When other girls played dress-up with their mother’s clothes, Rachelle Davis headed straight for the jewelry box, layering herself with every piece of gold and silver. Now she makes and sells her own jewelry designs, all of them inspired by nature.
Davis is on a path unusual for someone who earned a degree in engineering. Since 1999, she’s supported herself as a gold- and silversmith in locales as diverse as the mountains of Colorado, the high desert of Santa Fe, and now the lush forests of the North Carolina Blue Ridge. Each of her works is one of a kind. When she is using natural stones like chrysocolla, agate, or sodalite, the color and shape often provide her inspiration. She places the stone on her sketchbook and traces around it, usually in the first shape that comes to mind.
She cuts and shapes all components by hand out of silver sheet using a hand saw, and works with silver wire of different gauges for such delicate jewelry as earrings. Davis has some Cherokee in her background; she incorporates the Native American symbol for peace, a broken arrow, into her designs whenever she can.
Her skill with the saw is such that she uses the tool to cut the fine edges of her ginkgo leaf pendants and earrings. She finds sawing soothing, she says—it’s like a form of meditation. She first draws the pattern of a real leaf on the sheet of silver, then cuts it out. The she uses an engraving tool to add the fine network of striations on the silver leaves, giving them a realistic surface finish.
There’s always a second story on the back side of every piece of jewelry. This is something she’s been doing since her metalworking classes in college. Most pendants have hidden engraving under the stones as well, as if adding a prayer within the piece, she says. It’s her way of creating work with layers of meaning.
RACHELLE DAVIS
Jewelry by Rachelle Davis
Asheville, N.C.
(260) 403-0491
rachelledavis.com
Mary Ellen Polson is a creative content editor and technical writer with over 20 years experience producing heavily illustrated know how and service journalism articles, full-length books, product copy, tips, Q&As, etc., on home renovation, design, and outdoor spaces.
