Fossil Coral Head and Fossil Shell in Limestone (Baja) cut by Leigh Becker/EidosShaman's Hoard Necklace and Earrings
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I didn't really mean to make this piece. I was getting ready for the Contemporary Crafts Market, trying to finish new work which might appeal to my customers there. Really, would you predict that someone from Pasadena would buy it? (No offense please, Pasadena!) The little antler didn't concern itself with my business projections. It was insistent.
And then there is the self doubt: I don't want someone to think a piece like this reflects cultural appropriation. As inspiring as I find ethnic jewelry, I don't want to copy from other traditions. So how to explain this piece? Well, consider this: Who among us has not picked up a pretty little rock or shell? Maybe we put it on our desk or carry it in our pocket, or maybe we even figure out a way to wear it. Humans seem to have done this forever. The dates of the earliest known beads keep getting pushed back as Science News usually reports; the latest article I found (from a 2009 article in World Archeology) says that perforated shells found at the Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt, a limestone cave in Eastern Morocco associated with anatomically modern humans, may be up to 110,000 years old. Traditional cultures may be less self-conscious than we are about wearing such things, but most of us seem to want to, given half a chance...
So the antler demanded turquoise. I made the setting, set the stone and attached it. That only emboldened it. While making what I thought would be individual pendants out of the coral and the limestone cabs it dawned on me that they have the same curves as abalone "tusks" so they definitely wanted to play with the antler, not hang dejectedly on a chain by themselves. The green turquoise and fossil beads wanted to be a separate strand but seemed lifeless and boring. When the large abalone whooshes were unearthed from my stash, something said, OH YEAH! And finally the operculum showed up and that did it, it was exactly what was needed in the top strand which wasn't going anywhere until it arrived. Whew. What I go through to make something for you!
What happened next was purely unexpected: People at the show saw the necklace and ... smiled! Some laughed! One lovely man put it on and took a selfie, grinning from ear to ear! (You'll see his darling photo below. Just try not to smile back at him!) That gave me the courage to ask anyone else who giggled at it if they'd try it on and let me take their photo. Every one of them said, "SURE!" and we all had such fun playing with it as you can see from their fabulous photos below. The photos also show that everybody can wear it: younger, older, male, female,... Perhaps it's just what YOU need to brighten your day?
