Our Story
Jeanette and Michael Reim have always had a passion for paleontology. Jeanette’s earliest memory of looking for fossils began when she was in grade school. Her mother took her on a dig in Mississippi for fossil shark teeth. Mike’s earliest experience was also from his mother taking him out to dig.
As a team, Mike and Jeanette have traveled from Nebraska to Alaska in search of the joy of fossil hunting; in particular Pleistocene fossils. This endeavor led Jeanette to start Paleo Art- Iculations in 2021. It all began while excavating bison remains on the North Dakota prairies. She articulated leg bones that were free standing and made barnwood frames featuring partial bison skulls.
In October of 2021 she purchased a box of wooly mammoth pieces from Alaska. She had no idea why she wanted them besides the fact that she loves fossils. The day the box arrived she placed it on her work bench. As she sat there next to her dremel tool she had an epiphany and began sanding on a piece of wooly mammoth molar. Within a few hours she had made her first piece of jewelry, a pendant, with no prior lapidary training.
From there the sky was the limit! She purchased lapidary equipment and settings to place her creations in. Her main sources for mammoth came from Alaska and Siberia. Mammoth pieces from Alaska dated between 20,000 years to 50,000 years. The Siberian mammoth dates much older and is over 50,000 years old. The majority of these pieces are small and deemed not viable for a museum collection. Thus, they make fantastic pieces for jewelry!
Each piece of wooly mammoth molar and ivory are hand chosen for quality, color and beauty. No two pieces are exactly alike. The molars come in a vast array of vivid colors and color combinations and are available in natural browns and creams. Colored dyes are placed into a vacuum chamber for many months while the molar becomes infused. Each piece is stabilized and while you’ll see natural cracks know they will not deteriorate or crack further.
Wooly mammoth molars and ivory are more rare than diamonds and brings to you a bit of the past when our ancestors once walked with these amazing beasts!
