Inspirations for Lapis Reflection Mermaid Inlay Pendant

As a little girl, my eyes were transfixed on the huge glass wall—behind it, were real mermaids swimming in the crystal water.

The mermaid shows at the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park is pretty much what a little girl’s dreams are made of, with ladies donned in colorful mermaid tails holding their breath and doing underwater flips.

The mystical feminine of mermaids is what first drew me to them, but there’s also a freedom and strength in being about to coexist with a sometimes unseemingly powerful force of water.

For my Lapis Reflection mermaid, I wanted her pose to be relaxed and confident, but I needed the stone color palette to be bright and give off a youthful energy despite so I could find a balance between elegance and playfulness.

Stone selection is a big deal for me, and takes a lot of careful consideration of their personal symbolism.

(Here is an in-progress picture of the wire work of the inlay mermaid before the backplate was soldered on).

Stone selection:

-Andean pink opal: I usually start with skin tone and in this case, I chose Andean pink opal for her skin. I wanted something delicate that resembles the color of angelskin coral that was feminine yet exudes a bright strength

-Lapis lazuli: I initially was going to textured lapis lazuli for the inlay mermaid tail, but this textured lapis was way more fitting, as if it were the water reflections on her tail as she sits on a coral just below the surface. Her tail even has carved grooves to look more like a fish’s tail, which adds an extra dimension to her.

-Laguna agate: this agate was used for her shell bra and captures the striated look of a shell you’d find at the beach. The carved details in the agate to imitate the grooves in the shell to imitate the texture of a scallop shell while the color goes along nicely with her skin tone.

(Pictured is the rough agate from what I carved my shells from).

-Turkish caramel opal: I’d like to imagine that a mermaid would get a lot of sun on her hair which would make it lighter, so I chose this caramel opal that is just a tad darker than full blonde, yet still go perfectly and add a slight contrast with her fair skin.

-Kingman turquoise: Usually in my figures, I make a band of stone for a bracelet or anklet, but I wanted to do something different for this mermaid by cutting tiny 1mm pieces of turquoise to look like tiny beads for her necklace and add an extra pop of color in the pendant.

-Mother-of-pearl: I initially had planned to have the mermaid holding an opal, but in the end decided that it would make more sense if she was holding a pearl instead so I cut a small piece of mother-of-pearl for her to hold—something symbolic of the strength she holds as a woman.

Lapis Reflection Earrings; carved Laguna agate shells, lapis lazuli, fine and sterling silver

To accompany the pendant, I knew I wanted to make a pair of drop earrings incorporating some of the stones and designs of the mermaid. Carved Laguna Lace shells were going to be the highlight of them, but I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to cut the lapis lazuli to hang underneath the shells. In initially drawings, I was going to cut a tongue (which is kind of like a bullet-shape that’s flattened on two sides), but ended up falling for an elongated pointed oval to mimic the mermaid’s tail as it resembles an elegant vessel.

Then came the hard part—how to tie two pairs of stones (the agate and the lapis) together in a pair of earrings that were just as elevated as the pendant.

After letting the stone sit on the bench for almost two months, the solution hit me: hinges! The hinge would allow the bottom stone to swing in a controlled way for added playfulness as they move when worn.

(Pictured is my sketchbook where I was drawing out bezel and prong ideas to get an idea of what would look best to hold the shell in place.)

 If the world sometimes seems like a cage, I like to think there are ways we can find our own freedom, whether than be in a physical space like the ocean, or perhaps even the vast sea of our imaginations. I have filled this Lapis Reflection Mermaid with all of my hopes and dreams so that she can be a talisman of freedom for you too.