"Salal Leaf Necklace" by April Ottey

Recycled sterling silver and fused 23k gold, with 14k gold loop. 2022. This salal leaf is cast in sterling silver and the texture has been embellished with 23K gold kuem-boo (the gold is fused to the silver). The leaf swings from a 14k gold tear-drop-shaped loop, suspended from an 18" sterling silver chain. The texture in this cast salal leaf really pops with the contrast between the oxidized silver and gold keum-boo. The pendant is 3" long and hangs from an 18" sterling silver chain.

April Ottey is an artist living in Port Townsend, WA. She has her studio a stones throw from Discovery Bay where she creates contemporary jewelry inspired by the natural world. Her close up inspection of various stages of birth, growth, death and decay in forests, rivers and beaches has shaped who she is as an artist. She casts, fabricates and incorporates the textures and intricate shapes found in nature to create jewelry that places nature into a new context.

April’s work can be found in various galleries throughout the Northwest. She is a member of the Northwest Designer Craftsmen Guild and the Seattle Metals Guild. She has an MFA from Central Washington University and an undergraduate degree from Montana State University. She taught jewelry and metalsmithing at an alternative high school for 10 years until she decided to pursue her own work full time in 2015.

You can find more of the artist's work at www.aprilottey.com.