The crows are calling to each other beneath a silvered dawn sky. Snow is coming, and the wild creatures feel it.
Where I come from, snow and rain seemed two distinctly different phenomena, but here, it’s easy to understand them as one elemental force stepping out in different dress.
Sunrise was an eerie affair, a silver glow backlighting bands of violet clouds, the bare tree branches skeletal in the wan light. That light is fully risen now, the sky simultaneously illuminated and dark with the impending storm. The wind is rising, wailing intermittently through the infinitesimal cracks and crevices between window and sill, door and jamb. The whole world feels suspended in a state of unsettled anticipation: hoping for the snow so badly needed, praying that yesterday’s outlaw wind will not return with it.Our fellow beings do more than hope and pray. The wild birds are already hard at work, scavenging, collecting, harvesting whatever might prove edible. Crows and ravens dot the fields; the magpies congregate at the feeder, taking advantage of that which is readily available. The chickens are not so fond of the snow; they mostly stay congregated beneath the ramp of the coop, the better to share body heat. And while the dogs and horses rely on us for their safety and well-being, they seize upon the sharp edge of the cold and the faint pre-storm electricity in the air as an excuse for wild play before the weather drives them under shelter.
For us, the day will be spent at work indoors; we have spent the last few days at preparatory tasks, and are ready for what the heavens may deliver. In these still-early hours of the day, the precipitation hovers at the edges of the land, perhaps resting before coursing over the earth in waves, as it is wont to do here. The sky is already nearly white, threaded with filaments of silver light, and we await not a waterfall in the usual sense, but the gift of the water nonetheless, albeit now in crystalline form.
The near-monochromatic nature of the day coupled with the silvered light that illuminates it make today a perfect time to feature today’s informal collection, the final three in an equally informal series of work by Wings that embodies the spirits of the water, and the light. We begin with the most substantial, one that manifests as precipitation itself, and of its rushing collected form, too. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Waterfall Cuff Bracelet
Some say the world itself was created in a fall of water and light. With this spare and elegant cuff, Wings summons the spirits of the light and the summer rains in their own silvered waterfall. The band is wrought from sterling silver ingot, heavy and substantial, hand-rolled and -milled to create their own unified cascade of shimmering rain. One long drop flows down the band’s center, raised to stand above its peers; the others, more shy and subtle, flow gently down either side. The ingot band is buffed to a soft but discernible texture and a delicate finish just a hint off Florentine. The band is 7.25″ long by 7/8″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver
$465 + shipping, handling, and insurance
As I write, the waterfall is already manifesting at a distance, snow now visibly falling on the peaks outside the window. Overhead, the sky remains pale with winter light. The weather will arrive intermittently, at least at first — a little here, a little there. Our second featured work manifests in similar fashion, as the movement not merely of settled water, but of the storm itself. From its description in the same section of the same gallery:
Waves Cuff Bracelet
Beneath a fall of water and light, warm waves rock gently against the earth. Wings summons their soft dancing spirits with this cuff, hand-rolled and -milled of sterling silver ingot that shines like ripples on the surface of a quiet lake. The band is solid and substantial, milled to produce a crested wave down the center of its length, cradled gently by finer waves on either side. Its finish is buffed to a smooth texture and a soft polish just shy of Florentine. The band is 6.5″ long by 6/16″ wide (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver
$445 + shipping, handling, and insurance
As I write, the clouds to the north have coalesced into a darkening mass: shades of cobalt and violet and iron gray, all moving slowly but inexorably forward. For now, though, Father Sun still insists on a subtle presence, his glow spiraling through breaks in the clouds like silver strands of light. It’s the same form and shape our last featured work assumes; from its description on the second page of the same section in the same gallery:
Filament Cuff Bracelet
New life emerges in a fall of water and light. With this cuff, Wings honors each filament that arises — a flower’s stamen, a feather’s barb, silvered threads, an element made of pure light — all banding together in raised strands of sterling silver ingot buffed to a finish just off Florentine. The long slender band is hand-rolled and -milled, a vanishingly slim raised filament extending along its center, flanked on either side by more subtly-raised lines. This thin, almost bangle-like cuff is delicate but full of substance, lightweight and easily adjusted. Band is 6.75″ long by 1/4″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver
$275 + shipping, handling, and insurance
These are all among Wings’s most spare and simple works: no busy extraneous detail, just an encircling embrace of elemental forces. They remind us that even in the short dark days and long nights of winter, even in the depths of cold and heavy weather, there is shelter in the storm, and in the light.
~ 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.
