Egyptian Goddess

It all started quite innocently. I have always been interested in Egyptology and as a teenager; I used to devour books on Archeology, Art and Mythology. So it should come as no surprise that as a jeweler I would be interested in creating designs inspired by ancient Egyptian jewelry. I already have a piece in my collection named Cleopatra. Gold and the highly prized Lapis Lazuli are a distinctive combination that was favored by the ancient Egyptians. The idea led me to contemplate the very long era of Ra's worship (the Sun God). Within this polytheistic culture, one of his offspring, the Goddess Isis, represented the virtues of motherhood and childbirth. It is thought that the image of her holding her infant Horus gave rise to the iconography of Mary holding the infant Jesus.

I have no desire to delve into politics with my blog post, but it is part of life and a reflection of the moment. It has the ability to fuel creative inspiration or stunt it (under an oppressive regime). For now it remains unclear how this particular incident will affect my process. All I know is that I feel ornery. You can take a guess why I cannot name my new necklace after the Goddess Isis. Most people would immediately recognize it as an acronym (even though all the letters would be capitalized) for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Not a strong selling point. I wish that more thought were given when politically charged acronyms are coined by Judeo-Christians in power. It shows a lack of respect for history which includes ancient belief systems.

Some time ago, my wonderful husband surprised me with a bag of tiny glazed ceramic beads. I know that doesn’t sound too exciting, but these happen to originate from Egypt, circa 716 – 30 BCE (see photo right). I am still mesmerized that such delicate items survived for so long, and I continue to ponder how best to use them. Isis has re-awakened my interest, and that at the very least is positive!

In the meantime, I've made peace with Queen Nefertiti. I too can appreciate irony, as under her rule, the Egyptian's were forced into monotheism, which incidentally didn't last long. Ra returned and continues to shine in this necklace.





Design and content copyright by Andrea Corwin ©2014. All rights reserved.

Color me Crazy

Sometimes I have too many ideas and that’s not a good thing. To quote Theodore Roethke, “A mind too active is no mind at all”. It leads to frustration and the inability to focus. It’s the reason I haven’t written anything in the past couple of weeks. I’m certain that all of you are affected by this as it relates to your interests, abilities and aspirations.

I love color. We are surrounded by color, or to put it in more scientific terms - stop reading this paragraph if you do not wish to revisit your basic science class - when light shines on an object some colors bounce off the object and others are absorbed by it; our eyes only see the colors that are bounced off or reflected. Therefore, to see color, you have to have light. White light is all the colors of the rainbow mixed together, so it appears white to us because it absorbs no color and reflects all color equally. When you see black, it means that the object absorbs all colors equally and reflects none, so it looks black to us. While artists consider black a color, scientists do not because black is the absence of all color. I take the artist’s view of course. If you care to read further, here’s an interesting link to the world of color.

We all have varying needs, sensibilities and comfort levels for and with color whether it may be for attire or our surroundings. Color has the ability to elicit and evoke feelings, memories and sensations which can range from the negative to the highly pleasing. One can argue that some colors have intrinsic qualities (such as stimulating, calming, etc.), but most of our reactions to color come from our associations with life experiences and symbolic/cultural references. While it can be visually interesting to combine discordant colors, prolonged exposure can result in madness. I’m kidding. However, most people do look for balance and harmony when it comes to color combinations. The more colors used, the trickier this gets.

For these reasons, color is a powerful tool for the fashion industry. Grey (not orange) is the new black. Every year we are presented with “it” colors, playing with our emotions, our sense of frivolity, our need to stay “current”, which implies vigor and youth.  Take 2014’s color of the year: Radiant Orchid. This color symbolizes joy, love and health, and it is thought to encourage creative thinking (Pantone’s description, not mine). Who wouldn’t want all that? I need to repaint all my walls! I need to make jewelry in this color! Oops.

The good news, 2014 is almost over: stay tuned for 2015’s color of the year. Preview here.

PS: Here’s how the Butterfly turned out.

Papillon Necklace

 

Design and content copyright by Andrea Corwin ©2014. All rights reserved.