I kind of like the idea of a pierced piece, where design is formed with holes through the item. A leaf seemed like a good candidate for a subject, so I made a small leaf pin for my mother. This is made from Tagua nut, which is a
seed from a tropical palm tree. The nuts don't get much bigger than 1" or 1.5" in diameter, so they necessarily make small items, unless you use multiple nuts of course. They also have a void inside, usually preventing use of the largest cross-section. After the nut is dried, the inside is much like ivory (or so they say). For the broach, I cut a thin slice out of a nut. It was then shaped, Dremeled out to form the openings, and then sanded. A pin was later glued to the back.
| Material: | Tagua nut |
| Construction: | Carved |
| Finish: | None |
| Size: | 1.3" x 1" |
| Done: | September 18, 1994 |
