Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
A Pearl of Great Price
If I love pearls so much, why do I hardly buy them anymore?
Their soft shimmer, their cool temperature in warm weather, their silky feel are wonderful. My first ring from my boyfriend in high school was a simple pearl ring; my husband's mother gave me a beautiful single pearl on a gold chain for my wedding; and my daughter has a single pearl that came from a ring inherited from my great-grandmother. My go-to earrings are simple dangles of Biwa stick freshwater pearls and tiny gold spacer beads.
I hardly buy real pearls anymore, however, including for my own beading. When I do buy them, they're usually on the clearance rack. I choose to buy them there not only to save money, but because I think the clearance rack is the last stop before goods are tossed into a box and shipped somewhere. I don't want those pearls to go to waste after everything it took to produce them.
A pearl is produced around an irritant within the soft tissue of a live mollusk. Like the shell of the mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate, which has been deposited in layers. Because the most costly pearls are created in the wild without human intervention, pearls have come to signify a rare thing of great value.
Natural pearls (not formed through through human intervention) are very rare. Most of the pearls sold today are cultured or farmed pearls made by implanting tissue and possibly a form inside pearl oysters and freshwater mussels. That's why we can get the exotic shapes we see in stores: squares, coins, x's, hearts and so on. An implant is inserted into the living mollusk, which then coats it with nacre in response. Some very small oysters and mussels produce some very big pearls, relative to their size. Some types of mollusks survive the surgery to remove the cultured pearl and are put back in the water with a new form around which to create a pearl. Others are killed (and, I hope, used for food and other purposes) when the pearl is removed. Some types of mollusks are implanted with several forms at once.
More and more, I buy artificial pearls for my beading projects. In our eagerness for an affordable abundance of what was once a naturally-occurring gem, I'm afraid that we haven't weighed the costs of producing such an abundance. I consider any real pearls, natural or cultured, to be of great price and don't want to take for granted that a creature was involved in producing them and possibly had its life taken away to do so. I feel the same way about abalone and other shells; when I use them, I try to be mindful of how we got these gorgeous materials.
Their soft shimmer, their cool temperature in warm weather, their silky feel are wonderful. My first ring from my boyfriend in high school was a simple pearl ring; my husband's mother gave me a beautiful single pearl on a gold chain for my wedding; and my daughter has a single pearl that came from a ring inherited from my great-grandmother. My go-to earrings are simple dangles of Biwa stick freshwater pearls and tiny gold spacer beads.
I hardly buy real pearls anymore, however, including for my own beading. When I do buy them, they're usually on the clearance rack. I choose to buy them there not only to save money, but because I think the clearance rack is the last stop before goods are tossed into a box and shipped somewhere. I don't want those pearls to go to waste after everything it took to produce them.
A pearl is produced around an irritant within the soft tissue of a live mollusk. Like the shell of the mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate, which has been deposited in layers. Because the most costly pearls are created in the wild without human intervention, pearls have come to signify a rare thing of great value.
Natural pearls (not formed through through human intervention) are very rare. Most of the pearls sold today are cultured or farmed pearls made by implanting tissue and possibly a form inside pearl oysters and freshwater mussels. That's why we can get the exotic shapes we see in stores: squares, coins, x's, hearts and so on. An implant is inserted into the living mollusk, which then coats it with nacre in response. Some very small oysters and mussels produce some very big pearls, relative to their size. Some types of mollusks survive the surgery to remove the cultured pearl and are put back in the water with a new form around which to create a pearl. Others are killed (and, I hope, used for food and other purposes) when the pearl is removed. Some types of mollusks are implanted with several forms at once.
More and more, I buy artificial pearls for my beading projects. In our eagerness for an affordable abundance of what was once a naturally-occurring gem, I'm afraid that we haven't weighed the costs of producing such an abundance. I consider any real pearls, natural or cultured, to be of great price and don't want to take for granted that a creature was involved in producing them and possibly had its life taken away to do so. I feel the same way about abalone and other shells; when I use them, I try to be mindful of how we got these gorgeous materials.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
My Second Take on Sara Rhoades' Award-Winning Design. . .
Wayyyy down below, I wrote about making my version of the grand-prize necklace in the Bead Star 2011 special issue. The original necklace, created by Sara Rhoades, is lovely!
This time around, I used natural polished hemp, hematite, turquoise, coral, freshwater pearls and turquoise-dyed howlite. What do you think?
This time around, I used natural polished hemp, hematite, turquoise, coral, freshwater pearls and turquoise-dyed howlite. What do you think?
Saturday, January 21, 2012
This Little Light of Mine
I spend a lot of hours alone at home, where I edit, translate and write. Then I spend some more time alone making jewelry. I have a loving family and many wonderful friends, and I don't mind the hours alone; in fact, I appreciate quiet hours during the day. But I don't want to go too deeply into solitude. One way I stay connected with others is through my jewelry-making.
I derive a lot of pleasure from watching friends' faces when they accept a necklace I've made with them in mind. Really listening to people is such an easy and meaningful way to learn what they want, what they enjoy, how they see themselves, how they would like to be. . . and making a piece of jewelry that reflects these aspects of their personality can, in turn, bring them much joy and help them feel validated as they realize that someone hears them and cares about their desires.
Have you given someone a handmade gift that clearly made an impact on both of you?
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Congratulations, Dellian!
Congratulations to new subscriber Dellian, who won a bag of beads in my new-reader contest! Thank you, everyone who visited my blog and subscribed or became a member!
I'm going to run contests like this periodically. It's a fun way to build communication, especially for those of us who work from home.
I'm going to run contests like this periodically. It's a fun way to build communication, especially for those of us who work from home.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Free bag of beads!
Yes, it's true! I'm giving a free bag of beads to one blog visitor! Here's how you can get in the running to win. Just do at least one of the following:
1. Join this blog, OR
2. Sign up for email updates, OR
3. Sign up to receive automatic feeds.
That's it! I'm not collecting email addresses to sell, etc. I want to boost my readership and get a wider dialogue going with other jewelry-makers.
I'll pick a blog visitor randomly. If you've already joined in some way, you're also in the running.
Thanks for visiting! :-)
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