Dawn broke across a pale blue expanse aflutter with white and gold, like ruffles edging the skirts of the sky. Within a couple of hours, those easterly clouds have moved on, but the westerly skies had chosen to wrap themselves in the first ruffles of an impending storm — the same layered and fluttering rows, this time all in shades of slate and dusky violet.
Now, nearly all of the clear blue is veiled completely, and we await the imminent arrival of an entirely unseasonal midday monsoon, this one perhaps defying the forecast in an unexpected direction: It’s already apparent that the clouds around the horizon hold snow, the only question being whether the mercury here will drop enough for us to get that instead of rain.
Even if such events fail to crystallize, of course, the return of the rain is more than enough. The land is impossibly thirsty, the soil like ash and old bones long scorched by unrelenting heat, and the only water for the wild ones to drink is that which we daily provide. This place has always been sanctuary for them, the elk and coyotes and skunks and occasional ermine, the salamanders and snakes, the birds of every size and description and the insects, too. Now, though, there is a sense of desperation, and relief, that accompanies their waves of arrivals; this is no longer simply a safe space in which to pass the night, or several of them, but perhaps their only chance at sustenance, food and water alike.
It may not be as dire as the situations of the animals in war zones the world over, but it’s a war zone of a sort all the same, and our non-human relatives are always among the first casualties if we fail to take steps to ensure their survival. [It’s also no less a human-caused war zone than those suffering beneath bombs and incursions of heavy weaponry; it’s merely a more subtle, longer-term form of invasion and attack, one that has left us with a twelve-hundred-year drought and a climate already in collapse, even though the outside world refuses to see it.]
For now, on this day? We celebrate what comes with gratitude.
Today’s feature, a trio of related works designed explicitly to coordinate with and complement each other, is manifest in the shapes and shades and animating spirits of these great gifts of the First Medicine. All were created in the summer season, and with the best of its conditions firmly in mind, but given that summery weather has now long since spilled over into late autumn, it seems fitting to pay tribute to them on this day that heralds, at the very least, the return of the rain.
As is customarily the case with these trios, we begin with the necklace, one named explicitly for this event now apparently only moments away. From its description in The Beaded Hoop Collection in the Necklaces Gallery here on the site:
The Return of the Rain Necklace
Summer is the season of the return of the rain, arriving in a series of small but powerful storms. With this necklace, the first work in his new Midday Monsoon trio, Wings honors the traditional patterns of weather, climate, and season, and the gift of the First Medicine that the rain delivers to a hot and thirsty earth. The bead strand’s focal segment consists of four ultra-high-grade spheres of royal lapis lazuli, the finest material we’ve ever seen, each orb flanked by a tiny round heishi-style disc of rainbow moonstone. The central group is flanked in turn by ethereal rounds of translucent white agate marbled limned with faint golden traces, accented by more rainbow moonstone. Moving upward, the heishi-style discs embrace more ultra-high-grade royal lapis, these in the shape of doughnut rondels, which in turn hold twisted barrels of old, old glass in shimmering blue shades reminiscent of kyanite. At mid-strand, a gradient of Ellensburg blue agate, Labradorite, old natural turquoise so bright it can only be Persian, and brilliant white tridacna shell rounds are punctuated, bead by bead, by single rainbow moonstone discs. Necklace hangs just over 19″ long, excluding findings (dimensions approximate). Designed jointly by Wings and Aji. Another view shown at the link. Necklace coordinates with The First Raindrops earrings and Summer Storm, Gathering coil bracelet. From Wings’s new Midday Monsoon limited series (all pieces shown above and at the link).
Strand: Tri-ply foxtail plated with silver; sterling silver findings;
Beads: ultra-high-grade royal lapis lazuli; rainbow moonstone; white/yellow agate; old kyanite-blue glass;
Ellensburg blue agate; Labradorite; old natural turquoise (likely Persian); tridacna shell
$400 + shipping, handling, and insurance
This work did not render well photographically, and even less well when translated to the screen, so I feel the need to clarify a few details. The white tridacna shell, the turquoise, the Labradorite, the Ellensburg blue agate, the rainbow moonstone heishi — all appear overexposed here, and thus fail to show their true intensity of color. The photo of the trio at top gives a slightly better view of the necklace’s true colors, but only slightly; in fact, they’re all deep, bright, intense. The two yellow agate orbs that flank the royal lapis at center are indeed much more visibly yellow, a crackling blend of ivory and gold that glow like small suns emergent from clouds on either side; the lapis itself is a quartet of absolutely extraordinary beads, part of an old and valuable ultra-high-grade strand polished to such a sheen that they resemble translucent blue glass.
And then there are the blue barrels.
The materials list above describes them as “old kyanite-blue glass,” and that’s about as accurate as it gets. They are indeed deep blue, a blend of cornflower and royal and indigo and midnight, with indigo predominant. But their twisted shapes are infused with a silvery shimmer that here refracts the light so completely that it makes them look like a dull gray-blue, and nothing could be further from the truth. They are rich, bright, intensely hued, and they glow with an immanent stardust shimmer . . . or, perhaps, the rain itself in the storm light.
