{"id":20774,"date":"2012-12-10T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2012-12-10T14:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.pro\/?p=20774"},"modified":"2012-12-18T10:30:50","modified_gmt":"2012-12-18T15:30:50","slug":"uncommon-artist-nancy-nelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/2012\/uncommon-artist-nancy-nelson\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Beauty: Nancy Nelson’s Forest-Inspired Jewelry"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Take one look at Nancy Nelson\u2019s<\/a> jewelry and it\u2019s obvious that she\u2019s deeply inspired by nature. The organic shapes, earthy feel, and, in some cases, the actual natural elements used\u2014such as the raw semi-precious stones in her Aquamarine Branch Ring<\/a> –all celebrate Nancy’s love of the outdoors.<\/p>\n

The ring, and her beautiful Blue Pinecone Necklace<\/a>, were both featured in our community voting app<\/a>, where they received some fantastic feedback from our online community. But before the designs made their way to our buying team, and even before the first pieces of brass and silver used were cast, these creations started as found objects in the forests near Nancy\u2019s West Virginia home. <\/p>\n

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\u201cI live in a small town 2.5 hours west of Washington DC,\u201d Nancy told us. \u201cIt is an area filled with nature trails, state parks, and adventurous outdoor activities. Our family spends much of our time exploring the outdoors. It was during one of our adventures in the Appalachian Mountains that I spotted the twig for the Aquamarine Branch Ring.\u201d<\/p>\n

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While the ring doesn\u2019t actually contain this original twig, it does feature the exact likeness of it, because the sterling silver band is hand-cast by Nancy from a mold made of that very piece of wood. <\/p>\n

Like that perfect twig, the pine cone that became the model for the Blue Pinecone Necklace was also selected on a family outing, while visiting the place Nancy\u2019s children like to call the \u201cMagic Forest,\u201d Swallow Falls. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe collected tiny pine cones from the forest floor as we hiked,\u201d said Nancy. \u201cWith our pockets full, we took the pine cones back to my studio where we examined each one. I then selected the one I felt was the most beautiful in form, shape, and texture. When choosing the perfect pine cone, I took into consideration [its] size and weight. Since all my castings are solid, this is one of the most important aspects in choosing a good model. The pine cone had to be lightweight enough to hang comfortably from a necklace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once cast, the brass incarnation of the pine cone is given a blue patina, which Nancy hand-paints. Nancy explained why she chose to add this hint of blue, \u201cIt stems from my love of lichen that grows on the trees, rocks, and fallen pine cones throughout the moist forest which is dominated by tall Hemlocks. I wanted to transform the pine cone and add color but I wanted it to be a little more controlled, which is why I decided to patina the edges.\u201d
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While these majestic hemlocks, fallen pine cones, and the other wonders of nature that surround her definitely influence Nancy\u2019s work, she does have other muses. \u201cBeing a mom, I usually do not have to look far for inspiration,\u201d she said. \u201cMy young children\u2019s growing imagination and quest for exploration inspires me to think outside of the box and challenge myself to create something timeless yet interesting in form\u2014something uncommon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take one look at Nancy Nelson\u2019s jewelry and it\u2019s obvious that she\u2019s deeply inspired by nature. The organic shapes, earthy feel, and, in some cases, the actual natural elements used\u2014such as the raw semi-precious stones in her Aquamarine Branch Ring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":21344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[743],"tags":[253,557,40,503,34,37,223,350,80,576,1144],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}