9/17/15

Bracelet Bonanza B*tches!

Ah, bracelets. So easy to design, so fun to make, so freaking impossible to photograph.
Uranomancy. Grey Victorian tribal rustic assemblage bracelet with rhinestone crown.
If I lay it like this, you can't see the back section, like thus and the whole thing looks awkward, like so and you can barely see any of it.
Uranomancy- divination by studying the heavens
That Dark Thread of Sadness. Victorian tribal rustic assemblage bracelet with garnet.
And what unholy mess is this?

You're basically hoping the viewer can re-construct it in their minds.

That Dark Thread of Sadness.
The glittering dance of brilliants must be strung on that dark thread of sadness which is time.

-Vernon Scannell
Utter Your Meaning. Victorian tribal rustic assemblage bracelet.
Utter Your Meaning.
Hark, below, the many-voiced earth,
The chanting of the old religious trees,
Rustle of far-off waters, woven sounds
Of small and multitudinous lives awake,
Peopling the grasses and the pools with joy,
Uttering their meaning to the mystic night!

--William Vaughn Moody

Check out how I connected this mini rhinestone buckle to two strips of leather. And with this I've used up my experiments with Chinese ink painting decals. I haven't made polys in a while, I have a bunch of ideas. Though now that I have the new 'puter, I should be thinking on the next tute... *groans*
Hybrid Zone. Victorian tribal rustic assemblage bracelet with rhinestone buckle.
Hybrid Zone.
Added some soldering to several of these babies. I'm lazy about soldering which I shouldn't be cuz it's not hard and it always looks so good. Here the clasp and the link holding it to the rhinestone piece are both soldered. Both piece and the crown in the first image were from Kathyhaul. Yup, still.
Mask of Divinity. Earthy brown rustic assemblage bracelet with Baltic amber, Buddha and Virgin Mary..
Mask of Divinity.
Whenever you have stash you don't know what to do with- make bracelets. They are so much more forgiving than necklaces. Like the huge tigereye above, I feel like it would be just a little bit boring on a necklace, but it looks awesome on the wrist.
I just used my flex shaft to file out a concavity on the reverse side so it would lay snugly against the wrist and voi-la.
And it further illustrates my current obsession with mixing religions.

Old brooches are perfect for this too (i.e., the rhinestone crown above). Can't count the number of pieces I've clipped the brooch findings from, curved and gotten myself the perfect bracelet link. And who wears brooches nowadays anyway? Well, someone or I'da never sold all them brooches, but still.
Abyssal Zone. Blue iridescent rustic assemblage bracelet cuff. 
Abyssal zone-The deepest depths of the ocean that never receives light.

Finally finished this one I first showed you how long ago? Back in March. Using the glass sent to me by darliciousrejuvenations.
Underwater Tribute. Tribal gypsy bangle stack in blues and greens.
Underwater Tribute. See those torch enamel beads? They were made and gifted to me by RomAntiqueSoul who sent me a whole bunch of things including the amber chips I used in the rings below. I know!! Notice that one of those beads was made from scratch using just wiggly wire. I know!
Oceanic 1. Bangle stack. Rustic tribal gypsy bracelet set with cuff in blues and greens.
Oceanic. Again, bracelet stacks. For fun makie times without any of the strictness necklaces and earrings demand. Why aren't these the only things I make?

In fact, all the non-stack bracelets above were originally meant to go in stacks, As they developed, I was surprised to realize they were nice enough to stand alone.
No Greater Agony. Rustic pink red earrings torch enamel, garnet, raw rubies.
No Greater Agony. 
I haven't forgotten you, earlobes! Torch enamel by 4Ophelia, real rubies.Asteroids. Rustic asymmetrical earrings with labradorite and aquamarine.
Asteroids.
OMG, this super rough Indonesian glass is giving me a gray-gasm. Why do I love gray so much? I adore gray and asymmetrical and rough and iridescent and this pair has everything I love in such an unassuming little package.
That Look of Otherness. Rustic Baltic Amber and apatite ring
That Look of Otherness.
She always had that about her, that look of otherness, of eyes that see things much too far, and of thoughts that wander off the edge of the world.
-Joanne Harris


Not only does this ring feature the aforementioned amber but also a bunch of broken apatite beads were salvaged here as well. Nothing need be wasted. 
Where You Fear to Live. Rustic Baltic Amber cocktail ring
Where You Fear to Live.
Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.

― Rumi


Here I fitted chips and chunks together like a jigsaw puzzle into an oversized vintage bezel which I riveted to a salvaged tin band. I made a lot of crumbs when cutting the larger pieces into shape so I used them to fill the edges and gaps by melting them together with a polymer resin. It was all very experimental and I'm amazed it worked.

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So recently an acquaintance of mine said something to the effect of "why don't you leave the spiritual stuff to the spiritual people," after I'd made an offhand remark about not necessarily believing in anything per se. Now, aside from that being just a terrible idea, it made me feel like I had to explain a bit about my relationship to belief systems and about my spirituality. You can go over on my instagram to read some of my thoughts on all that jazz in these three posts. Really, it's quite brief considering the infinite enormity of the subject.

While you're at it, go over to everydayfemenism and read this exceptional article about cultural appropriation. We who use "ethnic" or "tribal" elements in our work have to be especially mindful of this aspect of our racist society. I briefly address this myself in the second of the instagram posts I linked to.

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Now where were we? Oh yeah.
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5 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG! you're a friggin' genius! I looooovveee what you did with the amber! and you used some of my enamel babies? You're so freaking cool! Thank for the mention :) You rock!

Anonymous said...

Cultural appropriation. Interesting and necessary article. Not an easy subject to handle! I for one have been guilty more than once.
Not until we stop referring to gender and ethnicity are we all equal.
It ought to be easy - we are people. Who cares about country, colour, sexuality etc.
Thank you for the thought-provoking post!

Unknown said...

Awesome stuff as always my gray friend.
very very cool. I'm headed to your instagram now.

xxxx

darlene said...

The glass looks ab fab, and I also think we could be more mindful in using certain terms. I work on a reservation as a second grade teacher. Daily I am reminded of ignorance, and am in awe at how little people know about history. I am still shocked at what people say about my brilliant and beautiful students.

Beatnheart said...

I always think of ethnic and primitive as a style...a look...what other terms would be more appropriate...
seems to me that no matter how politically correct we have become , racism is still raging...
aren't we all ethnic?