We awakened before dawn, in time to see a giant full moon descendant: an amber balloon drifting slowly downward in a rose and cornflower sky. The air is bitterly cold, but the wind still sleeps, and just for a moment, the promise of spring feels possible once again.
Already, though, the birds are awakening, a small cacophony of blackbird burrs and trills and the bell-like notes of finch and sparrow, interspersed with the throatier calls of magpie and crow. It feels like a lullaby for Grandmother Moon, an honor song for the season still so young and fragile.
We shall have more songs soon, and more complex ones, too, a long uninterrupted braid of melody and harmony from the birds of summer who sing dawn and dusk into being.
Today’s featured works, a related pair of individual pieces, embodies these small but powerful spirits of summer, of sunlight and sky, pollen and petals in full flower. We begin with the one that carries a giant glowing orb on her wings like the amber moon of this day’s dawn, like the sun that has only now gained the ridgeline of the southeast peaks. From its description in the Pins Gallery here on the site:
On Sunny Wings Hummingbird Pin
Summer departs and autumn arrives on sunny wings. The small fierce spirits of this threshold season infuse this work by Wings, a tiny silver hummingbird who carries the sun itself. The wingéd one is cut freehand out of sterling silver, with wings outstretched in full hover and dagger-like beak at the ready. A triangular point defines the beak; a single lengthy score line separates the wings. Sunrise symbols in two sizes delineate body and edge of wing feathers; the tailfeathers are formed by a flowing-water motif and edged with arrowhead points. Where wings join body, a single small round cabochon rests in a saw-toothed bezel: fiery orange amber, the color of the autumn sun in a place and space of magic, mystery, and medicine. Pin stands 1.5″ high by 2-1/8″ across at the widest point; amber cabochon is 3/16″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; amber
$625 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Wings created these two pins in the waning days of the warm season, as the description above makes clear, but both are just as well-suited to the space that winter cedes to spring. On this day, we have the golden glow of the light in a clear and flawless sky, soon to be supplanted by a turquoise expanse. And while it remains too early for petals yet, pollen abounds, adrift upon the breeze from the catkins that stud the aspen and cottonwood trees.
As the light rises, the blue is spreading fast now, racing across the sky to saturate the ceiling of the world. To the west, it’s already the same shade as the tiny sherd of sky carried on the second hummingbird’s wings — no rainclouds, this; just a clear and simple blue. From its description in the same gallery:
Pollinating Sky Hummingbird Pin
Hummingbirds are tiny messengers of the spirits, tasked with spreading nectar upon the winds, pollinating sky in the summer light. Wings summons one of these small emissaries into being with his newest pin, one that assumes Hummingbird’s form and shape. Cut freehand from sterling silver, caught in hovering flight, her wings are scalloped with sunrise symbols, her tailfeathers articulated by way of arrowhead points. Seen in profile, her eye is a tiny hoop, wings separated and body and yoke defined by hand-chiseled lines. Additional hand-stamped symbols of ethereal radiance accent throat, wings, and body. Where neck meets wings, she carries a single piece of sky, an impossibly clear, electric blue turquoise cabochon set into a saw-toothed bezel. Pin is 1.5″ high by 2.25″ across at the widest point; cabochon is 3/16″ across.
Sterling silver; blue Kingman turquoise
$625 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It’s far too soon for hummingbirds; their tiny bodies do not handle the cold as well as those of the larger cousins. That one truth notwithstanding, there was a day in the heart of winter when I heard one buzz past, off-course and out of season, perhaps searching for the bright red feeders that sustain them in the summer months. It was only a momentary visitation; presumably it found its way back onto its migratory path. We have a wait of two to three months before they reappear in any real way.
But when they do, they will bring their song with them: the tiniest of melodies in their chirp and call, the steady percussion of their wings, a faint but perceptible drumbeat to sustain their hover. It will be an honor song for the season then, too, but for now, it’s a promise — on sunny wings, in a pollinating sky, a song of hope and harmony.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
