Carin Jones

 

Carin Jones has inspired me for a long time with her metalworking and incorporation of animal bones and gemstones into her wearable pieces. Jones’ website describes the pairing of these materials and says this, “ While, at first glance this may seem contradictory, the partnership challenges the audiences inclination to undervalue one material and overvalue the other. It clarifies the equality of elements- born of stardust and returning to stardust- and emphasizes the true value of the natural world.” 

Her background in zoology and years of collecting and cataloguing specimen motivates her to use found bones, and her experience having a father who worked as an architect gave her interest in shapes and how they interact with each other. I find that this is very apparent in her latest work, in particular the attention paid to which bone to pair with what type of stone and how to use metal to highlight that with shape. I also think this may inspire her approach to larger pieces of materials some jewelers may not use in wearable pieces. She is able to use these large chunks of stone or other material in simple but wearable ways and the way she does it is mechanically interesting as well as visually appealing

Carin uses oxidized sterling silver and gold plated brass bolts as well as faceted gemstones. I enjoy the bolts and how much they add to the piece, especially the contrast between the gold and oxidized silver. In other collections, she experiments with hollow forms and other natural materials. She allows the materials she uses to shine, and in many pieces experiments with labeling the stone or material that she set. I admire the simplicity of her work and the craftsmanship of every piece. I also like that there is a message behind her choices, and she encourages her audience to look at materials that may be disregarded a second time.

jonesingforjewelry.com