The portals of past and future are either side of the present. And presently, well WE ARE MOVING FORTH in NEWNESS (literally, we are moving to a new space!).

In 2018 we pulled up the roots in the LES (from the first store at 47 Orchard) and moved to my favorite middle sliver of Manhattan— Bleecker btwn Bowery & Lafayette. Two blocks down from my fave NY apt (54 Great Jones), it all seemed to fancy, so BIG TIME, and for me, well I had ideas that were marinating for this new Atelier. So I want to revisit them as we pack it all up.

PERFECT PAIRINGS: For the architectural interior of Bleecker….

The duo Husband Wife, themselves husband & wife (as well as clients & friends), who were the perfect collaborators on the space…. Their first draft included the white washed interiors inspired by adobe homes and chapels in NM and the up-lit ceiling cutouts revealing the original pressed tin— which, to me, also implies the moodiness of a high desert sky. It got more NM in inspi from there— The red rock is present in the tiles, the feeling of infinity btwn parallel, mirrored walls. I requested the niche, a staple of NM homes, for highlights, and I designed the display table and cases to feel sort of nonchalant. The curved wall offered a sweet little swoop of a bench where I placed a repurposed Milo Baughman-esque brass column base with custom marble and glass top, finished off with stools from Matter Made. And resued from Orchard—the idea I cooked up for our OG clandestine vibe— the vitrine and peekaboo window behind the frosted glass. We went full NoHo Winter 2019.

INPSI:

For the launch, I took a page from “The Writing of Stones” (more on that later) and my fave doctrinal and aesthetic inspiration of all time, the Wiener Werkstatte (defo more on that later too!). The storytelling was rich–from the visuals, ie the campaign images shot with Joyce Lee, to the practical, ie the full remodel at 19 Bleecker.

Seeds had been planted for the Terra Firma launch with the stones themselves who had made an impromptu appearance in my line of sight during a trip to Tucson the year prior. These unlikely fine jewelry focal points are a deeper story for another time. For now, lets speak to the jewelry of that inagural capsule, and the creative direction + prop styling for the campaign which was so fun. It was all thusly inspired by wildness, minerals in raw and untamed formations.. rainforest jasper, emerald, travertine…and sparkly bits!

The longing for those NM rouges, the warmth of sandstone and iron laden rocks against the deep green of juniper and piñon forest came alive in this one (left). While the voluminous almost comical clouds that seem more alive and omnipresent in the high desert than anywhere else in the world (right).. like parades of white godly Ganeshas just beyond the reach of fingertips in the great canopy of blue.

I was so entranced by the TF gems themselves as a direct result of this obsession with exalted Nature and the postcards of memory from so many childhood recollections, plane rides with my face pressed to the window and the road trip (which inspired a whole other creative direction for another time).

DECOR + MORE:

Jim Mangan’s stoic imagery had caught my eye ages prior and in meeting him I found a humble spirit and a kindred soul. The way he captures landscape, partially the desert, was exact in its replication of what I see within the TF stones. Some so nearly matched you might fall one into the other like Alice into Wonderland if you weren’t careful.

Logan Wannamaker’s literally alchemized wood fired wares were another element that I knew from my visits to Taos- so in they went. What better way to display the Terra Firma of my childhood than wild clay spun by a master ceramicist, then forged in piñon flames on the mesa.

The debut collection was replete with all manner of (Gem show) desert finds— free form sapphires and the odd grey diamond with glowing white Australian opal, even rarer opals like this one smoked fire opal from Central America I had happened upon.. all so new and delicious.

And on that note— I am ready for the new + delicious NEW DELICIOUS again. So we are on the move…. Look out for the updates. It’s all happening so fast. I will be posting the official details on every channel!!!!! Excited for these steps :)

When we are settled in, there will be much celebrating too. Looking forward to all the majesty on the other side of the threshold, and sharing more of the good times with you.

XxA

I am finally ready to share the skinny on the recent adventures.

This #ZonaMaco art/design fair trip, I found the theme of pairings to be what piqued my interest and senses.... or, if we loosen that a bit, my perception of things in pairs, sets, contrasts, and inspiring combinations. This surfaced in the dialog between the art and the architecture–which is especially wonderful in Mexico–to the materials employed in the artworks I most admired, to the bevy of contrasts native to that diverse and dynamic city.

The resonant bell of duos rang most clearly and beautifully, with what felt to me, as the divinely inspired pairing of Felix Gonzales-Torres with Luis Barragan at La Cuadra. I love how the beautifully intimate works of both investigate dualities, from the wonderful and sensitive artwork, much of it dedicated to Gonzales-Torres’s lover, to Barragan’s investigation of space and silence, color and time, light and shadow. We spent hourssss wandering the works from the first moments the gate opened to midday when the shadows had begun to fall flat. The wonderment was real, as were the photo ops. Thanks muchly to my dear partners in that adventure Christine Winnekamp and John Sharp for the portraits.

The double-doubles continued with the wicked cool material exploration in Brian Thoreen’s new works with tar paper and blackened bronze at MASA Galeria, to the breathtaking polished-meet-hewn works of Bosco Sodi at Casa Wabi. I could have moved into both galleries, happily reveling at the chance to spend more time with the art in each.

The jeweled, flower-like paintings of Mariana Garibay paired with Evelyn Mendez Maldonado’s movement (with flowers!) at Ambar Quijano was an exceptional evening- and pairing. These two gorgeous creators are both connected to my beloved #Pocoapoco. And absolutely worth a mention- I was fond of the glass and aluminum works by Tania Perez Cordova at Travesia Cuatro CDMX.

One of my favorite exhibitions was at the newly minted Cuernavaca3 in the exceptionally chic “Porfirian-era” building reimagined by Carlos Zedillo Velasco. The private collection made public was in a beautifully appointed townhouse in Condesa that made for one of the only slow moments of taking in art that week. The spiral stairs were a favorite feature-- each steel step underlined with mirror, so that looking up was as much as looking down. And of the works therein, I loved the pairing of the dual paintings by Eric Fischl exploring the woman and her inner child next to the sculptural lemniscate by Kristy Cavataro.

I also can’t not love walking down the relatively serene promenades among the rivers of cars in Roma Norte (who doesn’t at this pt, but still). And as much as I love eating the delicious, ubiquitous and inexpensive chilaquiles for lunch (Cafe Trucha as one example!) I throughly enjoyed the contrast of an outstanding yet easy Michelin star dinner like the one we had at Sarde.

The recap would not be complete without recounting the week’s best heart-to-heart which I had with true artista Perla Krauze. Attending her open studio was like being welcomed into a privileged, private, perfect dreamworld, replete with stones that seemed to speak (to her and each other). Seeing her thought process and actual art-making process among an eye catching cast of her friends and fans (all characters) was a welcome respite in the busy week.

