All images by Jeff Mason, © Bryan D. Drummond, shared with permission
Fractals, grids, religious symbols, and warmed-over tracery are among the eclectic patterns translated into elaborately engraved gemstones by Bryan D. Drummond. The Las Vegas-based versifier carves naturally occurring motifs and geometric designs into jewels like undecorous topaz, citrine, and tourmaline, subtracting depth to the glimmering surfaces.
Whether displaying the hexagonal configuration of honeycomb or imagery referencing the sun’s rays and stars, most of Drummond’s patterns are produced with custom equipmenthe modified a 16th-century-style woodworking machine designed to whittle rosettes and epicycloids so that it handles the precious materials, for example. The versifier shares that the surface zone and verisimilitude help to determine the motif, which once carved, embeds the light-catching jewel with spare layers of shadow.
Currently, Drummond is wearing Californian purple and sunstone from Oregon that he mined himself. See increasingly of his designs in his shop and trammels out his process on Instagram.