The second of today’s featured works is named for that phenomenon that has only just arrived in these last moments as I write: the first raindrops, air impossibly fresh and sharply redolent of petrichor, and a feel upon the wind that we are about to be granted a true cleansing at last. From its description in The Standing Stones Collection in the Earrings Gallery:
The First Raindrops Earrings
The first raindrops bring the blues and grays of the stormy sky to earth, their medicine tangible and shimmering in the light. With these earrings, the second work in his new Midday Monsoon trio, Wings pays tribute to the rich hues of the thunderheads and the silvery gift that falls from them in summer. Each dangling drop consists of seven jewels: at center, a truly extraordinary sphere of ultra-high-grade royal lapis lazuli polished to a glassine finish, the finest such material we’ve ever found; above and below, icy spheres of ultra-high-grade Labradorite with plenty of blue flash in the light; and at either end, doughnut rondels of ultra-high-grade royal lapis immediately above and below tiny gray Labradorite rounds. All are strung on filament-thin sterling silver half-round wire, suspended from extended-length sterling silver coil-and-ball-bead earring wires. Earrings hang 2″ long, excluding wires (dimensions approximate). Designed jointly by Wings and Aji. Earrings coordinate with The Return of the Rain necklace and Summer Storm, Gathering coil bracelet. From Wings’s new Midday Monsoon limited series (all pieces shown above and at the link).
Sterling silver; ultra-high-grade royal lapis lazuli; ultra-high-grade Labradorite; small Labradorite rounds
$175 + shipping, handling, and insurance
All of the lapis beads in this pair are ultra-high-grade material, all electric in color and powerful in their beauty. The smaller doughnut rondels are virtually identical in color to the central spheres, but it is those deep blue orbs that are finished off with a glassine surface [and while the rondels were expensive, the rounds were on another level entirely].
The small rounds of Madagascar Labradorite have plenty of blue flash, but compared to their larger counterparts, theirs is a more muted beauty. The large orgs of the same material are something ethereal, truly otherworldly; looking at them in the light feels like watching the light of sun and moon and stars and storm all coalesce together as one.
And the blues and the silvery grays reappear in the third and final of today’s featured works. This one is a spiral of power, a summer storm, gathering, except that on this day, it is gathering — and delivering — on the downward slope of fall, the rain accompanied at a slight distance by snow already enshrouding the peaks. It’s unlikely to be more than the faintest dusting, but it’s medicine, and its shapes and shades, its spirit and power, are all rendered beautifully in the vortex of this work. From its description in The Coiled Power Collections in the Bracelets Gallery:
Summer Storm, Gathering Coil Bracelet
These are days of harsh extremes, of the haunting beauty of the summer storm, gathering, clouds coalescing above the horizon to deliver the season’s greatest gift. With this third work in his new Midday Monsoon trio, Wings evokes the contrasting beauty of clear blue skies, puffy white clouds, and the darkening blues of a storm rapidly gaining force and power. At the center of the spiral sit five giant orbs of naturally-textured white coral, each flanking its own trio of ultra-high-grade royal lapis lazuli, the latter formed of the finest spheres we’ve ever encountered in the embrace of a pair of smaller doughnut rondels. Moving outward toward either end, the royal lapis rondels punctuate rounds of glossy, ethereal white jade, leading to quartets of natural white howlite with beautiful bronze-hued veining separated by tiny orbs of Labradorite, thence to a similar arrangement of smaller Ellensburg blue agate rounds separated by the same small Labradorite beads. The anchor segments consist of a gradient of summer-sky shades: Labradorite in the embrace of sterling silver saucer beads, solitary white tridacna shell beads holding a quartet of old natural turquoise (likely Persian) in their embrace; the rich dusky blues of Dumortierite; and at each end, the smallest Labradorite orbs once more, like little drops of rain ready to fall. Bracelet consists of four full coils of beads strung on memory wire, which expands and contracts to fit nearly any wrist. Designed jointly by Wings and Aji. Another view shown at the link. Coil bracelet coordinates with The Return of the Rain necklace and The First Raindrops earrings. From Wings’s new Midday Monsoon limited series (all pieces shown above and at the link).
Memory wire; white coral; ultra-high-grade royal lapis lazuli; white jade; natural howlite; Ellensburg blue agate
sterling silver; Labradorite; tridacna shell; old natural turquoise (likely Persian); Dumortierite
$350 + shipping, handling, and insurance
This one is a mix of bright skies and the haunted mysteries of the storm. The colors glow: light blue clarity, white puffs of cloud, the deep blue skies full of medicine and the blue-limned luminous grays of the sun behind the storm — even sharp bolts of silver, like lighting, or perhaps light through the rain, shimmering off the surface of new snow.
As always, none of the works in these trios is a perfect match to any of the others. They share a family resemblance, and much more, but they are also designed to stand entirely on their own. It just so happens that for us, on this day, they seem perfectly coordinated.
And outside the window, it is clear that the rain is fully here, falling hard and fast. It’s also clear that the mercury has dropped — indeed, rather drastically — because the rain is already visibly thickening. No, it’s not yet snow, but if the current temperature trends continue, it will become so before long. For now, we are simply grateful that the forecast for once was accurate . . . and more grateful still for what it has brought us, a fall of medicine.
We can feel the earth breathing, healing, along with us.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