I need to write a whole post to capture the wonder that is Fabrica/Darryl Richardson meet Johnathan Bailey meet Azotea goodness that is LA SALA— and how much it made me want to move to Mexico city, like stat.

Last tidbit, not at all least, the other dreamworld, happened on on my last night was all foxy/faery goodness by Pandora Graessl in an unfinished townhouse tantalizingly harmonizing with edible installations by Caique Tizzi. And honorable mention to the woman who stopped to let me admire these chic af pants.

Til Next Time,

xxA

Clearly the name was ripe for reinvention. I have called these sparkly wonders many things in the going-on-20 years that I have been using them in my work. A shortlist:

Pink Champagne when they have a beautiful cast of sunset to them, and Creme Soda when they have that yummy vanilla bean hue. Some do have an inkling of Champagne-y-ness, a warm tint that might illicit a sense of effervescence….

However they are called, when I started using them in my jewelry in 2007, people on 47th st. were thrilled to sell them to me. I mean, much like Marquise (the eye shaped diamonds), the diamond district happily let me take them off their hands. They genuinely didn’t have much market appeal at the time. But, in my eyes they were misfits, wonders of nature, and so, who better than this certifiable rule breaker to start sprinkling them into early Bing Bang pieces? Some even made their way into the Phillip Lim collaboration I did in FW07, which turned out to be fledgling tiptoes into my Fine Jewelry collection, first floor at Barneys and into the hearts of many aspiring diamond devotees like me :)

But, I digress… back to The Hotness!

For all the sexy branding and maybe even well-meaning promotion of Natural vs Lab-grown diamonds, I have to call BS on the way DB, and all diamond industry giants, will keep the slipperiest pivot foot in order to remain profitable. Not so much a virtue in my book.

Let’s talk about aforementioned Lab-grown diamonds, which De Beers vehemently opposed, and tried stealthily to combat with the mighty tome of rarity…

While Real is subjective, Rare, indeed, only applies to the truly unique.

Even though they had the market almost entirely cornered at one time, the vast majority of the world’s mines are now not owned by De Beers. Diamonds, it turns out, are not so rare. Not even as rare as gem quality turquoise, if I may preach for a moment. The wildly extractive nature of the diamond industry is only matched by its tight control on pricing, perception of Earth-friendliness, and, of course, supply and demand. These companies are drilling and mining in new ways all the time to keep revenue high, while also keeping prices high. Lab-grown was (and is) a threat to the order, especially as quality has improved in the Lab market and the Greenwashing has worked insanely well (more on this in a future post!).

Does anyone remember the brief moment De Beers embraced Lab with Lightbox? The kind of Walmart-eqsue brand they created with the aim of taking up some space in the emerging Lab market, touting peak millennial appeal (think fake looking pink diamonds). It didn’t last because it wasn’t authentic, and speaking to that generation inauthentically is decidedly uncute. But they did move back to center with this one- applause. Beautiful Brown Diamonds are real and unique (virtues!), so this new campaign is a win.

Using huge engines of marketing for Desert (AKA old school Champagne) Diamonds, is timely, and fitting because these are actually quite rare (truth and rarity, two more virtues!). The biggest Champagne/Brown/Desert Diamond mine in Australia closed in 2020- that being the Argyle mine (owned not by not DeBeers but Rio Tinto). Now the world’s newly mined supply is coming from South Africa and Canada (which means DeBeers mines).

Let’s be clear on the Hot Take: It’s a tremendous luxury to work with these stones. And to make beautiful things from them. I hope you willllllll fall in love with these diamonds like I did.

I LOVE uniqueness. I LOVE championing the underdog. I LOVE realness. And I value an honest approach to this industry that can, by nature, be elitist, opaque, and purposefully confusing. It also, amazingly, allows for Earth-made wonders to be adored, collected and celebrated. It is true we are all stardust, specks of Carbon-based life in a vast universe. Somehow I think that is partly the reason we so desire diamonds— they are the purest form of carbon, mirroring the majesty of stars with their prismatic light. And like us, they emerge in the rough and are made glorious by trimming at their edges. Bless.

Hoping you all feel like stardust is shining within you right this minute!

XxA

Gemini, Libra and Pisces- you all get me on the two is better than one themes because you see the two in things (maybe you like it both ways, or maybe you just viscerally feel like each opposite thing has equal merit, or you just feel like up is down and down is up, its all in the journey). Anyway, here I go again being all about more-than-one-ness with a double diamond ring.

While some of us prefer the spare, the less being more, some of us just want more more (and possibly some more?). I applaud and also find myself in the camp of moderation on many a subject, even those related to this shiny stuff. But I also sometimes sway to the Capital M More. So naturally for jewelry I sometimes favor the additional- lets go back in time for a moment.

The cornerstone two-for-one in my collection was born as the idea I dubbed the Ceremonial Suite. It was a design decision, both aesthetically driven and as a way for people to add personality and personal meaning with their commitment rings. I came up with this concept in 2011 when the Ceremonial rings launched, and this, I promise you was not meant as an upsell. It was a way to add value and uniqueness. Often clients wanted to play with the bands and rings together right from the start. Some preferred a smaller engagement ring paired with multiple bands. Some wanted to mix up metal colors or get a little smattering of white diamonds on a band paired with a grey diamond center stone, possibly preempting the addition of black diamonds later on their wedding ring. To me this was freeing up the ring choices, breaking the conventions (YAY!), and having a little fun while doing it. I liked that someone or someones could tell their story in such a personal way, two rings at a time.

Getting to the meat of the story…the two-up idea is big time two-ing in the age old glory of the Toi et Moi ring. The style dates to 1796 when one Napoleon B put one on the hand of his Joséphine. Most often presented as an engagement ring and storied to represent the lovers involved in the union, the symbolic “You and Me.” The first formal Toi et Moi I made was custom, which then included a mini version inset pear and step cut in a bombe band. I went on to make a handful of amazing custom pieces in this style, and to make a few with stones I love in unison for those who might chance encounter them at the store and opt for the loveliness of the Toi et Moi that way.

As you know I crush on contrasts, so I went down the line:

Color - Pairing a grey diamond marquise with a white diamond round is fkn fun for me.

Setting style - Playing with prong placements, well that is a festive time for me too. Then I went a bit further in the mixing with bezel-meets-prongs on this ring, and on the new Toi et Moi studs.

Shape- Putting different cuts, like pear, marquise and emerald shaped stones together.

Next Up, Gem Type- Because why not mix that high-low, that saturated color and purely prismatic. The translucent to opaque (opal, turquoise, lapis, and so on…) with the spectral. By this I mean the gemstone and the diamond.

