Last week I presented these 7 new rings at a beautiful event organised by e.g.etal, called Stones and Stories. Emma Goodsir, Julia DeVille were also part of this event, and also made new work for the evening.
I would like to thank e.g.etal for asking me to be part of this event, and I would like to thank the amazing staff: Belinda, Gianna, Lilian, Tess, Olivia and Richard for their hard work and friendship.
So here are my stones and stories!
Trade wind ring
trade wind n. 1.one of the winds prevailing over the oceans from about 30* south latitude, and blowing from north-east to south-west in the Northern Hemisphere, and from south-east to north-west in the Southern Hemisphere towards the equator. 2. Archaic.a wind that blows in one regular course, or continually in the same direction.
this ring is about one stone, so it goes in that direction
Attar of Rose ring
attar n. 1.a perfume or essential oil obtained from flowers or petals, esp.of damask roses.
roses are my favourite flowers. I especially love fragrant old fashioned roses.
Nomad ring
nomad n. 1. one of a race or tribe without fixed abode, but moving about from place to place according to the state of the pasturage or food supply. 2. any wanderer.
This ring and the Journey ring are related to my Random rings.
They continue the same explorations and intentions. What is precious is often a collection of smaller things and when collected together, tell an individual story.
I actually made a ring similar to the Nomad ring at the time I made the Random ring many years ago, and decide to pursue the Random ring instead. So here I have gone back to my original idea for this series.
These 2 new rings are designed to hold larger centre stones.
Journey ring
journey n. 1. a course of travel from one place to another, esp. by land. 2. a distance travelled, or suitable for travelling, in a specified time...3. to make a journey, travel...
Trousseau ring
trousseau n. a bride's outfit of clothes, linen, etc. which she brings with her at marriage.
I always liked the idea of a private collection of things gathered by an individual over time that were to honour some significant event, or just to carry together through life. To honour one's life.
like amulets and jewellery
Caravanserai ring
caravanserai n., pl. (in the Near East) a kind of inn for the accommodation of caravans (def. 3), usu. a large building surrounding a spacious court.
Caravel ring
caravel n. Hist. a kind of small three-masted ship used esp. by the Spaniards and the Portuguese.
The stories that go with these rings are all about travel.
I recently brought a book Nomad by Sibella Court, which helped to inspire the names for these rings. This book is about bringing your travels home.
Jewellery is like a travelling story; it collects vignettes and memories as an individual wears each piece.
I don't think that preciousness is confined to materials. Preciousness is about people. And associations between people and events and places and memories.
I like to use a collection of stones in one piece, because there is never just one side to any story. And different stories contain different things, like fragments of songs and smells and other things that cannot be explained in just one way.
All of these rings will be making their way to e.g.etal in the next couple of months.
I also did a series of sketches which accompanied these rings, I will post these when I have images of them.
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