Known around much of the art world for his hand-crafted flutes, Tim Blueflint Ramel has simultaneously built up a masterful jewelry career right alongside his flutes. To collectors, it’s music to their ears.
Tunghak, Keeper of the Game, bolo (collaboration with Glenda Mckay), fossilized walrus tusk ivory, walrus tooth ivory, baleen, terling silver, 18k gold, natural rubies and handwoven seven-strand leather cord, 33/8 x 2¾"
“My grandmother was a silversmith. When I was a kid, I used to mess around and work in her studio. But mostly I just watched her. I made a few pieces when I was a teenager. And then it took me 40 years to come back to it,” Ramel says. “When I came into jewelry, I wanted to pay homage to my grandmother’s designs and her stories, so that is what guides my works. But, of course, one of the hardest things for multi-generational artists is find their own voice and their own designs, and yet still stay true to traditional designs and elements. And so my work is something that is constantly evolving. But I particularly like very clean, concise pieces with strong design elements and all-natural to gem-grade stones so that they become a feature of the piece. I’m also using multiple finishes within the same piece and then letting those finishes guide how the eye moves through the piece.”
Racing the Blue Moon, sterling silver and 14k gold ledger cuff with Bisbee turquoise, 6½ x 1½"
Scissortail, Rosarita and Black Jade Necklace, sterling silver, Rosarita and black jade, 2¾ x 1½"For Earth and Sky, the bolo on this month’s cover, Ramel uses those various surfaces to create pleasing surfaces and lines for the eyes to move around the piece. He’s especially happy with the mammoth ivory, which isn’t white but does have what the artist calls a “peanut-butter pop” of color. “You’d think it would be white, and it is if you take it down several layers. But I didn’t do that. I stopped at the peanut butter level and it makes it glow,” he says.
See more of Ramel’s work at www.timblueflint.com
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