Jewelry & Talismans
Talismans and amulets offer spiritual protection. They always carry personal spiritual meaning for the carrier. They can be abstract or can represent a power animal or spirit teacher. Not necessarily elaborate or expensive, talismans can be as simple as a pebble found at the beach that is infused with meaning. Talismans and amulets are also mandalas which are maps of the universe and can be used as a focus to journey into.
It is like this: as long as you stay within the realm of the great Cloud Beings, you may indeed walk to the edge of the Great Canyon and not be harmed. You will be protected by the Rainbow and by the Great Ones. You will have no reason to worry and no reason to be sad . . .
Tewa Elder, San Juan Pueblo
(Beck and Walters, The Sacred.)
The cloud spirits first came to me as visions while I was on retreat in the Arizona desert. Like the clouds, no two are alike and like the clouds they watch over people. They are a reminder that no matter where we are or what we are doing we are unique and are watched over by powerful and beneficent forces.
The cloud spirits I create range in size from half an inch to five feet and more. The smaller are of silver and the larger ones are of wood.
The smallest are worn as jewelry, others are made to hang on the wall or to be placed in the garden. Many of the larger ones are adorned with feathers which can be replaced with dried grasses, etc. as you wish or as the seasons change. They are made with silver, turquoise and other stones or of pine, birch and found wood; the wooden ones are painted with earth pigments or acrylics. My wife, Sylvia, and I collaborate on making many of the wooden figures. Making Cloud People together is a playful and energizing time for both of us.
These Cloud People are not copies of Native American figures, but spring from my own personal connection with the clouds.
Jewelry
“There are only ten ways to move metal, but—ah—there are ten-thousand tricks”—Old saying.
To create a piece of jewelry is to involve oneself in a miniature world that has its own laws and methods. Jewelry making is tool intensive and nearly every move requires a separate tool. Most of the pieces of jewelry I make have spiritual or symbolic significance and are one-of-a-kind creations, though some pieces which are cast are made in small editions. Except for clasps, bails, and similar findings everything I do is completely hand made.
See the Galleries section for additional samples of my work. I can make items in gold on special order.