…when jewelry has a life of its own….
Does the idea
come first like a light bulb illuminating in my brain or is there something I
see which triggers a familiarity upon which I can expand? I am tempted to say
that things just happen: Do they roll and stand up to get attention or spring
like a sprout from the fertile ground
I tread?
I was given
this Labradorite Cabochon stone from a friend. As I touched it's smooth
surface, I rolled it over in my hand and put it back into my stone box, I was
struck by the color and luminosity it possessed in different lighting. There
was an iridescent blue that reminded me of
the pink and
turquoise blue of a sunset by the ocean. I had just moved and ended a
disappointing relationship that was tumultuous and mean. I was alone somewhat
happily yet I could only feel the fear. I was thankful that the new place came
with a bed that was not only
comfortable but
enabled me to lay my head upon the pillow and gaze into the treetops and see
the sky. I forced myself to breathe long deep breaths even though my heart was
beating in my chest and my phone was blowing up with abominable texts from my
ex.
While I laid on
the bed, out of the corner of my eye I saw the brown paper wrapping with string
around a small painting, waiting to be unpacked and hung. I had collected so
much art over the years but now most of it sat in storage. Through the years
I'd become increasingly uncommitted regarding this collection. While I loved
every piece of art I owned, I didn't want anything hanging on my walls anymore.
I wanted my mind to be free so I could dance with my own ideas, unhindered by
someone else's.
"I should
hang that painting", I whispered to myself. Three months later, the
package still sat by my nightstand. It had been moved endlessly around my tiny
bedroom because it seemed to be constantly in the way. I loved that painting;
it had been given to me by a friend on my birthday 6 years ago. I like to look
at its colors because it made me feel like I could fly into its night sky and
lose myself into the cobalt blue and sherbet-colored sunset. I could lay atop
that small hill and watch the sun disappear over the horizon.
I hadn't been
able to work since I moved because the displacement had been so abrupt and
brutal. I could only cry because I felt broken and lost. I've never been unable
to work in the sanctuary of my studio, not ever. The dry period was long, until
September when production for
the holidays
was upon me. I felt empty and dry. Coming down the stairs from my bedroom one
morning I tripped on the edge of the brown paper and the painting fell down the
5 stairs with me after it. We both arrived on the landing somewhat shaken and
disheveled, but all in tact. I sat
there stunned
and slowly unwrapped the painting. I ran my fingers over the gilded gold frame
and let the colors wash over me. I immediately hung it at the foot of my bed
where I could gaze upon the tree tops through my window and then lose myself
into the colors of the sunset
painting. Or
was it sunrise?
I sat in front
of my stone boxes and opened them one by one, wishing that inspiration would
find me like water in stream rippling over the rocks with diamond reflections.
The Labradorite found its way into my hand again and I wanted to catch the
clouds that reflected in the streams of my memory. That beautiful stone was the
painting at the foot of my bed as much as it was a cool glass of water from the
well to quench my thirst. It came from the earth and it whispered to the blue
in my soul while I set it into a ring.
But the journey of this ring had just begun....
Barb and I have
been dear friends since we attended the Cleveland Institute of Art. We each
followed our own trajectories that began at CIA. Through the following decades
we both worked hard at our lifes’ work; for Barb it was jewelry, and for me, it
was painting and drawing.
A few months
ago, I saw the ring in a post that Barb had put on Instagram (@barbaraklar).
The elaborate silver setting held a large
oval
Labradorite stone. The setting was like an exaggerated contemporary version of
a Victorian gothic cocktail ring. The 19c, with its confluence of colonialism,
photography and Darwin has been a source of study and fascination for me. There
was just something about that ring that struck me in a profound way like no
piece of jewelry ever had.For years, I have been studying and researching
colonialism worldwide, but Hawai’i, in particular. The earliest ethnographic
photographs of Hawai’i are the foundation of my paintings. Being part native
Hawaiian, I am fascinated by some of the faces of the women before
miscegenation; they were a far cry from the brown-tinted, Caucasian-featured
hula hula girls, used to promote the tourist industry, especially beginning in
the 1920’s.
That ring reminded
me, very profoundly, of Hawai’i…the sea and the
mountains.
Shortly after I
purchased the ring, I attended a transcendental event with acsmall group of
people. Under the guidance of a trained facilitator, various psychedelic plants
are administered to each person based on their experience and intent. My intent
was to be able to work through a difficult period with my partner, and to have
some breakthrough in my work. After a gut-wrenching, powerful-on-many-levels
night, we all got together in the morning, to talk about our experiences. The
next step was to integrate our experiences with the plants, in our daily lives.
This made perfect sense to me on a very rational level. Little did I know or
expect some of the irrational and poignant synchronicities that would occur.
Just before the
journey, I had been commissioned to make a large vertical painting for a
private residence. The subject matter had been decided: two pearl divers. I had
nearly finished the divers, but was having a very difficult time determining
the configuration and colors of the water into which they were diving, which
comprised nearly 2/3 of the entire painting.
I’ve had
insomnia for a while now and wake up several times a night
completely
pie-eyed. A few days after the journey, I woke up at 2:14am,
and went into
the living area to have a cigarette. I had a conspicuous thought that seemingly
came out of the blue…the ring, it's light and it's color would be the ground of
the painting! The next day, I painted the remaining white canvas with the image
of the sea, rock and sky depicted in the ring with a big brush and watercolor.
It freed me up from my usual tightly controlled rendering. It offered an
infinity of possibilities, and most of all, I was energized and stimulated!
I completed the
commission. The client was pleased, and so was I.
*healing properties of Labradorite
A stone of transformation, Labradorite is a useful
companion through change, imparting strength and
perseverance. It balances and protects the aura, raises
consciousness and grounds spiritual energies. Excellent
for strengthening intuition - promoting psychic abilities.
