I spent my grade school years in beautiful Charlottesville, VA, and later returned to attend college there. My young adult years were spent in Middleburg and Purcellville...all within view of the gorgeous mountains and verdant pastures. Though I was born elsewhere, and now happily live in MD, I have always considered myself a Virginia girl. My love of the dogwood blossom continues to find its way into my art, and I have created a collection around my version of this joyous flower.Each blossom is hand-sawn out from a sheet of .925 sterling silver, forged and textured with my hammer, and the stamens are made of balled-up silver (made with my torch) and soldered on. I create the ear wires and solder them on to the reverse, then carefully curve the petals to give them depth. Finally, I patina and polish the earrings to bring out the depth and detail. The flowers are approximately 5/8"-3/4" wide, and about 1-3/8" long including ear wire.