A play date with my stone collection at the uptown office sparked the next iteration. With the cutest little gems side by side, the silhouette of pear-plus-round expanded into earrings for the newest drop (and more coming in the form of some beautiful double diamond necklaces, stay tuned!). These designs felt like a play date extension, something we could all enjoy, which was to take a baller ring style we obsess over (including me + you, @Ingrid!) and make it into something more attainable, something that can become an everyday staple. I even made one pair that’s mixed yellow gold and silver for those of you who want a mix on mix on mix ;)

Peek at the aforementioned sweeties here:

It goes without saying, I am here for the You + Me magic making. Hit me up if you want to explore any of these ideas in customs, using my Jewel Collection or your Heirlooms. We can play date together at 19 Bleecker or via the virtual.

Wishing you all eyefuls of beauty this Fall. Lots of love from me to you.

xxA

Call them what you will, these are what my artist self, my brand, and, also, the me within my name (the person with inmost desires that I wish to come true) wants to do with this other thing called time. I took this leap of faith so many times before… To leave New Mexico at 17. To follow my faery-ish friend to SF in 1993. To New York City with all of my belongings in tow, via Burning Man in 2002. And more recently when I went to Oaxaca for what I thought was a research and dev trip, to read and inspect ideas, that turned out to be an actual rebirth of the artist residency… I didn’t know I would start such a new journey in earnest from that moment. I had made a little something in clay, on a play date with some girlfriends a few months prior, and crushed it because I was honestly scared of making art again. Without putting those words to it, of course, but it was viscerally true. I did not want to go there.

And yet….

There’s a lot more to share about this new trajectory. And I am grateful for the ears (and eyes like yours on this post) that have given me the courage to proceed, albeit with reticence at times. And some caution.

Peep The Objects that have found a place in my current canon, at the store and on the site.

As I seek these out in my days, The Objects make more sense and I honest and truly hope you find them to be inspiring, even just to your eyes and ears.

XxA

Anyhow, in The Now we are in The Fall. The season most suspended. The witchiest betwixt of the year. Midway from lightest to darkest, this season is set to the calm calculous of fullness, rest and respite, after the flurry of the harvest. Still sun kissed, the golden hours reach us at a different slant from Summer…I love this time of year with all of my heart. Chill night air that kisses the warm adobe walls on the sunset side of our house. Last blooms. Pulling seeds for storage. And thinking about the eclipse season, sun and moon in their own dance of dark and light. Silver and Gold.

More on the marriage of two’s and the bridges of time…

I recently read the Hilma af Klint biography by Julia Voss, which I dove into (quite avidly) after seeing af Klint’s recent MoMA show “What Stands Behind the Flowers.” That reflection is of pure nature, that conjuring of the inmost meaning, intention, truth in sentience that goes far beyond the material.

She paints the particle and wave of mosses, grasses, flowers–petal to pistil, stem to root–even insects make an appearance.

She captured something formless in those works that harkens to the imagined timeline, in her distinctly deep seeking, deep feeling way. Her mystical-meets-scientific studies are the result her of times, and they are something to aspire to in ours. Don’t we all want a conversation with the spirit of things to imprint images in our mind and guide our hands to convert them to form? Whether or not these were/are for others.

Hilma af Klint was tasked by spirits to “turn away from the material world.. to paint the spirit, not matter” per Voss. Every part of me loves this. My brother will tell you I have been talking to flowers, mosses, trees, bees, since we were small, and my husband will attest to the now of that too. I only hope to open the dialog so boldly as af Klint was able to.

Back to the Now…

Among her marriage of knowledge and mysticism she found other dualities too. I love the ideas explored in the book about her “dual being” which Voss describes as “…emerging from the longing for unity, the original state, when man and woman were one.” The words af Klint uses for these archetypes, which feature prominently in her works, are Vestal and Asket; the colors blue and yellow.

This was not lost on my eyes or my mind hiking up into the Sangre de Cristo (per the Spanish) mountains to witness the great unified organism of Aspens, now changed to vibrant yellow against the blue sky. Their all seeing eye trunks that sway while the confetti of leaves swirled in the wind….the scene was full of contrast and alignment. Even thinking of the friendly way the deciduous trees share sugar with the evergreens in their shade all spring and summer, who do that same for their naked friends in the autumn and winter.

I jotted this down in praise:

The paper applause of aspen leaves celebrating the wind

SOOOO YELLOW

A pixilated shimmy, the breeze stirs them loose,

to pattern and play amongst the skies

SOOOO BLUE.

Theirs is a bold campaign of opposites,

Rise and Fall.

Material and Infinite.

Lightest touch upon the indelible—

A marriage of twos.

With senses, sentiment and the sentience of all color, and in homage to a light being of the highest caliber—

Soo-Hyun Chung, who will be dearly missed on this plane.

You are the light now, colors even beyond our human seeing, warming the rock, dancing on rivers, a marriage of memory and eternity, particle and wave.

XxA

Much of my repertoire seems to be daring to prove that there is weird magic in a mix—prime ex, the 5-hour-long, sequential-song-joyride played at our wedding reception. My playlists (and mixtapes of old) include so many musical genres that, sans an oddball such as myself, the songs might not otherwise seem, in any way, connected. Weaving the contrasting, the disparate, the now and then, the tumbled and the tender…. that’s some *mix making* which has become something of a signature. Once again I will blame my Gemini ascendant, honestly tho, I just like to mix it up. All. Of. It.

From weird daily outfits, playing dress up like I have done since forever, or rolling with some color blocking (pink + red!), theme dressing in Taos (O’Keefe-esque), or 90s (like I was there the first time around)…I like an odd combo.

I also looooooove a little high/low… which is a date with dichotomy that’s ever-present from home decor and art collecting, to my tattoos, vacation plans, and salad ingredients. You name it, I mix it. So naturally the high-meets-low lovin’ extends to my style and taste in jewelry.

Evidence: I defo f^#% with the mixed metals since the get go.

My everyday for 10 years is this Future Heritage bracelet, a reprised Snake Eyes where the damaged turquoise was replaced with gold bezels and reclaimed champagne diamonds. Currently its complemented by some very old (and gold) BB egg bangles. They were a studio invention circa 2001. In the beginning I was obsessed with metal and forging things by hand. Somehow I landed on the egg shape, which scaled up to bracelet size made for a magically ergonomic bangle that fits over the thumb and hand in a perfect silhouette. I often made them in sets mixing square and round stock, gold and silver, even rose gold. (I digress, maybe more on the BB TBT’s later?!)

A few other things you already know, I love to stack my bands too- an ever evolving array of style and metal color. I pretty much always have a silver something in there, mostly on the right hand mix, but sometimes left too.

And a rose gold something alongside the yellow is a thing I do, because its tonal, and pretty and unexpected. Like so:

Anyway, Bing Bang (BB) was born of my personal style and always helped channel my themes of the moment. From the punk roots with pyramid studs redux as rose gold button earrings. Always a sprinkle of sweetness, which I loved to pepper in, bows and other Victoriana like lockets and watch chains. The BBA collection is a love letter to sculpture and design like Aalto, Calder and Brancusi. I didn’t make sculpture like that, but I lahlah love it and it was fun to take shapes like would be on a giant mobile and mini them up for an earlobe.

