Meticulous Mother-of-Pearl

I wanted to share the technique that GeoArt By Cynthia Gale uses to create our mother-of-pearl designs with everyone! Attached are a series of photos which illustrate how the designs for the Forget-Me-Knot and Love Letters Collections were made. The rough shell is first scraped to reveal irridescent mother-of-pearl on both sides. Stencils of the outer shapes of the GeoArt design silhouettes are then roughly cut from the shell and shaved to a thin, even thickness. The design is cut out of paper and lain on the pearl. A tiny saw is then used to cut the intricate openwork by hand... one-by-one... simply amazing. The shell is then polished to a high sheen, the silverwork soldered and attached, and viola- you are one of a kind!