IMPORTANT: This jewel is limited and we do not know if they'll be available again in the future. We recommend Express Shipping with signature required upon delivery to make sure it arrives safely in your hands. 

Please note : You must either leave your ring size in the notes section while going through the check out process or reach out to us via email ~ bloodmilkjewels@gmail.com ~ after placing your order to confirm your ring size. We cannot begin creating your ring until your ring size is confirmed. 

Framed in lichen composed of delicate cast bat bones, an faceted oval onyx represents the hollow of a tree. When going on walks in the woods, or even around the city, I like to think of the hollows of trees as liminal places, caverns of rest or repositories of memory: memory of the tree, of the land, of the animals and other creatures that use them as hides or storage. As a talismanic vessel, this ring represents a hollow you can carry, a place of rest, a hiding place for thoughts, feelings, ideas, or for times when you need to tuck yourself away. 

The smooth surface of the center stone can behave as needed as a ‘worry stone’, in contrast to the highly tactile setting.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with the painting ‘Dryad’ by Andrew Wyeth after coming across it at a recent visit to the Brandywine museum. A giant tree painted in muted shades of egg tempura fills up the composition ~ a winter tree, leafless. What dominates the eye and drew me to it from across the room like an eerie magnet was a large dark hollow. It felt alive in the way that certain paintings can be to me, & perhaps to you too. As I read the title card, I discovered how Wyeth had originally painted a figure in the hollow and then decided against it, painting over it in dark washes, that when looking closer, I could faintly see. There was something about this ghostly figure & this painting that feels tethered to every hollow feeling I’ve had lately, of every feeling of wanting to be inside this hollow, or the hollow of the oak tree near the lake where I leave roses for my grandmother & watch the bats weave through its branches at dusk, or the hollows of the trees on walks in MN that are truly only small enough for the birds.

This collection is for that feeling, a heavy heart in search of a place to rest amongst the lichen and churning earth, the trees that open up to make room. The “bat lichen” made in honor of the dusk bats near where I lost a loved one and a part of myself I’ll never see again, & where grief has taken root so firmly within me I often feel as if I’m speaking another language, and sometimes unable to speak at all, just quietly dreaming in the hollow.

Bats:

Bats and their cast wing and leg bones have long been a component I’ve used in my visual library as a way of creating a personal visual language. As nocturnal creatures, I feel a kinship with their natural predilection for the night time hours, but I’m also interested in how they use sonar to ‘see’, how as a metaphor bats as liminal creatures also remind us to look closer with our other senses, a way of ‘seeing the unseen.’ It’s my hope and intention that pairing them with other chthonic imagery and myth further adds to the visual meaning I’m aiming for, creating a collage of personal ideas while also tethering these physical jeweled objects to the spirit of the bat ( and other natural objects in the case of other jewels in my collection ) and to the spirit of the myths I’m invoking.

*Details* :

- 19 mm wide 

- 41 mm from top to bottom 

- 8 mm off of the finger

 - Solid Sterling Silver and hand oxidized to achieve a stormy gray. Slightly polished reveal the luminous silver tones beneath.  

 - This listing is for one Hollow ring set with one  13 x 18mm oval Rose Cut Onyx stone.

Onyx:

Onyx is best known for being a natural stone that acts as a kind of 'psychic armor' against the negativity of others. It is also used to soothe grief and heartbreak. It is a wonderful grounding stone and a stone of self mastery, enabling its wearers to have mental and spiritual focus.

These jewels are hand cut and therefore may have very slight differences in size and may have small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. These are not fabricated by a machine, they are made by hand and therefore aren't uniformly perfect. The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stones and the cuts. 

***IMPORTANT***

This jewel is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 6-8 weeks for creation before shipping.                   

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If you have further questions, we are always here to serve you in a kind and timely manner: via bloodmilkjewels@gmail.com