I hinted yesterday at new and exciting works to come from Wings’s hands, works that embody the spirit of the light, and I’m delighted to introduce the first in this new series: Light In the Storm.
It’s a work that reflects and refracts the themes of the week thus far, and does so in a new and breathtaking way.
A few weeks ago, Wings received some labradorite stones from a dear friend. These were not just any stones, nor any labradorites: They were enormous in size and spirit alike, the kind that, placed in the light, display nearly a full spectrum of color within their dove-gray depths, shades tinged with the shimmering fire of silver and gold. They could not be used in just any piece; these required settings worthy of their mystical light.
Two more of these magic stones are set aside for a necklace to come, and he has two smaller ones acquired long ago that will be reserved for earrings. But the first belongs to the cuff he completed less than an hour ago.
It is an anticlastic cuff, one whose gently sloping edges hint at the ebb and flow of storm and wind and water. But this one varies from his recent forays into this type of forging in one notable respect: It’s heavier, weightier, more substantial. Cuffs in this design are most often made with lighter-weight silver, because of the flexibility needed for shaping. It takes greater effort and precision with the heavier gauges. This one, though, is sixteen-gauge, solid on the wrist, and yet smooth as silk against the skin.
The stampwork is simple in the extreme . . . and simply apt for the work’s imagery, the perfect complement to the stone that rests above it. And that stone . . . ! It’s a not-quite-perfect oval, one that is ever so microscopically higher on one side than on the other, producing a shape very like that of an eye. From its description in 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 above and below. First in Wings’s new series, The Light Collection.
Sterling silver; labradorite
$1,800 + shipping, handling, and insurance
This is one of those rare pieces that, quite literally, took my breath away. I am a child of autumn and winter who loves the light in all its great grand variation, its diversity of color and form and shape, its mysticism and its magic. And I believe in the power of the protection of the Spirit’s Eye.
This is one of those works that calls to my own spirit, the kind that reaches deep within and sends its light where the dark of the storm threatens to swamp the soul.
Not long ago, an Eye of Spirit appeared in a break in the clouds to to the west, casting its rays upon the earth below in those moments before the thunderheads flowed together again. It was one of those moments where it’s possible to believe in anything and everything.
On this day, I believe that it sent a little of its light to Wings in the form of inspiration, so that he would honor it with this work . . . and with the works soon to come.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
