Emily Spykman | Shifting Sands

Artist: Emily Spykman, New Mexico
Materials: sterling silver, Oregon sunstone, black spinel
Size: 6.25

Artist Statement: The Kangaroo Rat is highly adapted to the intense desert environment. You won't see it hopping out and about during the heat of the day, that little critter knows to hide in burrows in the cool sand, letting the wind whip and the sun bake above, while it munches little seed treats and waits for sundown. Once the air cools, it peaks it's little nose out, and hops out of it's burrow in search of seeds that it will stuff in its cheek pockets for later- there's no water to be found, but that doesn't bother the Kangaroo Rat at all- it may never drink a drop of water its entire life! Leaping and hopping around on its long hind legs, avoiding rattlesnakes and badgers, hiding under bushes, camouflaged and curious, living its best life in and on the shifting sands of White Sands National Park.
The rippling sands of the ring band are silver cast into cuttlefish bone, the Kangaroo Rat was hand-carved in wax and cast in silver, with flush-set Black Spinel eyes and an Oregon Sunstone seed snack.

Artist Bio: Clementine & Co. is the jewelry line of Emily Clementine Spykman. She has been a metalsmith and jewelry designer since 2010, when she received initial instruction at Penland School of Crafts. Since the beginning her focus in design has most often been on natural forms and textures, rendered with a minimalist contemporary bent. Her work is most often described as "simple and elegant", but with intriguing subtle detail for the more nuanced observer. Her time living in the desert southwest has highly influenced the forms in her work- from mesas to cactus and fine sand textures- the desert lives in her art. You can find Emily most days at her gallery and jewelry studio, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This ring was part of Battle of the Rings: Ring Smackdown 2024, an online exhibition and competition. View the entire collection HERE, view the matches HERE, and learn more HERE.