Virginia Ross Originals

Unique handcrafted wearable art

• Stone Jewlelry Creations
• Creative Expressions
• Painted Ode to Mother Nature
• Current and Future Shows
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© Virginia Ross. All rights reserved.

Stone Jewelry Creations

Virginia’s life long fascination with jewelry started when she was a child living in Brazil, land of many fabulous gems, where her father learned to be a lapsmith. He subsequently spent many years producing beautifully facetted gemstones and cabochons.Almost 20 years ago she saw a simple beaded necklace she liked and she decided to see if she could make it herself so she went to a bead store that happened to be going out of business and spent the afternoon making two necklaces. She loved it so much she went back the next day and bought up most of their silver, tools and a large amount of stock. She was on her way, many times so inspired and excited by this new surge of creativity she felt like she had been set on fire! Over the past years she has taken some courses: an introductory silversmithing course at Algonquin College, a evening of wire-wrapping, a second 4 hour course in the same, and a 6 hour course in Art Clay techniques, but most of her creativity comes from within. She takes her inspiration from the stones she works with, feeling a particular fascination for jaspers and agates, she tries to work with each stone pulling out it’s different colours to create the final piece. Having an artist as mother and a lapsmith as a father has given her a refined eye for colour and form. Art Clay has given her the freedom to further express her creativity.She had been creating her jewelry part-time while working at NRC as a Technical Officer doing research on osteoporosis for four and a half years before taking the plunge and becoming a full-time artisan for 6 years. Her formal training was a degree in Biology and a diploma in Animal Care Technology.

Art Clay

Art Clay is produced by Aida Company in Japan, that takes and recycles metals including silver from computer circuit boards and photographic supplies, adds non-toxic organic binders and water to make art clay. A similar product is produced by Mitsubishi called PMC (Precious Metal Clay). Art clay is a product that can be handled safely and has minimal effects on the environment.Art Clay comes in the form of a lump of clay that is worked as a clay, dried, sanded and filed, then once completely dried it can fired in a kiln or with a butane torch. This sintering of the clay causes the organic binders and the water to burn off and 99.99% silver (fine silver) remains. The finished product is brushed, tumbled, filed and sanded to reveal a beautiful silver piece. Further enhancement can be done with liver of sulpher to add a patina or enamel to add colour.Her beaded jewelry features semi-precious stones, fresh water pearls, sterling silver, Swarovski crystal and some Swarovski pearls. She has travelled to the Tucson Gem Show to obtain some of her beautiful and unique stones.

Publications & Shows

She was the Featured Artist in Issue 4. Canadian Beading Magazine (2008).Some of the shows she has been in are:

Virginia is the only one who produces her work.

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Creative Expressions

She loves to make water colour and alcohol ink pendants and earrings which were sold at Judy Joannou Designs in Almonte.Virginia’s pendants and earrings can now be found at Frangipani in Almonte. Bittersweet Gallery in Burnstown carried her traditional stone jewelry for about 17yrs but sadly it closed this summer as the owner wished to retire.In addition to currently available pieces, Virginia accepts commissions for new pieces or would be delighted to discuss any ideas about redesigning and bringing new life to your own older treasures. She is also able to create bracelets for Medical Alert tags. In addition, if you are interested in holding a jewelry party, the hostess gets a percentage of the sales towards her own purchases of jewelry. She can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].

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Painted Ode to Mother Nature

Local artist Virginia draws from her international experiences as a child and her educational background to infuse her pieces with an organic flavour and a tasteful play of colours.The daughter of a diplomat, she grew up in Latin America and has also spent time in the United States and Europe. She is the daughter and granddaughter of visual artists and her father cut and polished stones. Virginia’s formal training is in Biology and Animal Care Technology (Vet. Tech.) but she now pursues her passions for painting and jewelry making in her retirement.In her art she favours water colour and pencil crayon and loves to paint the wonders of Mother Nature, with a particular passion for frogs, birds, nudibranches and florals. She also makes cards of her paintings, and prints can be made as well. She loves to make water colour and alcohol ink pendants and earrings which were sold at Judy Joannou Designs in Almonte. Virginia’s pendants and earrings can now be found at Frangipani in Almonte and Bittersweet Gallery in Burnstown.In addition to currently available pieces, Virginia accepts commissions for new pieces or would be delighted to discuss any ideas about redesigning and bringing new life to your own older treasures. In addition, if you are interested in holding a jewelry party, the hostess gets a percentage of the sales towards her own purchases of jewelry. She can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].

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