The Man | The Myth | The Legend 🌲

Ranger Ray

THE FIRST BLACK STATE PARK RANGER OF NEVADA

Discover the history behind the Ranger Ray Earrings & Things Jewelry Line!

Who is he? What is he? And how does it make such gorgeous glass pieces?He retired from Parks in December of 2006, and now spends his time as a Seasonal Ranger Tech, Greeter, and Great Oracle of Knowledge at The Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park in Downtown Las Vegas...when he's not crafting hand-made one of a kind jewelry pieces of course...

A Hobby Gone Wild...

During the year long lockdown of 2020, Ray found himself needing something to occupy his mind."I saw a pair of bullet earrings and thought to myself, 'I could do that.' Well, I was wrong. I mean I WAS able to do it, but it was more of a hassle and a pain at the time for me instead of relaxing and fun."So Ray began working with glass, starting with a small batch of beads and seeing what he could come up with."Now I know what I'm doing and have my techniques. I'll give those another shot here in a bit. I'm really into working with glass right now."With so many styles and designs with minimum to zero repeats, we just had to ask...what the heck inspired all of this!?"My inspiration came from just sitting the whole time. Nothing to do. But lately, I'm finding a lot of inspiration in old western movies, and the type of style the girls used to wear back in the day."

Just Doing What He Loves...

We asked, "What does your jewelry represent and what does it mean to you?" and it was interesting to watch his mind ponder..."I could say my jewelry represents my feelings, but I don't know how to really explain that. I want my line to make people happy. I want for the person to look and feel like a million dollars, without the million dollar price tag. Does it mean anything to me? Not really. It's just something to do. Something I really do enjoy doing."Any advice to anyone wanting to start their own thing?"Just do it! Everyone always say 'I got this million dollar idea,' but it's not worth a million dollars if you're not putting it together and getting it started. Just start it."

Photo taken by Sherri Cassel at Daisy Wolf Studio