Magical Ancient Ferns

25 Feb

Hi everyone, I hope you have had a fun and enjoyable February. Time seems to be flying by at the moment. Little shoots and buds are appearing and the days are getting longer, there's that positive feeling of Spring and all the hope that comes with it. I can't wait to see the tulips grow in the garden and in the late Spring for the buttercup fields to appear in the woods where we walk every day. Talking of flowers, I'm working on some ideas for botanical home accessories, so watch this space!

I found Winter quite a hard season to get inspired but the humble fern was a constant woodland feature during our chilly walks, so I picked quite a few and made some sketches of them. They are so delicate and fine, but I was determined to make one into a necklace design.

Ferns are one of the most ancient plants that grace our planet; They first appeared about 360 million years ago, and most of the ferns that grow today existed about 45 or 50 million years ago. That's when dinosaurs existed. Isn't that incredible? They have been a real inspiration these last few months where the rest of the botanical world lay dormant. I love their delicate textures and colours, and because of their ancient history I think they symbolise something both magical and resilient.

It took a lot of time and patience to carve a fern in wax, I did it in intervals as it required a magnifier to see what I was doing, and very tiny tools! In the end I was really happy with the result but hadn't ever tried to cast anything this delicate before, so was a little nervous about how it would turn out.

I am really happy with the results and have so many compliments since wearing mine in gold. They are part of our Woodland Wonders collection, and available to buy in sterling silver, gold vermeil and rose gold vermeil, you can see the collection here.