I've been working on a design for a large cabochon of gastropod fossils (the oldest gastropods existed 500 million years ago.) They are a very large group of snail like creatures. You can see a variety of complex shell forms in the stone. It's a Lloyd Eshbach stone and is exquisitely cut.
I posted earlier abut wanting to design some work with leaves from the ginkgo tree. The ginkgo is a living fossil, with fossils recognizably related to modern ginkgo from the Permian, dating back 270 million years. The gastrodpod cabuchon seemed perfect. Since there are a group of the trees in my neighborhood I was able to go out and pick some leaves. It's great when I can work from life rather then photos.
I've designed it with three curving Gingko leaves. And I will post a photo after I've completed it.
I'm also working on a very small double bas-relief of an Irish setter for a pair of jade earrings that I'll write more about later this week.
I'm having a very good week for art.
