There is snow on the way.
We have none here yet, despite the low gray cloud cover present since before dawn. But the news reports that schools are closed in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe, amid reports of Interstate closures due to ice and the dangers of traffic rollovers and a jack-knifed Amazon tractor trailer on this side of the state’s capital city.
To the northeast, there are patches of blue sky visible, and sun falling upon the northernmost peaks, but it won’t last; the storm may be moving slowly up from the southwest, but it’s steadily gaining ground. If the experiences of the southerly cities are any indication, when it finally reaches us, it will deliver a heavy snowfall, at least for a time, with the kind of conditions that preclude being abroad for any but the most emergent of reasons.
We’ll welcome it all, from the first flakes to the white-out conditions that are likely to ensue. The world outside out boundaries will be in need of a fire to light the storm, but we are blessed to need only the fires in the woodstoves that warm our home.
Of course, this season within a season tells of heavier snows, long past, and of airborne fires needed to light the way. It’s not a story from our own traditions, but it’s one we know well, nevertheless, and it’s one that belongs, part and parcel, to the spirit of this winter holiday season, the one much of this land mass celebrates as Christmas. One such airborne fire, of course, is the star that guided the three wise men from the East, seeking sight of a child born in Bethlehem manger.
The other tells of a reindeer’s genetic mutation, one that permitted him to guide Santa’s sleigh through the heaviest world-wide snowstorm the denizens of that fictional North Pole had ever known.
Having grown up on such stories ourselves, we know well the power they hold at this season, one as much of nostalgia as anything else. And decades ago — some thirty years ago or more — Wings began creating tiny tributes to a reindeer who knew well what it meant to be different in a world overtaken by others. This week’s #TBT feature, shown above, is one from about the midpoint of his signature series’ existence: some fifteen years ago, perhaps a year or two either side of 2008. They are all wrought in vintage style, quick, long lines of leg and body, irregular antlers, minimal stampwork to delineate their tips as well as ears, eyes, and tail, and a big, bold, bright red gemstone nose. The one shown here features a nose formed of a five-millimeter round garnet cabochon, but Wings has been known to use carnelian [and, if memory serves, the occasional coral cabochon when such material was more readily accessible].
So let’s begin with the nose. As I said, this one is a five-millimeter stone, and as you can see, it’s slightly larger than proportionality would dictate. He has also used three-millimeter cabochons, which fit the size of the face perhaps a bit more perfectly, but it’s a matter of what’s available . . . and if you’ve ever seen the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animation holiday special, you’ll know that in fact, Rudolph’s red nose was quite a bit larger than the ordinary black noses of the other reindeer. Here, the stone is set into a saw-toothed bezel, the serrated edges seeming to enhance the filtering of light through its deep red glow.
Wings created a template for his reindeer all those decades ago, but like most of his old templates, its use is distinctly casual now: a few quick lines here or there, a marking, perhaps, of where the hooves should end and the highest point of the antlers, and from there each one becomes more individual — more freeform, in a sense. All of them are wrought in vintage style, meaning that the edges are filed smooth but not smithed elaborately, the detail minimalist and the edges rustic. It’s a style that functions as a tribute to old-style Indigenous silversmithing and to the artists who practiced it without benefit of modern technology. And for small works such as these, it’s also a style that adds a touch of whimsy.
As is always the case with Wings’s work, each is unique; the freehand saw-work and stampwork assures that, even if the cabochons are limited to a range of small jewels in shades of red. And this is a longstanding series, one he launched decades ago. There are direct ripoffs of his design, stolen a few years ago, being produced in Albuquerque by an artist employed by non-Native dealers, but those are just that: ripoffs. The only real version of this pin is one hand-made by Wings himself.
I have it on good authority that he has plans for four new reindeer entries in the days to come: two with garnet noses; two with carnelian. [You can reserve yours here.] Who knows? Maybe this little reindeer will glow with a fire to light the storm to come.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
