The other day I was on author Erin Morgenstern's website and I came across a post that she had written on our Dragon necklace.  It always makes me happy when someone whose work I really respect buys one of our pieces.  If you haven't read The Night Circus, run out and pick it up.  If you're agoraphobic, under house-arrest or just lazy, order it online or download it to your Ipad or Kindle.

When I searched Erin out on Wikipedia, I couldn't help but notice that she was wearing our Love Conquers All necklace in her profile photo (Copyright 2011 Larry D. Moore)

As a side note, my very first job at age 11 was at a carnival...From Carny to Jewelry Designer: The Pyrrha Story.

Posted by Wade Papin at 3:02 pm

Danielle and I recently returned from a much needed vacation in Costa Rica. In between battling scorpions, wolf spiders, jelly fish and Locusts we managed to relax and absorb some sun into our Vitamin D depleted bodies.

Despite the fact that we counted no less than 25 scorpions in and around our house, the scariest moment was when I stuck my macro lens within an inch of this particular specimen.

I thought that this toad was the cutest little guy ever until I learned that dogs routinely eat them and die :(

These locusts are huge! This one was trained specifically to knock over my winning Scrabble tiles.

Is it a stick? Is it a bug? It's a stick bug!

We were walking along one day when an enraged 5 foot long iguana dropped out of a tree by our feet.  It ran by and started attacking a metal fence outside of a restaurant.  Apparently steroid use is rampant in the iguana community.

These Howler Monkeys, despite their small size, are generally regarded as the world's loudest land animal.  They communicate with a very deep and rumbling howl-like bark that can be heard from up to 20 miles away.  We were pretty intimidated by them until we saw them up close.  Poseurs.

Danielle is somewhat of a bug whisperer.  This dragonfly is sporting sunglasses just to impress her.

Posted by Wade Papin at 1:38 pm

Emma Swan, portrayed by actress Jennifer Morrison, wears a Pyrrha Swan Necklace as her personal talisman on ABC's new hit show Once Upon a Time.  In heraldry, the swan represents grace, beauty and poetry so we think that it's quite fitting. The show, produced by "Lost" alumnae Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, is a drama in which the fairytale world and the present day collide.

For a limited time you can watch full episodes of Once Upon a Time online.

Posted by Wade Papin at 4:12 pm

This atmospheric 2 minute Pyrrha film features various techniques used in the crafting of our handmade wax seal jewelry set to Abe Vigoda's Dream of My Love (Chasing After You).  I've set the permissions on Vimeo to allow for sharing as well as embedding of the code. Enlarge to full screen and turn up your speakers!

Posted by Wade Papin at 2:35 pm

Last week Danielle and I went to see the Gerhard Richter retrospective in London at Tate Modern. Richter is a brilliant German visual artist whose work spans nearly 50 years. The exhibition, entitled Panorama, coincides with Richter's 80th birthday.  Many of Richter's works are not easy to view - the imagery is haunted with violence and war, yet with his trademark blurring he somehow manages to convey beauty as I've never seen it before.

Above: one of Richter's highly sought-after paintings from his Candle series. Sonic Youth used one the candle paintings for their Daydream Nation album. Apparently Richter was a fan and let them use it free of charge.

On view at Tate Modern until January 12, 2012.

Gerhard Richter: Panorama is organised by Tate Modern in association with Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Centre Pompidou, Paris

Posted by Wade Papin at 3:52 pm