Fresh Manicure — Hand-Sculpted Clay Bracelet

Four little hands, blue nails, caught mid-wave.

I sculpt each hand one at a time — the palm pinched into shape, the fingers separated with a needle, and the nails painted last, which is the part where I stop breathing for a second. Between them sit lilac tiles and mint rounds, each pattern painted freehand, so no two beads on this bracelet are twins.

Stone clay is the reason it works. It's light — lighter than it looks — and it never goes cold on your wrist the way ceramic does. It sits somewhere closer to resin in the hand: fine, smooth, faintly warm.

It's a stretch bracelet, so it goes straight on. No clasp to fight with in the morning.

This is a close-range piece. Across a room it reads as a pretty bracelet; at arm's length someone notices the hands, and then you have a conversation on your hands. That's roughly the point.

Details

• Hand-sculpted, hand-painted stone clay beads
• Elastic cord — pull it on, no clasp
• Fits wrist: 13–15 cm / 5.1–5.9 in
• Length: 16 cm / 6.3 in · Focal beads: 16–17.4 mm
  
• Finish:  Sealed 

Measurements are taken by hand, allow ±0.5cm length difference.

Living with it Keep it dry and dust-free, and give it one landing spot when it comes off — a small dish does the job. Cord is a consumable, same as a shoelace; restring it when it tires and the beads carry on unchanged. Full guide: swaylightart.com/pages/living-with-clay