Today dawned sunny and bright, and yet, the light seemed thin somehow, as though diluted by the power of the gathering storm. Now, early afternoon, and the clouds have replaced the sun almost entirely, shades of iron and late to north and west, snowy white to the east, and iridescent silver limning bands of gray to the south. The storm may be here sooner than we expected.
It’s not likely to amount to much in the way of snow, but we’ll take what’s given and be grateful for it. In the meantime, thin or no, the light has given us an extraordinary show, lines and waves scudding across the southern sky, lit from behind and beneath and seemingly within by an otherworldly glow.
It reminds us that the storm delivers more than just the gift of rain or snow; the storm is the bringer of the most beautiful light.
Today’s featured work embodies this light in a fashion both spectacularly effective and hauntingly affective. From its description in the relevant section of 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 below. First in Wings’s new series, The Light Collection.
Sterling silver; Labradorite
$1,800 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The photos do not begin to do justice to this work. It’s as powerful as the storm it embodies, as otherworldly as the light it represents.
The stampwork is minimalist, but deep and clear and beautifully even, perfect to conspire with the graceful arc of each side to catch and refract the light. And the stone . . . the stone is a jewel of extraordinary proportion and power. You can clearly see the storm in it, and the light too, but the inclusions only hint at the mysteries to be found in its hidden depths.
And that, too, is like the elemental forces it embodies. We see the surface inconvenience of the storm, but forget to be grateful for it when the land grows and thrives. We look at the shimmer of the sun, but forget that it is the clouds that mediate it into a beauty we can safely see.
But it’s not merely what the storm produces or provides; it is a thing of beauty all in and of itself. It is raw power with all the shine of precious metal, all the glow and fire of precious gems and pearls beyond price.
The storm is the bringer of the most beautiful light, and we are privileged to witness it today.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
