It’s the first day of a long weekend, and it’s a beautiful one.
It’s true that to us, such weekends are indistinguishable not merely form any other weekend but from any other day; when all of your work is based out of your home, every day is a workday. That’s true of so-called “holidays,” as well; a “day off” is not something that ever applies to us. But what else does not apply to us is the notion of work as something distinct from the rest of our lives . . . or of celebration and joy as distinct from it, either.
We were just discussing this very dynamic this morning: Colonialism requires obsessiveness about some aspect of one’s life, wether it’s work or religion or something else. By its very nature, it spurns and scorns any notion of balance, never mind harmony. It makes for deeply divided lives, rigidly structured and seemingly permanently dissatisfied, always seeking that elusive thing or achievement that will suddenly make one’s life perfect and whole.
We much prefer our way.
We put in exceedingly long hours, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. A lot of it is hard labor, too, physically and mentally both. And so much of it involves pure, unbridled joy: at this moment, the sweet fragrance of the lilacs, the beauty of the stormy sky, lush rich grass and the equally velvety coats of the dogs and horses, the stunning iridescent radiance of the birds’ feathers, the distant rumble of thunder and the soughing sounds of the early-summer breeze, the kaleidoscopic glory of silver and gemstones and beads and the unfettered delight of finding the words to describe what Wings creates with them.
It makes every day a dance, one to the drum of Mother Earth’s own heart, to the song of the small brilliant birds perched on all sides of us now. And just occasionally, there is that glimpse of another dance, too, echoes of a song much older and more timeless than our minds can even conceive, the faintest momentary glance into the other worlds that exist in tandem with this one, impossibly narrow portals, quickly closing, that permit the spirits to walk at will between them.
We know when they are here; the dogs can always sense it. Cricket kept showing us where they were yesterday, even if they were invisible to that spectrum of light that allows our eyes to see. No matter; we have always known how to trust the evidence of senses beyond those colonial cultures recognize, and we know that there are spirits dancing upon a green earth now, calling us to the circle, rooted well and reaching for the light.
Today’s featured work, a personal favorite, is the very embodiment of this celebration and the joy that attends it. It’s a pair of earrings wrought in vintage style, layered bezels embracing the banded greens of grass and leaf. From their description in the Earrings Gallery here on the site:
Spirits Dancing Upon a Green Earth Earrings
Summer is the season of spirits dancing upon a green earth, guardians and guides whose gifts are prosperity and abundance. Wings summons the spirits to the song of the leaves and the drum of the earth’s heartbeat with these earrings, granted a stylized figurative form. Each earring is wrought in layers of 20-gauge sterling silver, each layer designed and cut entirely freehand and fused together in overlay fashion, each embracing three intensely-hued malachite gemstones. Near the top, small round cabochons of boldly banded malachite serve as head and face. At the center, perfect squares turned diamond-shaped become the earth’s body, its lines a graduated contrast that produce a nearly ombre effect. Lower body and limbs revolve in large round cabochons, striated in the shades of an electric emerald. Each hangs suspended by way of an organically wrought and drilled tab from sterling silver wires. Earrings hang 2.25″ long, excluding wires, by 1-1/16″ across at the widest point; small round cabochons are 3/8″ across; square cabochons are 1/2″ along each edge and 3/4″ across the diamond’s center; large round cabochons are 5/8″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; malachite
$975 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It is the figurative nature of this pair that makes them magic, but it’s the old traditional style and shape and spirit that makes them medicine. They are heavier than the usual pair, a product of three gems apiece and two layers of silver, but they are eminently wearable all the same.
And yes, they do dance.
But it’s not any one aspect os these earrings that turns them into a masterwork, for they are, like the world and the beings they represent, far more than the sum of their parts. Vintage shapes layered together, open to the embrace of a trio of beautifully banded jewels in the colors of no less than summer itself, the way it’s not merely possible but very simple to imagine them in the circle, moccasins set to the dance . . . every single thing about them speaks, sings, of the power of the spirits that bless us with their gifts at this time of year.
It takes work, no question. Lots of work, in fact, and often hard, hot, dusty, dirty labor, too. It’s all worth it.
Because in our way, it’s not that the work leads to that which can provide joy. In our way, part of the work itself is joy, beauty, medicine. Outside, it is warm and breezy and beautiful, a world just waiting for us to accept the gifts it offers. The spirits are calling us now to join them in the dance, rooted well and reaching for the light.
~ 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.
