Sometimes, the storm is metaphorical.
Its force is no less elementally powerful for that.
For us, recent days have a seen a combination of literal and metaphorical storms: the former, one of wind and cold only, no clouds to deliver the desperately-needed snow; the latter, one of circumstance, sudden and terrifying in its effects.
Buffeted by such forces, it’s hard enough to hold on; standing strong is hardly feasible, flying well nigh impossible.
But on the days when holding on is the best we can do, there is light in the storm to help us find purchase.
It’s the promise that Wings infused into today’s featured work. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Light In the Storm Anticlastic Cuff Bracelet
It is in the eye of the storm that we are afforded a glimpse of its passing, when the clouds part momentarily to let the light descend. Wings has captured the glow of those rays in this anticlastic cuff, as big and bold as the storm itself, as bright as the light that transcends it. The band is wrought of sixteen-gauge sterling silver, heavier than usual for the shaping required of an anticlastic band, and sloped gently upward on either side. Its surface is free of adornment save a row of chased traditional symbols that run its entire length: stylized thunderheads paired together at their bases to form a sig of the Four Sacred Directions, each mated pair embracing an Eye of Spirit, that which watches over us even in the fiercest storm. At its center, elevated upon a small sterling silver cylinder, rests another representation of Spirit’s Eye: the light itself, caught and held fast in a massive cabochon of dove-gray labradorite. The stone possesses breathtaking depth and clarity, shot through with angled inclusions like sheets of rain and refracting the light into a gold-tinged rainbow of color. Hand-stamped stars of various shapes and sizes spread stardust along the cuff’s inner band. Band is 1-11/16″ across; cabochon is 1-3/4″ long by 11/16″ high (dimensions approximate). Other views shown at the link. First in Wings’s new series, The Light Collection.
Sterling silver; labradorite
$1,800 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It is, perhaps, fitting that Wings should have chosen a cuff, and an anticlastic one at that, to embody such symbolism. Such bracelets are, in form and shape, works of opposing forces and directions: center concave, close-fitting and secure, edges sloped upward and outward as though to set its spirit free. It’s a bit like traveling through life safe in the knowledge that the spirits hold one’s hand — and that we, in turn, can hold onto them when the winds are too strong for us to stand or fly on our own.
It permits us to walk with assurance, with confidence, to be stronger than we feel and truer than our balance, alone, would ever allow. Even in the darkest, most powerful storm, we walk a path lit by the spirits.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
