lot more design options for me and this new technique enables me to create the pieces I have in my head without the limitations of fabrication. It also means I can create more complicated 3-dimensional pieces with more weight, texture, and meaning.

I have named all the pieces after Latin words for the earth and her minerals, rock types, or patterns in the land because this technique has felt very much like going back to the basics. To the origin of my creative process. To the source. And the source for all life on our planet is the earth. I have found this new way to make jewelry is helping me reconnect with my origins and initial reasons for wanting to make jewelry and to find connection to my history, the history of ancient cultures and all the people and artists who have gone before me.

Ancient cultures used lost wax techniques to create talisman and amulets to wear in life and as tokens for death. I wanted to tap into the primitive ancient ways humans have honored their living and their dead. This collection didn’t go how I had planned or how I had wanted. What I ended up making in wax, once turned into metal didn’t become what I thought it would. I have found wax working to be very difficult, and I didn’t anticipate how challenging it would be for me to learn this new way of making jewelry. But I’m excited to share these pieces with you because I think they are a great start, and they are beautiful, and they are the next step in my creative evolution.