The last three days have seen four new wildfires ignite around the state. The smoke they produce, along with those of so-called prescribed burns, coupled with the white puffs of cottonwood pollen and the dust whipped up and flung liberally by the same winds that drive the pall of smoke and ash our way, have wrapped our small world in a glittery haze. It looks almost unreal, even otherworldly: simultaneously mirage formed by waves of heat and the shimmer of stardust that has somehow broken through the shafts of sun to bead the very air with something very like diamonds, dancing in the light.
In one respect, of course, it’s all stardust — every leaf, every blade of grass, every speck of dirt, every cell that forms the bodies of the birds and animals, and our own as well, all formed of the very stuff of the cosmos. And, of course, the heat-born waves rippling above the horizon are entirely real, at least in the sense that they are clearly visible in the distance. But it’s a bit breathtaking, in a very literal sense, to realize that we are formed of the same elements not only as the rest of our world but as our universe as a whole, and that when we speak of being related, it’s true at a deeper level than the human mind can conceive. It is a cosmic truth that, like ourselves, stars too are born of water, and we live in a world born of sky.
Today’s featured work distills this powerful truth to the tangible beauty of silver and stone — specifically, of an extraordinary Skystone, one whose story tells of the medicine of the water, fallen as rain, hardened by the heat of the earth into a beautiful blue jewel. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Stars Too Are Born of Water Cuff Bracelet
As our own bodies are made of stardust, like us, stars too are born of water, ushering power and light into being. With this dual-strand cuff bracelet built around an extraordinary stone, Wings honors stars and sky and deepest space, and the waters of life that move between them, from the most distant nebula to the newest drops of rain. The twinned bands are formed of sterling silver half-round wire, solid and substantial, each traced down its full surface length in a repeating starburst pattern that navigates its convex arc perfectly. Along each of the four impossibly narrow edges, he has stamped crescents, like sliver moons, from end to end; the top of each end is overstamped in a more traditional starburst pattern that evokes the image of the Sacred Directions. Both strands of the band are soldered seamlessly together at either end, then spread gently apart at the center to hold the focal. It’s formed of a single giant oval of natural Fox turquoise from Nevada, a star-spangled, eye-dazzling blend of blues that look like nebulae, like a galaxy of stars being newly born: perfect robin’s-egg turquoise blue stippled with white throughout and veined with fine, delicate inky webbing in midnight blue and gold. It’s set into a bezel made entirely by hand, each parallel section saw-cut and filed individually, to hold the lightly domed cabochon securely and elegantly. Band is 6″ long; each strand is 1/4″ wide; cabochon is 1-3/16″ high by 13/16″ across at the widest point [dimensions approximate]. Other views shown above, below, and at the link.
Sterling silver; natural Fox turquoise
$1,300 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The stampwork on this band, twinned strands of heavy-gauge sterling silver half-round wire, is exquisitely apt: down each strand’s convex surface, giant starburst motifs formed by tamps whose ends are three-dimensional, creating a wraparound effect by the rays over the sloping sides; on those impossibly narrow sides, a repeating pattern of crescents arcing gracefully along all four edges; and at the flattened, fused ends, faceted eight-pointed stars deeply incised into the surface.
And then there is the bezel.
It’s entirely hand-made, each segment saw-cut individually, the edges filed smooth, the whole shaped inward to embrace the stone perfectly.
Wings could have set it into something far more elaborate.: saw-toothed, scalloped; there is even a form of mass-produced bezel wire called “crown bezel wire,” because it’s commercially molded into slender linked shapes that make it resemble the crown of a medieval European monarch.
Of course, it would seem a bit out of place here, placing a thoroughly Indigenous/indigenous jewel into a colonial setting.
Instead, Wings preferred to let the stone speak.
And it is a truly extraordinary stone. It’s natural Fox turquoise from Nevada, a site that, a century ago, was known as the Cortez Mine. Back then, it produced very different material, more classic clear blues and greens with veined and patchy matrix. Now, what’s being pulled from that earth looks like an illuminated starscape, cosmic clouds of dust and ice, the waters of birth and impossibly ancient light, swirling, shifting, dancing into constellations and galaxies in miniature.
It’s the perfect focal for such a work, jsut as the silverwork is perfect for such a gem.
And it’s a chance to be reminded daly of the cosmic truths that show us our place in the universe, in a world made of sky, one in which we are truly all related.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
