Ring, 2023
Sterling silver, glass; hand painted vitreous enamel, hand engraved, hand fabricated.
Though I have created other pieces that demonstrate more technical prowess, one of my favorites is The Conversation, a simple ring from 2023. It's a silver statement piece featuring a hand-engraved bezel and a hand-painted vitreous enamel focal point depicting a person in conversation with an empty chair. The engraved text is a line from an original poem, "I apologize to the upset sparrows in the buckthorn."
When I created this piece, I was experiencing the simultaneous dissolution of two lifelong friendships, and I think a sense of sudden abandonment comes through in this piece with gauzy expressivity. The buyer who acquired this piece shared the deeply personal meaning it held for her, which was completely different from my own– And this makes the piece all the more special to me.
This piece hits home. As I go through life I keep losing people, and animals, who are part of my being – death is taking them away and my grief cannot catch up. I felt their soul leaving and a piece of me went with them. If all goes well, I will see them all again and apologize for the wrong I have done to them, animals and people alike, and how unappreciative I was having them in my life. Meanwhile I will sit on my chair and carry the burden of guilt, until death comes and allows me to make myself whole
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