Wooden Animals

People like cats, right?

I like cats too - I love their curvy sinuous shapes and their expressive tails, but it's these naughty tails that pose a problem to designing a brooch.  I'm always loathe to make anything that has long and thin elements, as I am afraid they will catch and break off.  So I started thinking about some designs I saw on Pinterest a couple of years ago which played with the idea of negative space - suggesting a shape by cutting it out of another, like these.

And I though this would be the perfect way to suggest a cat's tail.

So then I did a LOT of drawing.

Then I worked the most successful designs up on the computer to smooth out the lines and make sure all the patterned elements were nicely placed.

I am still trying to overcome my issues with laser cut jewellery in that I really don't want to produce pieces that look like everyone else's (I rant freely on the subject here) and I haven't seen any pieces quite like these so far, which is good.  I am SO FOND of the cherry wood that the shapes are cut out of.  It has a really rich warm tone and looks particularly lovely against blacks and greys.

Anyway, I produced two cat designs - an Art Deco-esque one and a plumper, curled up one.

I was also sketching some new hare designs for another project idea and thought these might translate well to the same style.  Again, these come in two sizes - I love the larger one so much.

I have another one too, but will share that with you later, as it's a bit Christmassy and you don't need to think about that right now.