BEHOLD, as part of closing a 25 year loop (since BB began in 2000) and in Mixing 3.0, I’m honoring that I’m half way into my 3rd decade of designing jewelry (HOLY F).

I got inspired to make NEW STUFF that plays with high/low, perfect/imperfect, refined/rustic, and makes for a bunch of beautiful everyday jewelries using, you guessed it, MIXED METAL.

In that mix—Terra Firma! These stones are so mystical and my first instinct was to elevate them to an insane degree, adding tons of diamond pavé and gold gold gold. But my feels for them now, are to bring them more into the wrought, everyday with soft forms and some silver. Also the moon like shimmer of that white metal harkens to the early Bing Bang, which was oh-so-sterling (mostly with patinated silver). Back then I wore more silver, but at some point I started to include gold…which I guess was when the mixing began in earnest.

Anyway, in summation, you can think about mixed metals like a really good salad, it’s good to get a lot of colorful veggies together and aim to have little mix on the daily!

XxA

PS and speaking of earnest, how wild is this throwback to printed press?! In this one moment, I was making my Fine Jewelry, BB, an Urban Outfitters diffusion brand, and a Cole Haan collab all at once. High/Low. A tad PSYCHO :) But apparently a “Pro.”

USUALLY, for my vacations, I hustle my butt to any place touching the Mediterranean Sea. I love it there for the beauty and variety (of culture, topography, architecture, food, and lazing activities). But largely I go for this feeling I’ve always had there, that I am somehow near… source. The bellybutton of so much human history “Know Thyself” to the Minotaur and Ariadne’s thread. The calls to prayer humming above ancient Moroccan cityscapes to the Dodecanese islands. The Antikythera mechanism, pulled from the brilliant blue waters to the Corinthian columns, all covered in shells, still relegated to the sea floor– which we actually saw snorkeling in Sicily. So in the spirit of throwing back a’la Mercury retrograde, I am going to actually revisit these places of pics and poems, and begin an “FBF Summer” tradition of reliving my holidays, for YOU and ME on here :)

This past year, I turned my birthday clock to a new decade and took what my lovely husband still calls “the trip of a lifetime” even though I very much intend to take more holidays like it (I mean, I’m only half way to 100!). As is my usual—this holiday included more than one destination, because for whatever reason (Gemini rising) I can’t ever seem to decide on one place to go.

Oh Wanderlust, my old friend, you alone know why I can’t ever stop at just one solitary port.

We started our sojourn in the quaint and formerly illustrious hills of Noto Sicily, where the palaces are currently being reimagined as truly imaginative homes, hotels and art studios, and who’s outdoor dinner tables and cute Deco cafe tables are the gathering spaces of locals and dreamers. I was blessed to have our time there planned to a perfect pistachio-flavored, blue-sea-colored, love fest with Vivian and Marcella. Our most generous, inspiring hosts who started each day with a perfectly set breakfast table before being introduced to many inspiring creative people we came to adore.

We ventured to the beautifullllllly renovated space of artist Julia Martins Miranda where we marveled at the glorious privacy they created among her colorful paintings, the welcome green of plants, mirrors and pivoting steel frame doors, plus a lovely lil outdoor tub… It was a nonchalant yet scientifically executed balance of refinement—gorgeous art, sunlight, swooping curtains and brass bedecked sinks and counters that shone against the stones of the place. From the hallway in and all throughout, the building still bore the evidence of its original makers. This dreamy open plan space was cherry-topped with a modern pink sofa I wanted to lounge on for hours.

Speaking of sweet treats, we encountered oodles of pistachio (pis-tah-KEE-oh) which I enjoyed in fine cakes (Caffe Sicilia), in the best damn granita with a view of the local jail (Forno Piano Altro) and, naturally, on a pizza (Dammuso Noto, also don’t miss Norma Bistrot up the street if you go by my list!).

The highlights are many. So I will only briefly say, the food and friends hit all the notes of a Summer sway, including the Rosé!

We dove into the sea with snorkels and made out the immense scrolls of ancient columns long ago fallen into the crystalline water, now flocked with muscles. On the fisherman’s boat, our captain set a webber alight, right there on the deck, for fresh caught seafood served with an immense buffet of homemade fare. The tiny, local sun dried tomatoes along with his epic smile and blue eyes to match his speedo have been filed under legendary.

At a private dinner in the Spiaggia Marianelli preserve, we gathered at the exquisite home (and garden!) of designer Michele Longoni + artist Nicholas Peall. Silhouettes seen from the roof were like the black bits of a Darren Waterston painting against a blur of flora and tertiary swaths of sunset sky. They served us, naturally, delicious pizza from the wood-burning oven with wine from Luigia, another of the bright stars in the constellation of our Noto stay. The feast of stars and and pitch dark road headed home made the ride home an adventure, all the more magical.

We had been to the Barone Sergio winery the day prior for a gathering that was utterly delightful with wine, DJs and a Summer wine sunset. Luigia herself is amazing and the murals she commissioned made the place feel all the more special for the history they honored.

While exploring the hilly seaside towns and perusing shops, I came to love the Sicilian Trinacria. A symbol of triangular shape, like the island itself, with three sheaves of wheat, representing fertility and abundance, and three legs, bent at the knee forming a sort of spiral. My favorite bit of course is the Medusa head at the center serving as a protective symbol, to ward off evil and misfortune. Medusa is also associated with coral.

In these times, a talisman for strength and passion that also leads back –like that mythical thread–to the well-traveled waters of the Med, well, its talisman enough for me to wear it everyday. And occasionally to un-hoard from my stash of gems and offer up in new amulets, yours for the taking like these Coral Droplets. I had them in my cache for years, awaiting this inspiration.

I hope you have felt the hot hot heat of the Med reading my words…. stay tuned for more on Puglia, Portugal, Greek islands, in and around Sevilla and maybe some Amsterdam too!

With love and passion for long winded posts,

XxA

Spoiler alert: even if you do know BB, you may want to read this simply because it’s the last postcard from Bing Bang’s 25 year adventure. I felt it was worthy of the tall tale so….here goes.

Rewind the proverbial mixtape and let me paint the scene:

She’s dressed in head-to-toe black. It’s San Francisco in the 90’s. Maybe she is listening to The Swans still, or by then it could be The Cranes, something Post-Goth (is that a thing?!). Anyway, she’s definitely giving punk-meets-goth-meets-rosie-the-riveter. Photos to prove it pasted herein.

Basically, I moved to San Francisco to let my inner weirdo bloom. It was glorious. It was the 90s. It was some of the most beautiful years of my life. And I had very little plan, just to manifest my destiny ;)

I am going to skip over the save-for-the-memoir bits so we stay on task. But by maybe ‘95, I was working at a tattoo shop called MOM’s–-learning about the human condition, honing my hustle as a deeply shy person, and, well, selling tattoos (not doing them). I was working my way through college via a few courses per semester and a 40 hr/4 days a wk job that changed me for the better and added a lot of written history to my skin.

