As I predicted, yesterday delivered another ferocious storm late in the day. Even by sunset, there were still more clouds than clear sky, although the night breezes dispersed them finally, leaving a black velvet expanse beaded with thousands of shimmering stars.
Dawn broke around a few trailing bands of coral-colored clouds, the amber glow of a chrysalis sun rapidly shifting to gold and then to silver.
And then the clouds returned.
The day is mostly gray now, with a few spaces of floating azure here and there, mostly in the middle of the western sky. Above and below sit walls of thunderheads, although what seems most to be floating now is not the clear cornflower blue of midday but the darker slate of the clouds themselves; the rest seems mostly content to peer out from behind their veil occasionally.
Still, the day is warm — at this moment, oppressively so — and despite the already-visible turning of the leaves, early signs of autumn resulting from extended drought combined with the deep cold of post-storm nights, the small spirits of summer remain with us. I have not seen a dragonfly for a couple of days, but at least one monarch butterfly danced overhead the other day, as well as what only the briefest of glimpses suggests was a Western tiger swallowtail. The hummingbirds are crowded the feeders nearly every moment, and very soon, it will be time for the annual visit of the hummingbird moths, fond as they are of catmint and the first blooms of the chamisa.
And then it will truly be fall.
This summer has sped by at an alarming rate, a pace made all the more unrecognizeable by the changes wrought by colonialism-driven climate collapse. I know that there are those who will argue with the term “collapse,” suggesting that it is at best an exaggeration and more likely altogether false, but in fact it is the hard, simple truth: We have lived it every day for nearly twenty years now, and even our own small bit of land, one with devoted daily stewardship year-round, has suffered irrecoverable losses. That does not make the land itself irrecoverable, but there are changes, drastic ones, that cannot be undone in our lifetimes.
So while the unseasonable heat may seem insufferable and the rains spectacularly violent, we welcome both as vestiges of “normalcy” for the land. There’s nothing normal about it, of course, but both are necessary to its survival, and if they are here out of their usual order and inflicting greater force than in the past, coping is simply an adaptation we, like the land, will have to make.
But it also makes those rare moments of seasonal normalcy seem all the more significant, and we need to grab them when we can. By that I don’t mean anything acquisitive (at least, nothing beyond memories and the occasional photo); I mean that we need to be sufficiently aware to notice, acknowledge, honor, be grateful for them.
Like the brilliant dark sky of the early hours. Like the shimmering amber of this day’s dawn. Like the blues of summer sky and storm. Like the fluttering momentary brilliance of the butterfly’s wings. All of these shift so rapidly that they all can vanish in a moment . . . but it also means that they have not vanished permanently, and now, that is a greater gift than we could ever have conceived.
These are the gifts of the summer spirits, and we obligated to honor them.
Today’s featured works honor them in spectacularly tangible form and shape — two works, a pair of pairs, each wrought in the old-style shape of a small summer messenger, each set with the color and light of the summer sky. Both are found in the Earrings Gallery here on the site. We begin, first, with the pair for the dawn, shown above; from its description:
Chrysalis Sun Butterfly Concha Earrings
Dawn takes flight on silver wings, bearing the orb of a chrysalis sun. Wings summons the sun and the transformative spirit of the day with these butterfly earrings, newly emerged from the cocoon of night. Each drop drifts gently from side to side, its flared top and bottom adance in sharp relief. At the center of the wings sits a tiny amber orb, each cabochon as timeless as the light and glowing with its own cosmic fire, each set in the cool, secure embrace of a plain, low-profile bezel. Earrings hang 1-3/8″ long by 1″ across at the widest point; amber cabochons are 3/16″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; amber
$525 + shipping, handling, and insurance
We had two small traces of cloud over the peaks this morning, and both did, in fact, remind me of a chrysalis: a wrapping of cloud darkened in the light, waiting to open to release the glow of a brand new sun within.
It didn’t take long. In a matter of moments, the new day was born.
The second pair is one for the bright hours of the day — and, occasionally, for the moments of the storm that is yet to come; indeed, my phone assures me of it, by way of the now-daily emergency text warning of the flash-flood risk that might result. From its description:
Floating Azure Butterfly Concha Earrings
Our world soars on warm silver winds and floating azure skies. Wings gives form and life to wind and sky and the small spirits that inhabit them with these butterfly earrings, all graceful silver wings holding at their heart perfect blues of summer skies. Each dangling drop flares elegantly at top and bottom, winglines articulated, repoussé-fashion, with shimmering depth. At the center of each earring, a tiny round cabochon of bright blue lapis lazuli rests in the embrace of a plain, low-profile bezel. Earrings hang 1-3/8″ long by 1″ across at the widest point; lapis cabochons are 3/16″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; lapis lazuli
$525 + shipping, handling, and insurance
I noted above that these are “old-style” forms; each earring is what’s known as a “butterfly concha,” a type of vertical spacer concha that used to be common in traditional concha belts. If you don’t see the “butterfly” of the name, imagine turning each one ninety degrees either direction, so that the flared ends open on the horizontal rather than the vertical, and the wings will come clear.
They are a beautiful mix of form and shape and texture, created repoussé-fashion by hammering them from the reverse in a specialized molded anvil. The “pleats” of the wings stand tall and bright in sharp relief, and yet every surface is rounded, gentle, subtle, and smooth. Wings began working with them for his concha belts, like the one featured in this space on Wednesday, but he immediately saw their potential for other uses, and launched a small informal series of earrings in this form. Out of a half-dozen separate pairs of earrings (one plain silver, each of the other set with a different gem), only these two remain in current inventory.
And they are two of my favorites.
The photos don’t do them justice — in part, because the black velvet background, while showing off their beauty to good effect, does not provide any context for relative size. They are just shy of an inch and a half long, but they seem larger on: big, bold, and yet subtle in their obvious beauty. They’re also very lightweight, something you would not necessarily expect from bezel-set drops of this size.
And they are perfect for what remains of this season. They honor the gifts of the summer spirits: chrysalis sun and floating azure skies, pollinators and messengers with migratory missives to impart.
From now and until, we are grateful for them all.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
