A number of years ago my husband started keeping bees, and it’s turned from a hobby to a small business. He’s been fascinated by these little creatures, and he’s shared many really interesting facts about them. His enthusiasm is infectious! I ended up making several different pieces featuring bees.

These images were created entirely by hand with the ancient sculpting techniques of chasing and repousse, using small, specialized tools and thousands of hammer blows to push and form the metal, either from the front of the piece to add texture and detail (chasing) or from behind to create depth (repousse). This work is done free hand, beginning with a flat sheet of metal, and no molds, stamps or machines are used in the process, making each piece truly one of a kind.

These sterling silver earrings are 1-1/4 inches long.