This salt water taffy crafting of a plan to get my BFA took about 7 years. Coincidentally the time it takes for total cellular turnover in a human body, so I was legitimately a new person at the end. The secret win was that this tandem work-and-grow-up approach turned out to be the greatest gift for a young artist–-the gift of TIME. Time to find myself, to explore different modes of creating, to get lost then found then lost again.

During that span, I worked every weekend (except during Burning Man!). I got a lot of tattoos, kissed some frogs, drove—and parallel parked—a giant 1968 pick up truck with a “four on the floor” shifter all over SF. Also, I found an unimpeachably amazing chosen family, learned to weld, cast bronze, fire Raku, take photos, play pool and…. make jewelry. Albeit a very rudimentary set of bench skills, more like a welder and blacksmith, but this was a start in making ornament. And though it was rough & tumble, I called it jewelry.

To color in this polaroid picture a little further:

During this time I showed sculptures in a few exhibits in CA, NY and in one around-the-world show of Shoebox sized art, as well as in the famed SF Open Studios, mine being in the industrial wild west, later upgraded to the super chic Dogpatch. It was here, in a warehouse on 24th & Tennessee, where I actually live-worked in the sunset shadow of Potrero Hill, that my jewelry career was born. It started slow. I discovered these amazing steel and bronze cast offs in my blacksmithing teacher’s metal shop that really intrigued me. They were essentially the confetti from a machine that punched round and square holes in giant metal plates.

I loved the idea of usurping (I mean foretelling anyone?!) the standard model of setting a stone in precious metal. So I started making rings and pendants with these beautiful metal chunks, and blessed be the cosmos- I started to sell them too! I went to the stores I knew from working in the Haight, and they loved the pieces and the name. They sold them, and they lovingly encouraged me to make more.

And so, over time, in my wee art studio, I began accidentally building a brand.

No business plan, no loan, no mentor, no prior experience. And I decided to name it BING BANG. Why you ask? Well:

1- because we F*^%ing love 4 letter words and, like tattoos, they fit on your knuckles.

2- it was my two little hands working away with hammer, anvil, saw, file, and torch. Binging and Banging my way to a new life.

Fast forward to NYC in the Oughts. I didn’t know a single thing about building a brand, merchandising a collection or, lol, running a company. I was blessed blessed blessed all along the way with people who have helped me to shiny success and in my darkest hours. We will focus here on the shiny part today ;)

To name just a few- Heidi Bivens pulled jewelry for so many amazing shoots and taught me what a stylist does and how to make a loan form. Aya Kanai taught me what an editor does and placed BB in NYLON so many times it was unreal. Andrea Linett ran multiple features on me in Lucky Magazine which made my mom SO PROUD. Shelly Zander was my angel, modeled for trade in so many look books, wore BB all over town, and introduced me to THE Marc Jacobs, which turned into my first and most amazing collaboration ever. Stella Ishii, LEGEND, explained how wholesale worked and took a chance on me by adding the first ever jewelry line to THE NEWS showroom. I was in the company of a up-and-coming Philip Lim, Alex Wang, Band of Outsiders and many other amazing brands. She got me into Barneys, United Arrows, Bon Marche, Liberty and so many stores around the world.

And this is only a slight sum-up of the incredible people who helped me create the brand and make the jewelry along the way--- Karie Higgins and Bethany Cocco, LOVE YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. I meant it when I said “humbling” and it is no small feat to say what’s next. It brings tears to my eyes to reminiscence on how many amazing people I met through this funny idea I cheekily named with four letter words.

I mean there is no greater feeling of “I have arrived” than being a scrappy kid from Albuquerque (mostly) seeing their fledgling project’s name on the wall of the coolest department store in NYC, on diamond jewelry sold at Marc Jacobs stores, at TARGET and in knowing it’s being sold and bought and worn by fans in Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, London, Montreal... NEW YORK CITY. It was a dream come true, or more, it was a dream I never knew could even exist for me.

From Mom’s to Making it BING BANG BIG…Okay so I am now in actual tears.

Alas, time to bid adieu. This is the last of this baby brand, that could be my child; that has brought me a whole family. And I just literally met a BB fan in CDMX who styled with this jewelry for years. Imagine knowing this day is coming when I told a stranger what I do for work and she shouts “OMG I LOVE BING BANG”. I fell into total awe that she even knew Bing Bang. As I told her, for 25 years, I got up and pushed this little boulder up the hill every day to an unreachable top. It could be a never-ending story. But with what is to come, I know that now is the best time to make space. To close this door so that others may open.

My whole heart to everyone who’s been part of this story and endeared BB into their lives (including you, Colin!).

Will post more on the socials, on ASJ and here as I go through the archives and drop tears for the near and dears.

XxA

Eight (or more) Ingredient Salads- one of my love languages. For people I love, and for love of the greens and veggies and seeds, nuts, peas, blooms, herbs. I make salads with a tenderness and care that I have heard makes them yummy. This one featured those amazing radicchios that look like roses (HOORAY FOR THEM!), radish, bruised cucumber, chicories and red/green leaf lettuces, avocado (requisite!), homemade dressing and dusting of dukkah.

When my stepfather made us pray before touching our food (breakfast, lunch and dinner), I thought it was dogmatic and ridiculous. I was a feral child, not used to even sitting at the table, much less eating with others. I don’t honestly recall how we did it before that 10-11 year old entered the new life of rules and regulations (at mom’s marriage No3). As much as I guffawed about them then, the blessing is one that I really do embrace now. And not just at meal time, or with any secular sensibility, I think prayer and gratitude are gifts we owe to everything/being around us, and to ourselves. So steal those moments from your phone, eternal to-do lists, and obligations. Take a sec and say “Sincere thank you to every earthworm and pollinator that made this salad possible. You are amazing and I admire your work! Look at this painterly beauty!”

Speaking of painterly…. I took a walk in the meadow near my house, a year hence from a walk with my dear Chrissy Angliker, where we paused to admire a wild iris and wrote wishes and talked about poetry. When I realized the distant sky was tempered with storm, and her birthday was soon to be, I allowed the irises to invoke a poem, shared sister to sister. I hadn’t written one in a while, but the moment was too full of possibility to not. Look at this majesty below— maybe a pause and recollection of unopened blossoms and petrichor will conjure a poem for you!

Also this Spring I visited my Mom and Papa. Grappling with the beauty and vitality of Spring, myself in Midlife, witnessing two people I will forever see as infallible shifting into the last stages of their earthly experience is… let’s call it deeply humbling. I took a few pics with them, trying to capture the preciousness of now in images that will surely bring me to my knees in the future. Loving on my Momma below, with a poignant image comparing the amulets we carry on us with Lee (Papa Bear). I gave him an obsidian when he was in hospital, just diagnosed with stage four cancer, which he beat. He carries it still, alongside a quartz he had been holding since before then. I carry an obsidian just like his, though you can see the wear, his gone matte, from the many prayerful touches.

