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Subject: |
Dr. L's Jewelry (Part IV): Sacred Pieces |
| Date: |
2009-01-29
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Dr. L's Jewelry (Part IV): Sacred Pieces
This is a very, very special piece for me and it’s not for sale. And this is not one of those “Everything has a price”. This has no price.
One day when I was slaving in a little bead room, in the old days when I started out, I literally was in a closet. I had a little closet, took out everything, put a little table in there and I had a little, itty bitty drawers, and I was doing stuff and I didn’t have a lot of things to work with, and my son would come in and he’s in the military now, as you know, he’s in the Army…but, he used to come in and help me. For three minutes he’d come in and say, “These beads go with those beads.” And he was always right. He had such a good eye. And he picked up this frog [motions to frog pendant on necklace] which is an antique piece from Tibet that I had picked up at one of those bead fairs. And he said, “This is a frog. So, get some blue, get some green, get some yellow or something and make lily pads.” He gives me a kiss and runs out to play. So I sat all day, trying to figure out how to make lily pads. And this is what I finally came up with [motions to the earrings] made the little matching earrings. And, I just…it’s sort of a sacred piece: Deryk, when he was little and helping mommy, and me coming up with it. He was so proud of it, and so I just save it to remember how we started. You know, how humble our lives were. Working in a space [makes a box-like motion with hands] here by here, and how tight and close we were. That my kidlet would come in and help his mommy do this for charity. And it’s also a very touching thing for me.
And, last but not least, I really have respect for the art of other people doing jewelry. And this is [shows frame on wall with necklace encased] I don’t even know how many hundreds of years old. I found this in an antique store in Chinatown, in Los Angeles, and decided it was absolutely beautiful and I like to think about the person sitting there, doing what I do. You know, the beads…this would go with this and, you know, all the carving. I just think that’s amazing.
And then I have two very, very old antique pieces from Tibet. This is one [holds up a necklace]. And, you know, when you look at it, it’s not diamonds, it’s not “bling”, but it’s made of art. And somebody’s heart and soul and psyche went into making this. And I try to imagine the women who wore it and what their lives were about, and what they experienced. And it’s very interesting.
And, last but not least, this is also another very, very old piece from Tibet [shows another glass case with necklace inside]. And most of these [motions to beads] up here are handmade from tree droppings. And the silver, of course, is all hand-carved.
And so, from my son saying, “Mom, you need to perk yourself up there”…I guess my son was my shrink at age eight…it turned into an enterprise which gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I love coming up here. It calms me down if I’ve had a hard day, to make something for someone or for charity. The artistic thing, which is why I say on the air all the time to people you know, “I’m not happy. My life…” even today “My life is plateaued. I don’t know what to do with myself.” You know, be creative. Find some way to be creative. I don’t like bugs, worms and dirt, so I don’t plant stuff. But I do this. So everybody, I think, needs to find some outlet for creativity. And, this is the truth, I had zero idea I had any artistic talent whatsoever until I started this about 10 years ago and I’m 62 now. So the age thing doesn’t matter. You discover things about yourself, if you take a chance and just fool around with something and see where it goes. See where it leads you and you lead it.
So I thank you very much for coming into my personal space to learn a little more about me.
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