Here in this place, fall is the most perfect season. When I lived away from this land now known as New Mexico, it was not the high-desert heat that identified it in memory; it was the almost painful clarity of the autumn air, the brilliance of the stark landscape in the annual magic of the the low-angled light.
Today is such a day: clear, bright, barely even a hint of woodsmoke haze in the air. The mercury is already climbing and will undoubtedly break sixty by midday, and the wild birds are taking full advantage of the warm and windless skies.
It feels like a gift from their guides and guardian spirits, a few last days of cradling warmth before the snow flies.
Today’s featured work, Wings’s most recent pair of earrings, embodies exactly such spirits and gifts — guardians and guides, and the shelter, physical and spiritual alike, of the tools of tradition. From their description in the Earrings Gallery here on the site:
The Gift of the Water Bird Earrings
The gift of the Water Bird is a blessing beyond price. Wings calls together the elements of its path with these earrings, long, tall triangles in a tipi shape, scored freehand on all sides with a chisel to create a border. Gracefully flowing symbols trace the bottom and sides, a mix of water and smoke spiraling upward from which the Water Bird rises, visible near the top on both sides and at the apex, a repeating stampwork pattern manifest with a sense of motion and flight. Near the bottom at the center of each rests a single freeform natural turquoise cabochon, imperfect ovals like drops of rain, both in the shades of seafoam and robin’s eggs touched here and there with a delicate golden-colored matrix and rusty copper webbing. Dangling drops are suspended from sterling silver earrings wires held fast by silver jump rings. Earrings hang 2-1/4″ long by 1″ to 1-1/8″ across at the widest point; freeform cabochons are 3/4″ long by 7/16″ to 1/2″ across at the widest point (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; natural blue-green American turquoise, probably from Colorado’s Cripple Creek
$1,025 + shipping, handling, and insurance
According to the forecast, rain and snow are due on Wednesday and expected to last into Friday, the storm ushering in a new cold to herald winter’s approach. We have been largely blessed thus far this season; despite a few early deep freezes, temperatures have mostly remained unseasonably mild.
And yet, there is always a trade-off, a downside to the apparent benefits of the controlling dynamics of climate change. In this season, that has been the lack of precipitation in a land already starved for water. In a season when the first medicine arrivers as snow, the coming cold is necessary, and therefore welcome.
After all, as the Water Bird reminds us, we are not alone in navigating the hard seasons. Even in the cold deep dark of winter, we have our guides and guardian spirits.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