Just as the I was struggling to see the light side of this time with my darling Momma, Episode 6 of The Telepathy Tapes / Talk Tracks appeared. Don’t think I didn’t shed tears throughout the series. I very much did. But this one touched my heart in a knowing way that made for downpours. And on the bright side, while I send prayers up to the pollinators who make every fruit and seed possible, I also now send love notes to my Mom, reminding her that she is amazing.

Speaking of prayers up— let’s take a moment to celebrate rain on poppies:

Other pastimes include, looking for light while witnessing the truth of the cosmic order, which necessarily requires we look into and respect darkness while seeking and hopefully channeling the light. This Spring, I read this sometimes-heartbreaking, sometimes-vindicating, ever-thoughtful and truly incredible story that weaves contemporary indigenous topics, from connection with the past/roots to pride of place in the present, into a modern family’s story. I started “Sharks in the Time of Saviors” by Kawai Strong Washburn at Pocoapoco and found it in my local library so that I could finish it in Taos.

The high desert is know for the special kind of light we have here. I love how it sneaks in and creates slender and temporal magic in my house. This was one that stopped me doing something probably dumb and worry related. Bless.

And then some….

Bless our human-ness.

May we feel the empathy and love and compassion afforded us by the Spirit world, the Natural world, and in our most dearly held relationships. My wish is that we then return these, even to those we don’t personally know. If we follow what the Spellers say, Love really is the law.

Here’s to the coming LONGEST, LIGHTEST DAY OF THE YEAR annnnnnnd JUPITER IN CANCER* (ie 12 months of tender loving kindness to others).

xxA

* For more: Mijanou /Mystic Mamma’s take on this celestial movement

I was met by Jennifer Behr who, as a jewelry and accessory designer, is a great person to see beautiful things with. We sipped fizzy water and talked with co-founder, Jared Heinrish. I loved Atarah Atkinson’s piece from the show’s invite image, even more pretty and slightly surreal in the IRL. I loved this chunky table, I believe by Yasanche, and so much more. Can’t wait to go for a quiet swoon session here soon.

Off like a shot, I bounced to Pocoapoco’s NY fundraising dinner 3 blocks down at Kalen from UPSTATE’s colorful studio, generously converted to a 40 person-tabled dinner party. We were steamy and quenched with Vida Mezcal, Topo Chico and wine, before we sat down to a DEE-LISH meal prepared with a tender (tho not themed) meal by Julia Sherman paying homage to Oaxaca with ingredients like pink pine nuts (heaven!). Also of note, the joy of sipping from yellow, blue and pink swirled glass from Upstate’s collection.

Plain English was a welcome and civilized addition to the week that followed, starting with a spot of tea and the classic teatime treats, which did not disappoint. All this before the truly interesting dialog between host Alex Tieghi-Walker of Tiwa, interior designer Nicola Harding and Merlin Wright, which I learned is THE English Kitchen #lifegoal from my date Patience Harding (truly a Brit of great taste and a fun date!).

Conveniently, we were able to pop into Maison Gerard (love the old and new in there) and the NY location of LA staple Nickey Kehoe, on the plotted course to Chelsea. The Highline was an unplanned and welcome moving interlude that filled us both with glee. Especially mesmerizing were the GIANT jurassic magnolia blooms and I never tire of the truly exceptional architecture of this project, both aesthetically pleasing and sincerely considerate of Nature, MORE OF THIS PLEASE, HUMAN FRIENDS.

Up-by-elevator and down-by-stair was the way with Pierre Yavonovich Mobilier. I don’t know if its my Divine masculine speaking here, but I loved the chunky, bold, spare-yet-delightfully-rich style of the design in this tidy and spacious showroom. There were plenty of beautiful things, and the touch of a bright green, slightly provocative artwork was enjoyed by me––and many others that noticed it.

Then to Dobrinka Salzman, an utterly lovely show “To Invent a Garden” presenting new works from Jake Coan and Christopher Baker. Who would not bow to the whimsy of the brass and paper, floral lights after a walk on the Highline in Spring? So tender! Patience and I both also loved the illustrious design antiquities curated therein. So nonchalant is the mix of things as to be something utterly unique in both combination and presentation.

Because we can’t do it all, I quickly passed to COTE for a drink and some K-pop dance routines where I random rendezvous’ed with Klancy Miller in the loo that was so perfectly timed, and such a cute room honestly, we both took photos.

Dinner at Gjelina with the stellar dearhearted Laura Ferrara was nothing short of amazing. The orange wine was a floral, tasty treat. And the pasta-- le sigh. I would have written it’s name in my yearbook, for sure.

Annnnnnnnd Friday… was a yay! Highlight of that night was starting (so rare!) with a delightufl dinner at Lovely Day, then popping over to the Mercer Block Party. I loooooved seeing Host on Howard for the first time. I could live in that emerald/jade/moss agate/green world. It was a beautiful chance to see pretty things and high five Monica from Sight Unseen for her rad new offshoot Petra. And then shooting a pingpong ball at a cutout of a bear at BDDW with Sydney Oh was… fun-slash-mayhem. But glad I got in (that line tho!!!!!).

I took a break from city life to see Heidi Bivens Upstate on the weekend- bookended by brunch Sat in Kingston and Sun at Inness. The store was cute as hell and the Dutch baby is a must. But the treat of all treats was getting to be at Sabine’s Bday and mixing cake and martinis with a roster of fab friends at their equally fab home.

Mon, Tues, and soggy nights Wed, Thurs and then like magic, I was back home in Taos. Thanks for the good times NYC!!!!

To know her is to have seen her old court, to rally around, laughing at her jokes. Tuning in for her amazing stories of growing up a catholic girl in a small town and being the first in her family to go to college, earning a degree in microbiology, letting that wild hair down and smoking pot, listening to James Taylor with his father, Issac. The A frames on the commune, being naked in the woods, and protesting wars in Chapel Hill… maybe you heard about her radical move to the Navajo Nation in the 1970s, selling real estate in Durango, or the reverse, marrying her high school sweetheart after 30 years (and two kids/two previous marriages!), or the times she would stand in front of a bulldozer, unrelenting in her efforts to preserve the historic homes, warehouses and bridges in that same town where she grew up. To say she is fierce is obvious, but to share how her strength and perseverance influenced my own path is only partly crediting her for all that I am.

Beyond words, there are the things that carry her energy, are imbued with her stories.

These three heirlooms came to me this year-- a bittersweet effort to alleviate her of worry about where the baubles from a lifetime of adventure would end up. My mother’s memory has quite sadly been fading, along many of her most righteous attributes. This being part of life, the stories become all the more part of preservation. Keepsakes are for being kept. To have them, hold them, wear them is to celebrate her.

