Michele Moore is one of those people. Her
bone jewelry and sculptures are her passion
… and it all started with her observation of
the complexities of a rabbit skull.
Michele was born in New York and raised
in Miami to a mother who was a home
economics teacher. There was a lot of
sewing, cooking and crafting going on in
their house, and after a few years of watching
her mother, her keen observations paid
off. She and Alma, her mother, started to
produce quality beaded jewelry together,
and did quite well.
In 2005 Michele moved to North Port, and
her mother joined her not long after. When
her mother passed away in 2017 – just a
month before Michele’s wedding to her
husband, Phillip – the journey of grief she
embarked upon not only showed her how
even the tiniest of pleasures in life are very
important, it also taught her that there is
beauty in life, and in death. One day, Michele
was out riding her bike when she paused to
notice a rabbit skull lying on the ground.
“The skull was laying in a manner that
I could see all of the small, ornate nasal
passages inside,” she said. “This perfect
pattern was made in nature, and I decided
that this beauty needed to be shared.”
She took the skull home and was trying to
fi gure out how to preserve it by doing some
research online. It was then, on Etsy, that she
came across a pair of bone earrings. She put
two and two together, and realized she had
just hit on something new that intrigued her.
At that time
she had no way
of knowing how
skulls and bones
would change
her life. After
all, she thought,
how many people
would have
the same zeal
for bones that
she did?
Not long after
she started
making bone
jewelry, her
mother-in-law
prompted her to
use half of her
table space at
a craft show. Michele’s work was a hit, and it
started a following of fans that continues to
grow to this day.
Using bones in jewelry and art is not a
new thought. Prehistoric people were found
wearing everything from the teeth of animals
to skulls. One of the most famous examples
from recorded history would be Queen
Pu-abi’s tomb at Ur in Sumer (now called Tall
al-Muqayyar), dating from the 3rd millennium
B.C. Not only was she adorned in jewels, she
also used teeth and bones in her headdress.
Native Americans have consistently used
bone in their wardrobe, jewelry and headpieces.
Asian culture brought to the world
the art of scrimshaw on ivory, and whalers
in the 1800s took that to another level with
whalebone.
This is an appreciation that has transcended
time, and Michele is very tuned in with
the spirits of those who came before her.
She takes her work very seriously, and knows
that with each animal she procures comes
the commitment to honor it. She also knows
that, for many, the beauty of bone structure is
almost considered to be taboo. After all, it is
only in death that the bones can be harvested.
She takes great pains to make sure her
Honoring the Keeper of the Bones