At long last, after days of repeated monsoonal activity that spins out, goes around us, or simply fizzles altogether, we have rain. It’s real rain, too: from stormy skies, braided blue ribbons of rain, the kind that wind around the surface of the earth in heavy, steady, gentle rivulets, bringing the blue-gray storm clouds down and holding them close.
It’s a day to celebrate, a day for giving thanks.
I have already done so; indeed, the first drops arrived as I went outside for morning prayers. At the moment, we have a small lull, but if the map — both that on the radar screen and that above us inscribed in the skies — is any indication,. there is much more yet to come. We welcome all of it.
But however happy we are for the gifts of the heavens this day, it is as nothing compared to Mother Earth herself. She has been suffering from severe dehydration for years now, but it has worsened visibly over recent months. Now, in the scorching pre-summer heat, her skin is dry and wrinkled, her hair like straw, and her body increasingly at risk of shutting down altogether.
Today’s rain will not undo that damage, but it will alleviate a little of her suffering . . . for now.
And so it is perhaps fitting that Wings’s newest works, the ones we should feature here this weekend, echo such imagery. They are part of a complementary yet informal set, two pairs of earrings created around two pairs of matched cabochons from the same deposit, and tomorrow’s piece, a pin whose focal point is a solitary stone from the same source. All manifest as aspects of the Earth herself, earth and sky and water alike. From the description of the first pair, found in the Earrings Gallery here on the site:
A Braided Earth Earrings
We are bound to a braided earth, our Mother’s brown locks wound with ribbons of water, adorned with rosettes beaded by summer flowers. Wings summons both the beauty of this indigenous land and the twining of our spirits with it in this pair of bold, earthy earrings built around a pair of stunning high-grade ribbon turquoise cabochons. The matched cabochons are formed of a pair of beautifully polished host rock in warm natural shades of beige and tan, brown and bronze. Each is wound on a diagonal by a turquoise ribbon so brilliant that it is nearly opalescent, like a glowing blue river flowing through the earth’s body. The stones are set into scalloped bezels and trimmed with twisted silver. Each earring also terminates in three hand-made drops like the beaded rosettes used to bind our own braids. These are formed of sterling silver ingot, melted and shaped into tiny round beads, then stamped in a flowering pattern. Earrings hang 1-5/8″ long overall excluding the sterling silver wires); the cabochons are 1″ long by 9/16″ across at the widest point; ingot blossoms are 3/16″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; high-grade blue ribbon turquoise
$825 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It feels as though it has been some time since Mother Earth has felt well enough to braid her hair, much less to adorn it. Today, she will perhaps get that chance.
She may also get the chance to bring out her traditional dress, newly clean and pressed by wind and water, its bright blue ribbons dancing in the light. It’s a motif that finds expression in our other featured work, the second pair of earrings from this informal three-piece set. From their description in the same gallery:
Ribbon Shirt Earrings
Mother Earth wears a ribbon shirt of streaming blue waters and silvery light. Wings honors her regalia, and the beauty of our natural world, with these spectacularly mobile earrings built around a matched pair of high-grade ribbon turquoise cabochons. The stones manifest in the warm dusky shades of rock and sand and dust, pale ivory and warm tan and deep rich veins of brown, each bisected by a fluttering turquoise ribbon like a river reflecting sun and sky. Each stone is set into a scalloped bezel and trimmed with twisted silver. From the base of each bezel, by way of hand-formed sterling silver jump rings, three long silver ribbons dance: Made of delicate yet solid sterling silver half-round wire, each of the six ribbons is meticulously stamped in a repeating pattern of butterflies fluttering down their considerable length. Earrings hang 2-7/8″ long overall (excluding the sterling silver wires); cabochons are 7/8″ long by 1/2″ across at the widest point; dangling silver “ribbons” are 1-5/8″ long by 3/32″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; high-grade blue ribbon turquoise
$875 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Outside, our blue skies of yesterday have turned varying shades of gray, from ice to iron underlit with dusky blues and violets. The light is subdued, the winds cool and chilling. And yet, the earth itself seems reborn, newly bright, the dust washed away to leave it clean and beautiful once again.
Tomorrow’s forecast predicts rain early only, to be followed by sunny skies. For today, we are privileged to experience the earth renewing herself.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