The first is her token charm bracelet from high school where she was a jock- yup she played basketball like a bat out of hell apparently- she was in drama and debate club. Essentially a Polymath (setting a high bar for yours truly!). Huge things for a small town girl. The nickel silver speaks to how they struggled financially, but in the end she was a graduate and she worked her way through college with the same goal-oriented determination that she showed with her 5’ 3” might on the court.

The gold charm bracelet was an heirloom passed to her from her chic af aunt, my name sake, who was storied, childless and travelled often by rail to New York City, buying hats for the local department store. Wildly similar paths she and I…. lest I digress on that tangent, let’s see…Well, I love the scale of these charms, so bold! The calendar charm, marked with some special date, Dec 31st 1957, and naturally, I am obsessed with the shamrock and hearts decked in diamonds and pearls. These are so Bing Bang it's almost surreal. I never met her, but her style certainly did in some strange way inform mine. I plan to add more charms to this one, celebrating my matriarchs… Ianthe, Hazeline, Suzy, Polly, Reba, Anna and Susan, my darling momma.

And then we have the coral necklace; a piece which speaks volumes. The symbolism of the material notwithstanding… it reminds me of my Mom in that 80’s peak form-- short hair, silvering, stirrup pants, pounding a ‘For Sale’ sign into the ground in front of some house way fancier than ours, blush on her cheekbones. Or kicking back, maybe with a Corona in her hand, at Navajo Lake or on the sailboat, down in San Carlos Bay, MX. She’s in my memory like my own personal Tina Turner. Always rising, ever beautiful, smiling with the snaggletooth that I inherited. And this heirloom is, of course, red, which speaks of her strength and fortitude, the fire in her veins. To hold its cool, perfectly imperfect beads, their clack in the rose impressed Cotognata dish that I brought home from Sicily— someone’s heirloom in harmony with mine.

These are the not just the things but the memories within them, which I truly savor. Because some days are shiny and some are just plain sad. To be present for someone that centers your world as they turn from vibrant to frail, well, it’s heartbreaking—and it’s also the stuff that makes love such an enormous gift. From making the best jokes about hospital socks to fond memories of her by the fireplace at the farm. The tenacity and tenderness I know were given to me, can be returned to her, with so much grit and gusto.

Every year that I find myself in Tucson, hunting for stones, I count my lucky stars. Who knew this would be my job? Among all the diamonds–and rubies, emeralds, grey spinels, montana sapphires, chrysoprase thru the gemstone rainbow–I experience an outsize joy in searching for the oddball gems. By that I mean the really rare and exceptionally cool Garden quartz. These tender little faves I have dubbed Terra Firma quartz.

How do I explain what makes them so rare- and captivating? For one, the gem quality, jewelry-ready material really is quite rare. These are diamonds-in-the-rough of the quartz world, by golly! So when I happen upon a really exceptional lot, its feels as if I’ve found something almost more beautiful than diamonds, at least from my painterly self’s opinion. These are the stones that look as if they’ve captured scenes of the Natural World… like they have caught clouds within them! They also depict red rock canyons, high desert mountain ranges, some even look like coral reefs in miniature. This last comparison is one of my favorites because it reveals truths about the high desert, that, once upon a time, this vast landscape was under water (see Petrified Forest for more on that brilliance). Suffice to say, each is a diorama of natural wonder to dive into and draw from. No two are alike and each one of ours are hand selected by yours truly, with love and admiration for Mother Earth.

Hit me if you want to talk custom Terra Firma! Always game :)

Below are some of the internal features and what minerals they are composed:

• Green forms, like moss and forest, are made of green chlorite.

• White chlorite inclusions resemble clouds and cream-colored lichen.

• Red phantoms are hematite posing as coral and red rock bluffs.

• Orange is similar to red, another variety of hematite in shades of desert and rust.

• Maroon inclusions, also hematite, resemble teeny floral motifs…. OR this kind of indescribable lowlight color to the pinks and peaches of the earth in Northern New Mexico. I spy this hue just along the mountain ridges with dark green piñon and juniper dots. This is where I grew up-- and its beautiful all over, but this color is best seen from the air.

I started collecting these beauties for jewelry, of course, but once I got hooked, I couldn't stop there. The pieces I brought home each year got bigger and the ideas started flowing… the Terra Firma started to fit into other stories, other forms. As they are so wonderful for gazing, I started to use them for mediation. As they are so healing to touch, I started using them as worry stones. And as they are sooooooo uniquely beautiful, I started exalting them in my sculptural pieces. Setting them into silver and bronze, atop clay objects and into the golden pool of the bronze reflecting bowls they went.

Here I am again, teasing out details of THE OBJECTS. They are real, they are soon to come! Follow along on my specially allocated instagram. And hang tight, more on this vvvvvery soon. In the meantime, sneak peeks:

Much love. XxA

As a Nature spirit seeker, I love this interplay of hope and knowing, and it is, therefore, one of my favorite seasons to spend on Manhattan island, or drifting in and out of the other boroughs should I land on a chilly breeze going over the East River.

This last stay was christened at the start with the privilege of aligning to Lia Chavez's quick return to The City. This in alliance with Visible Women Agency and in the famed feminist gallery, Pen and Brush (that was weirdly unknown to me before this night), was a gathering of women true to New York style— it was a room of all ages, walks and ways who turned up in the cold, pre-equinox shade to share a spiritual moment. This was indeed a treat, a collective prayer, breathed in and out with tenderness under the guidance of our dear Lia. Beyond the devotional, which was truly moving, I cherished the young women sharing so vulnerably to the elder of us about their struggles and triumphs in this modern age. Looking forward to more of this connectivity in future, with thanks to Stacey Yael.

Within two days in town, we celebrated the Pop-up residency for turn of the seasons with Bliss Lau. She brought the incredible talent she has spun into gold and diamonds to my Bleecker street store, along with some tropical florals to be sure her Hawai’i homeland was present for the party. Big love to all who came out that brisk first night of Spring.

Over the weekend, because “no rest for the wicked'“ as my mother would say, I did something very new, and very unexpected with new New Mexico friend Paige Geffen. There will be so much more on this intime, but in short: bringing The Objects to life in this way was unreal beautiful for me. The event was hosted by the angel Robyn Berkley in her space for Live The Process in Tribeca. A little about the concept here.

Pink came in all the ways: Cherry blossoms striking poses on the brick artist building that houses my sweet Chrissy Angliker. Pink drinks at Donna West Village with darling Alex. Inspi walks from RWGuild to Egg collective, Ted Muehling to Future Perfect, drinking in a bevy of beauty with dear one Denise Downing.

