Friends and kindred Souls…
As I sit here in a little town in Pensylvania, U.S.A. and read my
email, I am often amazed at the accomplishments made by the many and
varied artists of the Ganoksin group. I have visited dozens of your
web sites and admired the spectacular designs and marveled at the
amazing techniques and skills represented here. I scan my monthly
Lapidary Journal and visit trade shows and literally get “high” on the
outstanding creativity that I see from all parts of the world.
Recently I had the honor of visiting Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum for
the Fourth Annual Gem and Mineral Show and was able to touch and
"feel" the work of such great carvers, intarsia workers and gemstone
designers as Nicolai Meduedev, Gil Roberts, Michael Christie, Susan
Allen and Slava Tulupov. Upon returning home to my humble workshop it
was easy to feel insignificant and small in comparison to those who
focus so much power and concentration into each “miracle of art” that
they make. But then I began to examine why and how i began making my
personal style of wire jewelry. Early on, I decided to make “sacred
jewelry” to honor the great Creator from where all our inspiring ideas
come. I try to keep in mind the amazing coincidence that brings a
rock from a cave in Madagascar to my grinding wheel, and I try to be
thankful for the many hours in the hot sun that miners spend (for
thirty cents a day) so that I might receive a stone that the Earth
spent millions of years forming. I try to respect each stone and view
it as a miniature packet of energy presented to me so that I might
fashion it into some small work of art that will put a smile on
someone’s face, provide a few moments of communication between two
souls and hopefully provide a few dollars for the growth of my family.
I would like to know how many of you view your work as "sacred art"
also. Would any of you mind sharing a brief view on this aspect of
jewelry making. I am curious how many of you use sacred numbers and
symbols in your work or if you might instill a certain property into
your work through prayer. (I suspect there are many of you who find
this important although it is not often mentioned in the “artist
statement” )
Sincerely, Dale Lee Rozdale Designs