Larkin sculpts each of these barnacles from sterling silver and painstakingly solders them to a hand-crafted disk and earring post.
Just like their natural counterparts, Larkin lets these barnacles have a say in exactly where they land! No pair will match perfectly or be identical to any other pair, and that is part of their charm.
Each stud is 1.0 cm in diameter on a 20 gauge earring post.
Hi everyone! If you've been following my work for long you probably know that my mum, Jenny, usually writes posts while I follow along, but I wanted to switch things up and write one myself!
One of my favorite things about having an increasingly well-equipped studio is that often when there's a weirdly specific/difficult-to-find tool I want I can make it myself. And these are the most useful, and unexpectedly beautiful, example of that to date!
These are little colanders I made to pickle small components without needing to fish them out individually. The handle is just long enough to stick up out of the pickle, and they can stand on their own so they don't tip and send everything flying. 😅
The copper one was my prototype, but it started to contaminate my pickle so I made a second in silver. They're now something I use daily, and a happy little reminder that when I come up with something that would make my life easier I don't always have to jump to a tool catalog! 😉
🎵🎶 "I'd like to be
Under the sea
In an octopus's garden
With you" 🎶🎵
This round agate cabochon looks like a dreamy underwater scene, and Larkin crafted its silver frame to suit it perfectly! The bezel set porthole is circled by silver rivets, two clusters of tiny hand-fabricated barnacles, and a sweet sculpted sea star with two legs that wrap around to the back of the piece.
Once again, the back of Larkin's work is not to be out-done by the front! On the back, the tips of the sea star tentacles and the backs of the rivets surround a cluster of kelp waving in the current.
When backlit, the kelp blades show through the translucent agate window.
These pieces take a phenomenal amount of time! Every element is hand-made from sterling wire and sheet metal then attached individually-- and every step of the fabrication process and each attachment point is an opportunity for Larkin's torch to get just a little too close to the metal for slightly too long, causing everything to slump into an amorphous blob. These blobs are spectacularly morphous! 🤣
This is why Larkin likes cutting their own cabs-- you can't find this shape ready-made!
Larkin shaped this charming potion bottle around a unique agate stone. The red and “sandy” looking areas are sparkling druzy pockets. The top of the stone is left rough to showcase that druzy and make it appear that the contents of the vial are roiling.
Some areas of the stone are quite translucent when backlit.
Larkin hand-shaped a fully three dimensional sterling cork atop the piece, with a hole drilled to attach the bail. The back features swirling spirals rising toward the surface.
A truly magical talisman!
Larkin's lapidary work for the day! These were all cut with specific final designs in mind and hopefully we'll be seeing some of them later this week. :) Left to right: moss agate, petrified wood, mystery stone from a rock show... some kind of jasper/agate mixture.
More production work! I woke up to discover that Larkin had laid out this river of silver ribbon earrings across my desk.
These are so classic and elegant... always a fan favorite at markets!
Tired of the silver tree hair clips? How about one... with a moon! <3
And some more good hair clip news! Our cousin Elly came to visit last week and wear-tested one of Larkin's hair clips for a couple of days. She had given up on this style of hair clip years ago because they wouldn't stay put in her silky smooth straight hair. But, as I suspected would be the case, Larkin's stayed securely in place all day! I'm kicking myself for not getting a photo because it was super striking in her dark hair, too.
Calling all Naiads! Larkin hand-fabricated this gorgeous two-piece hair decoration entirely from solid sterling silver. Don’t let the delicacy of the cat tail and dragonfly fool you— this is a sturdy piece of hardware that will stay put through a busy day!
Both pieces are slightly bent so the clasp lays flat against the head and is comfortable even when leaning back against a head-rest.
They are designed to be placed with the dragonfly facing the hair, then the dragonfly is twisted 180 degrees tightening the clasp and securing the decoration securely in the hair.
The frame is hammered, work-hardening the silver so the fit will remain snug over time. The pin has been rolled through a mill to achieve the same result.
Can you tell I'm excited about Larkin's new line? 😅 These really are *the best* combination of function and exquisite form! Just for funsies we combined it with a lily pad hair pin :)
Local folks! Larkin is Artist of the Month at Dancing Beads in Medford this month! The Idle Talons display is up and a great chance to see some of Larkin's new work in person before their regular market season begins in March. Carol of Dancing Beads has lots of new amazing gifts available, and of course an amazing variety of beads!
If you saw the post referring to "sproingy silver coiling tendril thingies" yesterday, whoa! They became stinging jellyfish tentacles!
Larkin cut a rose quartz jellybean cabochon that was clearly begging to be dressed up as a flowing sterling silver seascape. The hanging tendrils appear fluid and delicate, but are reinforced with attachment points everywhere they touch. That said, it would be possible for them to snag on a loose-knit garment, so care should be taken when worn.
As usual, Larkin couldn't let the front of the piece steal the show! On the back they featured a cluster of kelp, swaying in the current, then capped the piece with a custom-made bubbly bail. A truly stunning statement piece.
