Once again, our small world here is trapped in a miasma of smoke, skies white not from clouds but from the mix of ash and particulate matter that clogs the air as surely as it does our eyes and lungs. We are reduced today to wearing masks outside here at home, because the air quality is so poor.
There is no rain in sight, and no sun, either, and it is only through a mix of faith and hope and memory that we remain focused on the promise of the light.
But it is there, behind it all, and its more symbolic analogue, too. Things seem not so much dark as simply shrouded now, with all the meanings that word implies, with no way out apparent, but our ways teach otherwise. And so we remain focused on the work, that of caring for this small patch of earth, of laboring for our livelihoods, of doing our part for community, too.
And so despite the smoke and smog, Wings has spent a great deal of time in the studio in recent days, producing a half-dozen new works for inventory, as well as a couple of special orders and more that are at the moment in the early stages of conception. Today’s featured work is one from the first category, one of four new rings and six new works overall, completed only Tuesday evening and made available for purchase on Wednesday. Each of the rings is similar in style: a gemstone solitaire, set in a plain extended bezel, set atop a solid, heavy band of pattern “wire” in a complementary design. All have their own special beauty, but of the four stones, the one in this ring is the one that captured my soul on sight. From the ring’s description in the Rings Gallery here on the site:
The Flowering of the Sun Ring
The high desert thrives beneath the flowering of the sun. Wings brings together its shapes and shades and elemental spirits with this ring formed of an elegantly floral band set with an extraordinary matching stone. The wide band is crafted of sterling silver pattern wire of a heavy and substantial gauge, the Art Nouveau-like pattern of poppies dancing from slender stalks standing out in sharply-textured relief. The focal cabochon is set atop an extended bezel backing that traces its own round outlines, creating a lightly layered effect. But the stone is the true jewel, a phenomenal round tiger’s eye specimen so chatoyant as to be utterly without banding, the golden shades’ flowing edges reminiscent of the petals on the poppies that line the band’s surface, and every bit as sensual: a large, fluttering petal of pure sunlight opening to stretch in the wind across a darkened sky. The band is 5/16″ across; the setting is 1/2″ across; the tiger’s eye cabochon is 3/8″ across (dimensions approximate). Sizeable. Other views shown below.
Sterling silver; tiger’s eye
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Typically, when Wings embarks on a project that includes several works with a strong family resemblance, such as this small collections of rings, he chooses the stones in advance — but which stone will go into which piece is usually up for grabs until the final stages of the creative process. For these rings, he chose what’s known as “pattern wire” (although there’s little of wire as that word is normally understood about it) in four different styles. The word “wire” in this sense is used to refer to sterling silver (or any jeweler’s metal) that is melted down as ingot and poured into exceedingly long, slender molds. The molds themselves can be geometric (round, half-round, triangle, square); twisted into a spiral-like design; what’s known as “bead wire,” most often (but not always) flat on the underside and rounded on the top to give the appearance of precious-metal beads soldered together; and the catch-all known as pattern wire,” in which the molds are carved with a given design, as occurs with casting — when the silver is cooled and released from the molds, it retains the pattern, which may consist of floral, geometric, or other motifs. Late last year or early this year, Wings invested in a selection of heavy-gauge pattern wire designs to use for a variety of purposes, and four of them found their way into the bands of this group of rings.
The design on this one has always, to me, evoked a clear Art Nouveau sensibility: the graceful, elongated stalks of Alphonse Mucha’s iconic art, capped by the fluttering, sensual poppies reminiscent both of the classics of that period and of the work of Georgia O’Keefe, who spent time in Taos just shy of a century ago, and whose studio was ultimately sited not so very far southwest of here. In this instance, it’s a broad, solid, heavy gauge of pattern wire, and the design traces its full length in sharply textured relief.
A band like this would need a suitable stone.
Wings found one.
He has a selection of tiger’s eye cabochons that he acquired over the last or two for specific projects, a decent-sized collection of ovals and rounds in various small to medium sizes. Virtually all of them possess the usual patterns of chatoyance, discrete and visible banding that creates the “cat’s eye” effect.
And then there was this one.
It is utterly different from all of the others in all of the lots he acquired. It is chatoyant, yes, but there is no banding visible. Instead, in this instance, what’s loosely known as sheen is manifest in the dualistic form of sun as flower: the glowing edges of the radiant petals fluttering open and cascading across a darkened sky. It’s less strict chatoyance than it is a combination of that with the adularescence of moonstone and the opalescence of the gem for which that phenomenon is named . . . and yet none of those, singly or in any combination, is exactly right, either. If you look at the image at the top of this post, you’ll see that its luminous patterning most closely follows the lines of the poppy petals that flow across the ring’s silver band.
Neither of us has ever seen a tiger’s eye manifest with this sort of spreading, shimmering glow. It does feel like the opening of a flower: rays of the sun as petals, reaching not for the light but rather, to fulfill its promise to force the retreat of the darkness.
And that makes it feel like a symbol for these days of a different kind of darkness: one of substance, of the solidity of ancestral ways and teachings and the protection of the spirits . . . and of the promise of the light.
~ 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.
