Specimen Preparation: Crystal & Leaf Curio 💎🍂

This curio blends crystals, minerals, and preserved leaves into a layered glass jar display. By combining natural geological forms with organic material, I aimed to create a piece that demonstrates harmony between earth and plant life while practising material integration.

🧰 Materials and Equipment:

• 💎 Crystals – Banded Amethyst crystals, Rose quartz, Pyrite (fool’s gold), and Quartz point I collected as a child.

• 🫙 Glass jar container – Gifted by a friend in 2021, etched with our friend group’s names and a filled-in tortoise design (each jar had a different image).

• 🍂 Dried leaf specimens – Collected in Pittville Park, Cheltenham (2021–2022)

• 👻 "Only here for the boos" small pin – Birthday gift from a friend (October 2023)

• 🦴 3D-printed Cubone skull (Pokémon) – Which completed this piece on the 23 October 2023

• 🧼 Soap and water solutions (for cleaning jar and objects)

• 🪥 Brushes and tweezers (for arrangement and placement)

⚙️ Preparation Process:

• 🫧 Initial Cleaning – Cleaned crystals and stones with soap and water to remove dust

• 🧪 Drying & Sorting – Air-dried and sorted minerals by colour and size

• 🪥 Leaf Preparation – Carefully cleaned and flattened dried leaf for layering

• 🫙 Assembly & Curation – Layered minerals with crystals at the base, pyrite and quartz for contrast, and leaf arranged to highlight natural textures

Banded Amethyst crystals, Rose quartz, Pyrite, Quartz point, Dried leaf specimens, and "Only here for the boos" pin - Completed: 23/10/2023

Key Skills Developed:

• 🖼️ Curatorial Practice – Material layering to create depth, colour harmony combining complementary tones, and cohesive mixed-media integration of organic and inorganic elements

• 🫙 Preservation & Management – Mineral handling and cleaning, protecting delicate dried botanicals in stable environments, and documenting source and assembly methods

• 🏛️ Museum-Relevant Skills – Multi-material display techniques combining geology and botany, and interpretive awareness of how specimens tell stories through pairing

• 🎨 Professional Skills – Designing aesthetically engaging compositions, problem-solving to protect delicate materials, and managing multiple small components within displays

This curio demonstrates my ability to curate across different material categories, integrating crystals, minerals, and organic specimens into a single balanced display. It reflects both my creative and scientific approach to object presentation, echoing the multidisciplinary nature of museum practice.

💀 See more on my Instagram: @BonesByShannon 🪲

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✨ Learn more about my work and aspirations here: My Portfolio