I love ammonites – I find them very beautiful. I especially loved the ones that are cut open, so you can see all the crystal growth in the living chambers of the fossils. The challenge on this piece was cutting out all the inside spaces, without the thin spacers (shell) breaking. I started from the inside and worked my way outside, to give the wood as much strength as I could while cutting. 

Left: Hickory shell, burmese sal chambers, with turquoise.

Right: Birch shell, sindora burl chambers, with turquoise.