July first: hot and hazy at the heart of summer. Today is special here; it’s both Wings’s own birthday and the birthday of this blog, as well as the anniversary of his site’s relaunch six years ago.
That day six years past seems a lifetime ago now, given all that has happened since. It seems another lifetime for the land, too, given how deeply our drought began to intensify only two short years later. Now?
Now, the rain is as rare as rhodium, as pricey as palladium, as unreachable as both combined.
And yet, the land endures, and so do we. Given the deathly aridity here now, it’s remarkable that so many of our customary spirits of summer have elected to join us still. Some of the pollinators are here in force — the hummingbirds, the honeybees, the bumblebees. And while the dragonflies have mostly (and rightly) assessed the drought as uninhabitable for their clan, the butterflies are here and hard at work.
Indeed, a few days ago, we were visited by a new butterfly I have not yet been able to identify: a deep red, a blend of wine and brick underlit with hints of orange, marbled with darker patterns on its wings. It was not a monarch, nor any of its imitators, not a viceroy or painted lady; despite the red, it was not a mourning cloak, either. But such are the gifts of this place at this season: an occasional small spirit above the land, upon the wind, carrying medicine — and detouring from its migratory path to share it with us.
On this day, it seemed fitting to feature one of Wings’s masterworks that embodies the best of his talent and skill, that inhabits the truth of the form and shape of his name. It’s also a personal favorite, a tour de force of freehand work that is named for the magic of this season’s light, that is summer medicine manifest in silver and stone. From its description in the Belts Gallery here on the site:
Solstice Light Butterfly Concha Belt
The solstice light is a transcendent gift, as transformational as any chrysalis, as graceful and gentle as the butterfly’s wings. Wings brings together turning point, spirit, and light in a work of power and medicine that takes the form of a true butterfly concha belt: no metaphors here, but a work of genuine hand-cut butterflies floating along the length of the leather. Each concha, like the buckle, is cut freehand of sterling silver, body and antennae articulated, wings scalloped at their edges by hand via meticulous ajouré saw-work. The stampwork spreads gracefully across each wing, veins like gossamer branches embracing tiny hoops in a style that evokes the fine flowing lines of Art Nouveau, and each scalloped wing edge is accented with the hand-stamped rays of a rising sun. At the center of each concha sits an oval tiger’s eye cabochon, each hand-picked for its spectacular chatoyance to rest in a scalloped bezel. The focal point of the buckle, a larger butterfly wrought similarly freehand and set into a scalloped bezel trimmed with delicate twisted silver, is a large inverted teardrop of genuine Dominican blue amber, the surface naturally textured to refract the light, the interior full of equally natural inclusions that look like tiny strands of embedded jewels floating in the light. Conchas and buckle are all lightly domed, repoussé-fashion, and each butterfly hovers atop its own bouquet via the sterling silver loops on the reverse, each hand-cut, hand-shaped, and hand-milled in a wildflower design. Each silver piece is buffed to a soft polish slightly brighter than Florentine. The belt is made of heavy black leather, hand-cut and hand-beveled, with medicine motifs in the form of bear-paw prints hand-stamped down its entire length in a repeating pattern; keeper ties are slender but sturdy braided black leather. The leather belt is 11/16″ high; the conchas are 2.25″ across at the widest point by 2″ high at the highest point; tiger’s eye cabochons are 1/2″ high by 3/8″ across; buckle is 3.5″ across at the widest point by 2.5″ high at the highest point; visible portion of the Dominican blue amber cabochon is 15/16″ high by 5/8″ across at the widest point (all dimensions approximate). Other views shown above and below. Note: Not designed for jeans, trousers, or any apparel with belt loops; this particular work is designed to be worn externally over shirts, blouses, or dresses.
Sterling silver; Dominican blue amber; tiger’s eye; black leather
$5,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Notes: Requires special handling; extra shipping charges apply.
The leather belt is a standard length; a hand-made belt in a specialty size may be ordered
(either shorter or longer) for an additional $325 charge.
We have one golden butterfly in residence now, a western tiger swallowtail. As I look out the window at this moment, there is more gold in evidence: the pair of goldfinches who remained long past their usual departure date to live out the summer season with us, now hanging happily from the feeder. They, too, are here out of season now, but their presence is medicine, too.
Now, at midday, our world is gold, too, ashimmer with the light of the noonday sun. That light holds all the shades of the stones in today’s work, chatoyant tiger’s eye and the richest Dominican blue amber, all limned with a silver glow.
Yesterday saw a complete absence of clouds in the pale blue sky; today, a few puffs of white drift lazily above the southern horizon, driven by the reddish haze of wildfire smoke to the west. The leaves, still only moments ago, are now adance in a breeze strengthening fast.
It’s a good day, a beautiful day, one marked too by the presence of another visitor dressed in gold — the neighbors’ dog, here to play with ours, so lonely since his packmates were stolen a month ago. And perhaps we shall be visited by butterflies old and new, the giant yellow swallowtail and the mysterious new one robed an ambered reds, pollinators, life-givers: above the land, upon the wind, carrying medicine for us all.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
