Cool ceramic jewelry for scientists, skeptics, and fossil lovers

A friend pointed me today toward the awesome work of Surly Amy (aka Amy Davis Roth), who makes really neat ceramic jewelry with science/skeptic themes. Some of her pieces are really simple and not super artsy—a pendant that says "This is what an atheist looks like", for instance. That's fine, but it's not the stuff I'm super excited about.

Instead, I really dig Roth's work that focuses on archaeology and paleontology—like a necklace printed with the silhouette of an archaeopteryx fossil on a crackled background that makes me think of broken stone; earrings decorated with ammonites; and a kick-ass bracelet that manages to make trilobites look just a little punk rock.

I also enjoyed reading Roth's bio on her Etsy page. It's long, but the two key takeaways are great:

1. I'm not as surly as I used to be.
2. Life is hard and it often sucks but sometimes, if you keep trying, things will get better!

Surly-Ramics wearable art

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

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MORE: archaeology • Art and Design • beautiful • fossils • jewelry • paleontology • Science • skeptics

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Mister44

Ooooo if only I had my fancy trilobite book I could tell you the species on the bracelet.
- Rich Keller
  
  At first, I thought it was Marella splendens, the ’57 Chevy of the Burgess Shale lagerstatte. Marella’s “curb feelers” (librigena?) are much more attenuated, though. I was just reading about trilobites last week.
  
  Oh, do skeptics also have to be empiricists? I don’t have the wherewithal to confirm a lot of that particle physics stuff on my own.
http://twitter.com/digitalArtform Joseph Francis

That’s funny; I was just thinking about her today. I happened to drive past her old store location in the NoHo Arts District on my way to Dark Delicacies Bookstore.
Neuron

About a year ago I wandered into a local rock shop and bought for $5 a polished fossil of the nautiloid Orthoceras much like these:

http://www.caveofthemounds.com/images/Fossilized%20Orthoceras%20Specimen%209945035.JPGI carry it in my pants pocket every day. The fossil is about 400 million years old. Occasionally I pull it out and look at just to remind myself of how old the earth is, how old life is. It helps maintain perspective. Orthoceras fossils are widely available for purchase.
http://germanwotd.com Amelia_G

Amy is wonderful! She’s very clear-thinking and reliably sound in discussion.

Amy Davis Roth and mezzosoprano Hai-Ting Chinn (and everyone else) were delightful at a gender and skepticism panel last month, for which I can’t find a video.
http://twitter.com/Theranthrope Theranthrope

Needs more of the ATHEIST’S NIGHTMARE: the Banana!

Look at it, just look at it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4yBvvGi_2A
Stephanie Zvan

Theranthrope, Amy has done banana pendants. If you want one and can’t find one, ask. She’s very good about made to order.
http://emilyhasbooks.com/ Emily Dietle

Oh, I HAVE that bracelet! It was a gift from a dear friend. Plus, nearly a dozen of her necklaces, wearing one today, in fact! It reads, “You Can Make a Difference!” …and you CAN! :)
liquidstar

Trilobytes just look cool. But does this mean we can market geode bracelets to Darwin deniers?
occlupanid

Our booths were on opposite sides at Maker Faire one year, and I’ve seen her at SkeptiCal as well. Her ceramic work is inventive and stylish, and she is awesome. Also, trilobites are so rockin’ even Robyn Hitchcock sings about them! http://youtu.be/GITreOQOYX0
colleenmorgan

Fossils are not archaeological. :-/
http://www.facebook.com/adriana.heguy Adriana Heguy

I bought the tree of life or “Ode to Darwin” pendant, it’s gorgeous! I’ll buy more. Finally, some nice jewelry for the scientist and geeks among us :-)