I'll remember this jewelry story for a long time and after I came back from the wedding party ( that I went to attend this weekend) I was itching to put it down in my blog. It deserves a post in my journal. Sorry, it took two and a half days.
I met a wonderful lady last Saturday in a wedding party. She was a School Principal and I was in the school community for some time too, so we had many common concerns and topics to share. We were worried the way the school districts are cutting Art Programs. It is always the" budget " to blame.
I told her I was going to participate in an Art Fair on October 1 and 2 as a jewelry artist and this fair - the Art in the Park Fair, sponsored by the Alamo Danville Art Society ( ADAS) is contributing 10% to the school district. Actually we, vendors are giving 10% of our sale to the local San Ramon school community for restoring the Art program.
It is a great thing that ADAS is bringing the artists and the community together to solve this budget problem. Art is essential to many people especially children, we both agree.
Coming to know that I make jewelry she told me a beautiful story that I want to share today.
Why do we wear jewelry? Well, to show power. You know who is the king or the royal heirarchy from the crowns they wear; to show STATUS - that is why people go for expensive jewelry; just for the sake of BEAUTY, for EMOTION - that's why you wear your wedding ring and now I learned that you also wear jewelry to remind you a special message.
Here is her story:
Long ago when gold was only $35 an ounce, Helen went traveling with her husband and bought a moonstone. In this far away land this precious stone was a great buy she thought and perhaps her husband bought it to her lovingly as a souvenir. But what will a round moonstone do unless it is set?
Much later, another day on their walk, they came to see a small sign saying JEWELRY REPAIRING or something like that.
They open the small door of the shop. It creaks. A man with a heavy foreign accent appears.
"How may I help?"
They showed the moonstone and asked if he could set it to a ring.
"Yes, of course, I'll put some tiny Hyderabadi pearls that look like grains of rice around it ...How'bout that?" - he asked.
Helen could see it in her mind's eye. Perfect.
"But you'll have to pay for the customs, mailing and a small charge for my labor" - said the man.
They agreed.
Many days passed. Helen really did not expect it will ever come. It is one of those things we get into when we buy souvenirs in foreign countries, she thought.
Then, one day when she had almost forgotten about it, the door bell rang.
"You have a packet Ma'am from a foreign mail"- said the Mail man.
It was that moonstone ring surrounded by tiny rice pearls!
Helen showed me her ring. It is beautiful, but more beautiful is when her eyes glistened.
-" It reminds me not to lose trust in people. Never to lose hope! That's why I wear it."
**************************************
In the mean time I am working extremely hard for this show. I'll show you what I had been doing until 2 in the morning yesterday night:
I met a wonderful lady last Saturday in a wedding party. She was a School Principal and I was in the school community for some time too, so we had many common concerns and topics to share. We were worried the way the school districts are cutting Art Programs. It is always the" budget " to blame.
I told her I was going to participate in an Art Fair on October 1 and 2 as a jewelry artist and this fair - the Art in the Park Fair, sponsored by the Alamo Danville Art Society ( ADAS) is contributing 10% to the school district. Actually we, vendors are giving 10% of our sale to the local San Ramon school community for restoring the Art program.
It is a great thing that ADAS is bringing the artists and the community together to solve this budget problem. Art is essential to many people especially children, we both agree.
Coming to know that I make jewelry she told me a beautiful story that I want to share today.
Why do we wear jewelry? Well, to show power. You know who is the king or the royal heirarchy from the crowns they wear; to show STATUS - that is why people go for expensive jewelry; just for the sake of BEAUTY, for EMOTION - that's why you wear your wedding ring and now I learned that you also wear jewelry to remind you a special message.
Here is her story:
Long ago when gold was only $35 an ounce, Helen went traveling with her husband and bought a moonstone. In this far away land this precious stone was a great buy she thought and perhaps her husband bought it to her lovingly as a souvenir. But what will a round moonstone do unless it is set?
Much later, another day on their walk, they came to see a small sign saying JEWELRY REPAIRING or something like that.
They open the small door of the shop. It creaks. A man with a heavy foreign accent appears.
"How may I help?"
They showed the moonstone and asked if he could set it to a ring.
"Yes, of course, I'll put some tiny Hyderabadi pearls that look like grains of rice around it ...How'bout that?" - he asked.
Helen could see it in her mind's eye. Perfect.
"But you'll have to pay for the customs, mailing and a small charge for my labor" - said the man.
They agreed.
Many days passed. Helen really did not expect it will ever come. It is one of those things we get into when we buy souvenirs in foreign countries, she thought.
Then, one day when she had almost forgotten about it, the door bell rang.
"You have a packet Ma'am from a foreign mail"- said the Mail man.
It was that moonstone ring surrounded by tiny rice pearls!
Helen showed me her ring. It is beautiful, but more beautiful is when her eyes glistened.
-" It reminds me not to lose trust in people. Never to lose hope! That's why I wear it."
**************************************
In the mean time I am working extremely hard for this show. I'll show you what I had been doing until 2 in the morning yesterday night:
 |
| Here I tried to integrate the Viking Knit of the West with the Bali beads of the East |
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| Here I tried to integrate the Herring Bone Wire work that actually came from Old World Basket weaving with a present day twist. |
7 comments:
Ma, the story is really nice! Also I LOVE the bracelets. You know, the second one (with your signature) "web" reminds me a lot of the Turkish "evil eye" amulets.
I am so glad I read the story...because I know both of the people in the blog, the message to me is very important. I treasure the jewelry that has a special story in my life, too.
The two necklaces in the blog are so beautiful, I hope they will also become part of someone's 'special story'.
Anne
Beautiful story - simple yet poignant. It reaffirms my faith in humanity.
Rinti - it is actually Masha Allah, not evil eye, as I had learned during our trip to Turkey.
The story reminds me of Tagore's line 'manusher prati biswas harono paap'(it is a sin to lose faith in people).It is a very nice story.
The necklaces you made are so pretty.I like the first one more.
Lovely story and very inspirational.
I adore your Viking knit bracelet, I'm sure it sold very quickly at the art show.
I love this story, Dita, and the way you tell it. And it rings true - whenever I trust that people will be honest - it always turns out that they are.
These are gorgeous along with your lovely story!!!
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