the grandmother stone ...

Back in the day when I made "art" quilts, I avoided commissions much like I avoided going to the dentist.  My nature is just contrary enough that needing to please someone else's aesthetic shuts down whatever  creativity I might be able to channel.  So when a woman I know asked me last week to make a stone that has special meaning for her into a necklace, I said I'd have to see the stone first.

My friend picked up the stone in the Andes, in Peru, on a journey with a group of other students of Peruvian shamanism.  It turned out to be a very interesting rock.   It has a petrified bone sort of feel and it's triangular rather than round so there are a total of three sides, each one with a distinct "face".  It fits perfectly in the hand.  In this picture it looks a bit like a dinosaur skull .

I had planned to do a funky kind of bronze wire wrap.  I still think that might have been the best way to go from an aesthetic point of view.  Now, how do I explain what happened next without making you think I'm a total New Age Wacko?  This rock definitely did not want to be wrapped in wire.  The words that popped into my head were, "Would you put handcuffs on your Grandmother???"  So since she's Peruvian, I decided to treat her like a beloved Peruvian ancestor and wrap her.  Beautifully.  Lovingly.  First I put some seeds into the crevices in the stone.  Then I wrapped her in a pale skeletonized leaf.  A strip of gold embroidered silk sari fabric next.  (I don't know about your grandmother, but mine liked a little glitz.)  A tiny speckled feather and a piece of root are tucked into this layer.  Then a strip of hand-dyed silk and a leather thong to hold it all together and attach it to the bronze "hanger".

I always try to work in a way that is mindful, for want of a better word.  I try to respect the materials and use pieces that already have some history to add to the



story I'm trying to tell.  I think I'm sensitive to the vibrations that different materials have, (though I usually have to look up the meaning and properties of the gemstones I use), but working on this piece has taken that to a whole new level for me.

My wish is that the necklace that I've created around this interesting stone will in some way enhance the holistic healing work that her guardian, Susan, does in her life.

A link to Susan's website is below.  She is a certified holistic health counselor and a gifted healer.  She even has a very affordable online program and her site is a goldmine of useful and helpful information.

Check it out.



http://www.thestillpointhealingarts.com/

and on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/StillPointHealingArts