A Pebble Brought us Together

I recently completed a project that I can say has been one of my most challenging and joyful experiences I have ever had on this creative journey. The project entailed taking a sacred keepsake found in Ghana and making it into a meaningful piece of jewelry. It was a terra cotta colored pebble that resembled an elongated oval shaped like a tongue. My client Donna had been on a trip to Ghana and picked up the pebble on a beach near Cape Castle which was one of the forts that became a center for the transatlantic slave trade. She described being at the site of “evoking both despair and a desire to imagine how the past could have been different.” She also included in the commission that she loved the work of Ayana V. Jackson with links included. Jackson, whose work is in the National Museum of African Art, has an exhibit that features the Drexciya people (children of pregnant women who had been thrown overboard or jumped voluntarily during the middle passage) who lived in underwater kingdoms.

That was my starting off point. I wanted to keep the stone as natural as possible and include elements of Jackson’s work. I was inspired by Jackson’s portrait of herself dressed in a skirt with billowing fabrics adorned with large copper locks. The piece is titled: It Is Only When You Lose Your Mother That She Becomes Myth. During my research process, Donna and I exchanged messages back and forth and chatted about various things. When I mentioned that I was going to use polymer clay and make fabric mimicking Jackson’s piece, Donna promptly sent me various African fabrics including a piece from her wedding gown. I tried to incorporate some of the fabric into the final design but it did not quite work out. I hope to use the fabrics in a future project. It was such a kind gesture. 

I created an initial prototype completely out of polymer clay and shared it with Donna. There is always some hesitation and vulnerability when presenting a vision so personal how it will be received. But she loved it. I then went on to make a few tweaks to the design and completed the final piece, which featured a multistrand wire crocheted chain for the piece and a coordinating pair of earrings. Donna recently wrote a heartfelt blog post about the experience. You can read more about her beautiful reflections here.

And we still keep in touch. She just sent me an article about the legacy of cowrie shells which I just started reading. 

I think people often underestimate how much time, care, and emotional presence go into custom work. It rarely happens quickly. It unfolds slowly over time.

Thank you, Donna, for sharing something so meaningful and giving me the freedom to approach it with both heart and creativity.