Silver Cottonwood Leaf -Wide- and Turquoise Pendant

While at Patterson Lake near Winthrop, WA late in the summer, I was admiring the tall cottonwood trees shading the swimming area at one end of the lake. It had been a hot dry summer and leaves were periodically floating down to the ground where we were sitting. I collected some leaves and made a quick sketch of the cabins and the lake, thinking I could recreate something in silver.

I pressed the cottonwood leaf into annealed sterling silver using my rolling mill to capture the serrated edges of the leaf and the veining in the middle. I used a second piece of metal to draw elements from my sketches and recreate my memories from the Patterson Lake swimming area. All was soldered together including a setting for a beautiful piece of turquoise which reminds me of the amazing blue summer sky that day.

The patterns you see front and back are pressed into annealed sterling silver, oxidized dark, and then polished to brighten the high spots and enhance the textured details.

The pendant sits on a 3mm dark brown leather cord that includes handmade sterling silver endcaps and chain with a sturdy sterling silver lobster clasp. I added a Whitewater Turquoise bead to the end of the chain.

Metal: Sterling silver and fine silver bezel
Stone: Turquoise
Pendant: 2-3/4 inches tall by 2 inches wide (7x5cm)
Necklace: 3mm round brown Greek leather, 16-1/2 inches (42cm) long plus 1 inch (2.5cm) sterling silver extender chain

The pendant is hallmarked with my initials and will come packaged ready to give as a gift.