Animal totems and crystals - Dead Good Jewellery

I began Dead Good Jewellery primarily using resin in my work, and over the years ive managed to get pretty good at it. However i have recently began using recycled bones and animal feet a lot more in my Dead Good Creations, along with clay and crystals. I feel very positive about these pieces and i REALLY enjoy making them! They are a lot more challenging to make, but life would be quite boring if it was not challenging.

Sometimes when i pick up roadkill not all of the animal part can be recycled and i have ended up with a big collection of preserved animal feet. I have also had a big collection of animal feet come into my life from my fellow wild sister Alison Brierley. I have wanted to make magickal talisman necklaces for a while so recently i started to make them! Each one is totally unique and i am able to also engage with my love of crystals which is truly a blessing. Crystals and taxidermy may seem like quite an unusual mix to some, but to me it seems only natural to put them together. Each piece has it's own story and it's own symbolism. I like to make unique pieces using my own intuitive and creative juxtapositions and then somewhere out there in the world there will be someone with a natural affinity with the piece , and i believe this is because the strong symbolism and love in the talisman has a symbiotic relationship with the wearer's soul.

Cat's are worshipped all over the world, from Egyptian times and now all over the Internet you will see constant cat videos and memes. Everyone loves cats. So it seemed very symbolic and powerful to put a tektite meteorite stone with this cat foot amulet, as tektites are used for wisdom, knowledge and extra terrestrial communications. Which also could be the genuine attributes of a cat too one might think! As we all know cats love to explore the unknown. I like to call this piece ''space cat''. This piece is now sold.

I have always had a strong interest in animals, magik, nature, aliens, symbolism and dreams.

My dissertation at University was entitled ''surrealism, dreams and the subconscious mind''. I have always felt since being very young that there is something more to life and i have luckily managed to maintain my sense of childlike wonderment. I feel like making these talismans has reconnected me again with this sense of self.

While i enjoy using resin in my Jewellery work i feel that there is a lack of connection while i am using it, it is more like being in a chemistry lab rather than making something more ''earthy'' which i prefer. I will still continue to use resin from time to time but i have decided to edge more towards this kind of work in the jewellery side of things. These are the first of many pieces to come! And i will gladly take on board commissions too.