Those of you who have been with us for awhile know that one of Larkin's favorite things (other than jewelry design/creation) is bowling. This year, Larkin has qualified for the State All Stars-- the state championship for high schoolers that is one step away from the national competition. Larkin is still working towards that perfect, elusive 300 game.
A team parent wanted a few pairs of Larkin's bowling pin earrings as gifts, so Larkin is making a batch to have a few extras on hand as market season approaches.
Also, something appears to be happening with sproingy silver coiling tendril thingies.
Larkin has been hard at work creating this new batch of leaves! These have been super hard to keep in stock during market season. Larkin has begun framing some in sterling silver as well as copper. It turns out sterling silver is so much easier to work with that both metals are priced the same and Larkin matched each stone to the one that suits it best.
A - applegate serpentine in copper
B - humboldt jasper in copper
C - local agatized jasper in copper
D - grossular garnet matrix in copper
E - moss agate in silver
F - serpentine in silver
G - jasper in copper
H - applegate serpentine in silver
I - plume agate in silver
K - moss agate in silver
L - veined humboldt chert in silver
Know what's really cool? These were all found by our family except for G and I!
Larkin's dad, Emile, grew up in southern Oregon and has always had a soft spot for the manzanita trees that populate the understory of the oak forests here.
Larkin made him this manazanita leaf pendant that looks just as at home in the local trees as Emile!
Larkin's portal period and mushroom period have collided!
The cap of this mushroom is a moss agate with deep purple-red strands suspended in the translucent agate.
Larkin cut the doorway from petrified wood found by our family— they left its front rough to show the wood grain, and polished its back which is visible on the back of the piece.
The back features a small vine weaving in and out of the doorway and a tendril of ivy creeping across the agate. Girded with a shiny silver veil and topped with a custom bail, this is a little piece of forest magic!
It's easy to imagine some of Larkin's recent pieces as fairy houses, but I see a family of laughing field mice wearing wildflower hats in this one. ;)
Remember that sprout Larkin made recently? Check it out paired with this Gemmy McGemerson applegate jade!
Larkin cut this cab from a bowenite stone found by our family near our home in southern Oregon. This stone is known for its deep green translucence and black flecks of magnetite that cause it to attract a magnet! Very deep green, almost black in some light, it really glows when light passes through.
That orange-ish skinned stone in this picture of the back of the piece is the original, raw bowenite cut for this cab.
Larkin paired the silver mushroom form with a sweet little sprout, entirely hand fabricated from sterling silver and modeled after young vines currently appearing on the forest floor around our home. Larkin left the back empty to allow the stone to really shine, and topped the whole thing with a custom made vining leaf bail.
Larkin is in that creative stage where there are sketches on every surface in our house and random little design components like this little sprouting vine randomly left about for me to find and photograph.
Larkin is out working on the genie today, creating some cabochons to suit the pieces they are envisioning... I suspect there will be a veritable flurry of new finished pieces soon!
New year, new growth!Larkin is starting to feel recovered from the gloriously diverting distraction of year-end holidays/birthdays/merriment at our house and getting back in the studio!
This sterling sproutling design is one Larkin wants to continue to play with-- possibly adding some rootlets and/or seed remnants/cotyledons.
As it is, it's a pretty powerful symbol of new growth-- and the circular bail is a nice nod to the sun's role in this business of life.
Happy holidays from all of us at Idle Talons! Today Larkin is 18-- can you believe it?! Here they are, goofing off with younger brother Finn in front of our version of an xmas tree... solstice branch?
We are also finally able to unveil the project Larkin spent the better part of the last month working on!
Larkin has always associated Grandma Mary with lilacs, and they had been wanting to try a more sculptural project.
Each tiny element of this piece is hand-fabricated, shaped, and polished.
The flower features buds in all phases from entirely closed to fully open, and the leaf is perfectly textured to mimic the shiny, waxy surface of a lilac leaf.
Grandma Mary couldn't be happier, and we had a good time with photographs!
We've been a bit quiet lately as Larkin is working on some holiday gifts that can't be posted until after the holidays. There’s a bit more action happening over on the Idle Talons Facebook page! If you’d like to take part in a raffle to win one of Larkin’s pendants there are just a few more days to make it happen! See pinned post at www.Facebook.com/Idle.Talons for details, and please let your friends know if you think they'd be interested.
Larkin needed to restock these wild rose stud earrings for a few orders, and we're still charmed by how they look in a bouquet (in this photo they're straight out of the pickle and not shined up yet)!
Larkin loves the idea of making some tiny botanical stalks for bunched display-- do you or someone you know make tiny glass or ceramic vases that you think would pair well with Larkin's work? It could be fun to partner up!
Larkin's doodling with wire again! These sweet little snow people are a perfect celebration of winter! Their bodies and ear hooks are argentium silver and their hats are copper. Copper is untreated and can be kept polished bright or allowed to develop a natural patina over time.
