One of the first laser cutting techniques I experimented with was edge lighting engraved acrylic. It's used quite commonly for laser manufactured products but it turns out, it's quite fun to incorporate it into jewelry.

Designs like this would benefit from a level of graphic and iconography design that I'm not quite proficient at yet, but I've been able to produce some wearable glowy goodness even with simple shapes. Being able to fill a surface area with imagery that is much, much larger than the LED itself means that I can use tiny LEDs and tiny batteries for a compact, elegant build. The illusion of shaped light floating in space is quite magical, so this is an area I really want to explore more of.

Here are some of my jewelry designs that use this technique.

"Get out of your own way" earrings

These earrings were inspired by the wisdom of my friend and fellow mentor Krissie Mcmenamin. She gave me the tools to get outta my own dang way – learn to acknowledge the practiced inner critic that says "you're not good enough", change my self narrative to say "maybe I am tho" and just keep getting a little better each day. These earrings are a physical reminder, and a tangible gift to express my appreciation for her influence on my growth.

Ginko leaf ring

Fun fact: the Ginko Biloba tree is the last descendant of an ancestry of trees that first appeared about 290 million years ago. This bold design inspired by this leaf is one of my favorites 😍. The main spiral body whips out quite far on one end to a small battery pack (which I originally found out about on mixtela's youtube project) and flares out the other end into a ginko leaf engraved into clear arcylic. The result is a statement piece, with seemingly no visible power source. I love how the industrial aesthetic of the spring-shaped body blossoms out into an organic leaf. Definitely a great reminder for me to aspire towards more loud and grand designs.

Stealth Filipino

Speaking of bold, this ring definitely fits the bill. I had an urge to design something filipino-related when I made this. While it ended up looking like a cybernetic butterfly of sorts instead of the rays of the Philippine flag, I quite like that it is a bit ambiguous. I don't often mention the fact that I grew up in the Philippines and immigrated to the US when I was in my college years, mostly because it's usually not the focus of my art, but also mostly to "blend in".  This ring design explored what it would feel like to connect my art to that part of my life. TBD on whether I'd do that more often, but I did like how this one turned out!

Thanks for reading. Subscribe to this blog for more (occasional) content! And if this post inspired you in some way, I’d love to hear from you, I’m @chardane on Instagram. Also, if you see me being casually glowy at Open Sauce 2024 or Teardown 2024, please come say hi!