Celtic Spinning Dragons Earthenware Ceramic Pendant

Made with love on Grizzly Mountain!

I created this "Celtic Spinning Dragons" piece from earthenware clay. It has been glazed with an earthy iron ore glaze. Measuring about 1 1/4" in diameter, this pendant hangs from an 18" ball and chain necklace. Don't forget--you can click the photo to get a closer look!

**Dragons in Celtic Mythology**

According to Wikipedia, "In Britain, the dragon is now more commonly associated with Wales due to the national flag having a red dragon (Y Ddraig Goch) as its emblem and their national rugby union and rugby league teams are known as the dragons. This may originate in Arthurian Legend where Myrddin, employed by Gwrtheyrn, had a vision of the red dragon (representing the Britons) and the white dragon (representing the invading Saxons) fighting beneath Dinas Emrys. The red dragon was linked with the Britons who are today represented by the Welsh (and Cornish), and it is believed that the white dragon refers to the Saxons who invaded Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries. This particular legend also features in the Mabinogion in the story of Llud and Llefelys."

A Little Celtic Love

My laptop is still down, so I haven't been as prolific online as I'd like to be. I was able to add this "Celtic Love" and three other new pendants to my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop.

This "Celtic Love" pendant is made from earthenware clay and has been accented with a very old African Krobo bead. It has been glazed to have a distressed look. The cord is a wonderful faux suede material that doesn't "shed" on your clothes like real suede does and is very easy to tie so your pendant can compliment any neckline. If faux suede is not your favorite material and you prefer to wear your pendant on a chain, you can easily remove it.

What are African Krobo Beads?

Krobo powder glass beads are made in vertical molds fashioned out of a special, locally dug clay. Most molds have a number of depressions, designed to hold one bead each, and each of these depressions, in turn, has a small central depression to hold the stem of a cassava leaf. The mold is filled with finely ground glass that can be built up in layers in order to form sequences and patterns of different shapes and colors. The technique could be described as being somewhat similar to creating a sand "painting" or to filling a bottle with different-colored sands and is called the "vertical-mold dry powder glass technique". When cassava leaf stems are used, these will burn away during firing and leave the bead perforation. Certain powder glass bead variants, however, receive their perforations after firing, by piercing the still hot and pliable glass with a hand-made, pointed metal tool. Firing takes place in clay kilns until the glass fuse.

Celebrating Another Anniversary!

We'll be traveling to celebrate another anniversary this weekend!

In our former lives, we worked and traveled at the pleasure of the Department of the Interior, more precisely the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the course of his career, Dave managed some of the largest game ranges in the United States, with the most recent being Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. We spent six years in Burns, which is located in eastern Oregon and is also known as the "Oregon Outback". This weekend, Malheur NWR will be celebrating it's 100th anniversary as a National Wildlife Refuge and we have been invited to attend!

Also, Rogue Ales has released a Great Egret Pale Ale to commemorate this event!

If you try to contact us via email or Etsy convo this weekend, we will reply as soon as we return on Sunday. Thanks to Hurricane Ike, the motherboard for my laptop is still sitting in Houston.

Spiral Hand Symbol Ceramic Pendant

Along with the new Celtic Oghams, I have added a few more of my latest earthenware pendants to my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop, including this Spiral Hand pendant.

The spiral is an ancient symbol reflecting the universal pattern of growth and evolution. The spiral pattern appears again and again in the natural world from the milky way galaxy to snail shells. The living spiral does not begin or end, it is an ongoing process of innocence, discovery, community, and the essence that connects all things.

New Oghams Added

I finally got a few more Celtic Ogham pendants added to my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop! Things have been a little crazy around here lately, so I haven't gotten as many pieces finished as I had hoped. Oh well, I'll just consider more to later job security :)

Round Water Earthenware Ceramic Pendant

Made with love on Grizzly Mountain!

I created this "Round Water" pendant from earthenware clay. It has been glazed with a dark "Blue Grotto" glaze. No two pieces ever come out of the kiln the same!

The 2" diameter pendant hangs on a faux suede cord that doesn't shed all over your clothes like real suede can. You can easily tie it to accommodate any neckline. The cord can easily be removed if you have your own favorite cord or chain.

All of the items in my Good Dirt Jewelry shop includes free shipping and a gift box--making this a great holiday gift!

Get 'Em While They're Hot!

A fresh batch of Old Irish Blessing Stones are fresh out of the kiln! Thanks to a wonderful customer, I sold most of the new ones I had recently added to my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop.

Old Irish Blessing Stones

I have just added some new Old Irish Blessing Stones to our Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop! For all of you Ogham lovers--that's my next project!

We are officially on vacation! To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, Dave and I are headed to Reno and will be gone until late Thursday evening. All of our shops will remain open and we will have our laptop with us to answer any questions you may have. It will be business as usual except all items purchased during this time won't be shipped until Friday, September 12.

The Sacred Salmon Earthenware Pendant

To the Celts, the fish symbolized knowledge, wisdom, the gift of prophecy and inspiration.

The Salmon of Wisdom were keepers of all knowledge. Mythology tells us that this knowledge was attained by eating the nuts of the sacred hazel tree.

I created my "Sacred Salmon" from earthenware clay. It has been glazed with a dark chili pepper red glaze. Measuring about 1 3/4" in length by 1/2" wide, this pendant hangs from an 18" ball and chain necklace. This piece is currently for sale in my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop.

Spiral Hand Earthenware Pendant

Made with love on Grizzly Mountain!

I created this Spiral Hand from earthenware clay. It has been glazed with a turquoise glaze to have an aged look.

No two pieces ever come out of the kiln the same! The pendant measures nearly 1 1/2" in length by 1" in width.

New Additions to Our Shop!

Update! This piece sold on the first day! Many thanks, Diane!

Finally! All of our earthenware pendants are now located in our Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop! In addition to those that have been listed for a while, I have added some new pieces! Most of my new pieces are more organic in form and design.

The pendant that is featured in this post, is one of my favorite new designs that features a simple spiral. These are all done free form, so no two will be exactly alike. If you'd like to see a more detailed view, please click on the photo above.

Don't worry, there will be more Oghams in the future :)

Fresh from the Kiln!

Nothing is more exciting than opening the kiln door! You never know what you're going to find as the glazes never turn out the same way twice.

Our newest addition to our earthenware line, is our Old Irish Blessing Stone Pendants. These pendants were made to look like the Buckquoy spindle whorl, which was excavated in Buckquoy, Birsay, Orkney, Scotland in 1970. The old Irish Ogham inscription is believed to date back to the 8th century.

According to Wikipedia, the inscription was once used as positive proof that the Pictish language was not Indo-European, being variously read as

E(s/n)DDACTA(n/lv)IM(v/lb)
(e/)(s/n/)DDACTANIMV
(e/)TMIQAVSALL(e/q)

however, in 1995 historian Katherine Forsyth reading

ENDDACTANIM(f/lb)

claimed that it was a standard Old Irish ogham benedictory message, Benddact anim L. meaning "a blessing on the soul of L.". The stone from which the whorl was made, and on which the inscription was written, is native to Orkney.

We are still in the process of photographing these new pendants, so please keep checking our Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop for new additions. Our other earthenware pendants that are still located in our Grizzly Mountain Arts Etsy shop will soon find their new home at the Good Dirt Jewelry shop in the very near future.

Moving Day!

I've begun the process of moving my earthenware pendants from our Grizzly Mountain Arts Etsy shop to my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop! If you have "hearted" our Earthenware Celtic Oghams, you'll now find them at Good Dirt Jewelry. There are still a few left in the GMA shop, but I will try to get them moved tomorrow.