Ridge peaks and places where two dissimilar materials meet are seen as lines. Floating Free, by Betty Helen Longhi. Courtesy of the artist.

Line is the most individual of marks. It is the first mark we make as children. Lines are the result of movement—stick in the sand, pen on paper. Because we each move with a different type and level of intention, a different force–whether we’re talking with our hands or doing daily chores–each of us draws or writes with a different line quality. In fact, the lines we make are so intimately tied to our unique ways of moving, that each of us has a unique signature, used for centuries for identification. Although how long that will last in a digital age is anyone’s guess.

Lines are usually considered two-dimensional: they have width and length. And they are when made with ink, graphite, crayon, paint, or sticks, on a flat surface such as paper, walls, canvas, or dirt. In jewelry, though, lines are more complex. They can be incised into a flat surface with a tool such as a graver, or be described three-dimensionally with wire, or wire-like materials, of varying thicknesses.

Jewelry lines often divide space, such as the edges of stone setting channels or bezels, or the wires between cells in cloisonné. Lines are also formed by the edges where two pieces of dissimilar metal two stones, or two found objects butt up together.

What we see as “lines” in jewelry are quite often edges, such as facet junctions—the edges between facets on a cut gemstone–the edge of a forged sheet, or the edge of metal wrapping around a bracelet.

Lines can be created by a series of rivets, a row of gemstones or similar found objects. The crests of ridges, like those of mountains, are interpreted as lines, as are the ripples of reticulation or the crimps in a piece of form-folded metal.

Where two different textures, colors of patina or enamel meet can create a fuzzy but perceived line. Inclusions in gemstones, such as those in rutilated quartz, or patterns in materials such as jasper, can form lines that observant makers may extend into the metalwork. And, unique to the high gloss of jewelry metals, light and reflection can create line.

When writing or drawing we tend to gravitate to specific types of instruments: a fine-tip felt pen, a ball point, a calligraphy pen, or the ubiquitous #2 pencil. In your jewelry work, you may be drawn to creating line with wire, with space, with texture. Over time, that line choice may become part of your style, your artistic “signature.”