Inspiration also bloomed in conversations all around town. From talking luxury industry at the private dinner tables of La Mercerie. And again in close talk with art at Chrissy Angliker's studio where we were welcomed by cherry blossoms and engulfed in swaths of paint on her brightly rendered Taos hot spring dips from the year prior. And Bowery studio visit with Jamie Kim talking past present future in her mixed media work. Over meals— from Lindsey Thornburg’s Victorian, Parlor floor apartment sharing Taiwanese take-out in pink boxes from my fave Spicy Moon; martinis at the timeworn Temple Bar with Karen Duffy on a cold night to seasonally apropos rosé at Odeon with Rebecca Gordon, plotting future workshops and comparing notes on celestial activity and my career.

And all that time was buttoned up in a pink suit from a previous Maison Marche at their first UWS event where I happily dolled up and doled out talisman prescriptions :)

All this recollected as I'm ferried above the high desert en route to Oaxaca…At the start of the day mesmerized by the subtlety of rich color along piñon dotted mesas and soft edged buttes -- colors I know that have no direct names. A kind of maroon that is kissed by iron dust, a peach hue like sandstone and sun mingled together. To landing in Oaxaca City to a tumble of cumulus clouds lit like rose petals and silhouetted against blue black hills… onwards and sometimes upwards with that Jeweled Life….

First a lil’ bit of news about something Mexico-and-Amazing that started in 2021. The very first time I went to Oaxaca was for a residency at Pocoapoco. Four weeks of respite–so far beyond what I could ever have dreamed–set the stage for this very precious thing…. I am delighted to announce:

This year I joined the Board of Pocoapoco. The love I have for this group of people, this place, and the sheer joy I have both from memories and for the things to come, is heart-bursting.

This is me in the morning being blessed by the sun, in the atrium/heart of the house, in front of my residency room— bathing in sunlight. And a captured moment of that morning light in my wee kitchen….just magic. But I digress.

REWIND to THE STORY:

Have you ever been told there was a subtle path to grace? Did you feel your way towards it in the dark of your inmost thoughts? Did it come to you in a dream? How about in process, an inch by inch approach to the measure of your days that might lead– like a dotted line–to the ultimate treasure?

Yes, I do think you know what I mean.

Grace was very much located in this treasure of a place.

Little by little, which in Español, is a phrase I learned to both investigate and to love in October of 2021. I opened a big wooden door in a blue wall to a world quite new to me, my first artist residency and plumb in the incredible capital city of Oaxaca, Mexico, in El Centro, heart of the city itself.

The time was nigh for nurturing my connection with grace, an ember, a fleck of light, kept deep within. I needed to shift some of the immense weight of my work life; the year and a half hence was spent blowing wind in the sales of the business and holding it together for my team. Also this was time to reflect, to recollect, to ponder. Take for example my wedding, Oct 2019. A once in a lifetime festivity that went from the flurry of planning to a ceremony in 6 months. The week prior to that I was fete-ing the 10 year anniversary of ASJ (the brand), the week prior moving out of our NYC apartment (end of an 18 year era). Then to LA to Taos to NYC to LA in lockdown. Suffice to say, this was an exhale for the ages.

The residency proved to be a time and place to tease out bite by bitty bite, all that needed to be annexed (or exhumed, evaluated, edited, evoked) to make space for allllllllll that was to come forth after. It was the time and place where everything shifted for me: POCO A POCO.

In the balmy, liltingly quiet days I started to unfold, and re-find parts within me with maps lost to time. In the first days I read (ie devoured) Circe by Madeline Miller. Reveling, cherishing, swimming in the amber of her prosaic telling of Greek mythology’s famous yellow-eyed witch. I read through all of the witching hours. And by day, I wandered the markets, smelling chiles brining vibrant things back to my quarters to experiment with in my cocinita. And every day in every way, I marveled at the colors, bright, faded, layered in plaster, falling in blooms, embroidered in cotton and striking out from store windows and market stalls. I was in a small slice of heaven.

Oh poco a poco! The tenderly apt moniker of a tiny place with an outsize role (Poco meaning Small but the sum of the parts being quite Grand) fostering conversation, deep connection, reinvention…a creative cloister that gifted me a new, expanding, multidisciplinary family. I truly mean it. Pococapoco is the people and place that broke open a well of unimaginable creativity in me that had been stored up for decades. This shift came easily in the calm light of the courtyard and around the communal table, shared with my cohort—which quickly and earnestly became a sisterhood.

I had intended to read, research ceremonial objects and peel back the layers of how my name went from being a me to a jewelry brand. I was ripe for reinvention! And I landed like clay in the hands of that moment. So it only makes sense that this was a time that I really gave myself over to the clay. It had been many many years. And, as it goes, I also spoke to the fire(ing), setting the works into stone(ware). And through this investigation, I learned from a cherished and generous mix of makers in and around Oaxaca City.

Below: a glimpse of the first barro I touched that trip, which became the first heart (never fired, merely a ceremonial/performance piece). Also pictured working in the central courtyard at Poco, finding and firing clay in sacred ceremony with the generous and amazing Oaxacan artist Alicia. And my sisters. Love you forever… Jocelyn, Jocelyn, Ope, Leticia, Berenice and Justine. Mujeres de barro amado.

There is so much more to tell. And a turning of the page requires both looking back and forth.

The why/wherefor I wanted to share this now. I am so pleased to be in service of the Poco Familia. And I am grateful just beyond beyond, for what came to be, as this was the seed that turned pages for the new chapter---enter THE OBJECTS!

It’s a working title ;) But you will be hearing more about The Objects soon.

Mexico is a place that always felt warm and mystical, from the whale’s tale glimpsed from our tiny sailboat to the bats I couldn’t see but felt through their soft wings and silent calls thumping on the pitch black night. Mexico is memories of sweets so sweet I didn’t want to come back to the US without a stash of Zucaritas. And the stash of requisite miniatures, foretelling a love of teeny, beautiful, hand-made things– the itty bitty Talavera tea sets, baskets small enough to perfectly hold a pebble, a shell and a jumping bean. I coveted these treasures and still have some of them, fondly stashed with my baby book and other histories in my mom’s loft-style live-in warehouse, the famed 301 (definitely more on her later).

Sweet nostalgia of then, and onwards to now… can you tell I love this mystical land, variegated with desert and mountains, seas and volcanoes, ancient pyramids and cenotes, all the more? Who is not moved by the pink of Barragan, the tumble of wires on a pole in front of the bright fuchsia blooming hibiscus? The collage of red roofs seen from an airplane? The colors are vivid, delicious to the eyes, just as the chiles, jugos and pink-sugar-dusted conchas are to the tongue. And this it to say nothing of the culture, so rich, so kind, so brilliantly layered with Indigenous wisdom and modern architecture, all layers touched by the ingenuity of a people who are inherently creative. The privilege of going to and from this place that is a familiar and familial land is not lost on me. I hope this adoration, this ode to the wonder of Mexico will reach some eyes that are happily reminded of the greatness and dignity there, and to someone who knows it only by what is portrayed on the other side.

In this present moment, Mexico City is home to a world class art and design scene and host to some of the most incredible fairs too. I feel this is well worth broadcasting. Zona Maco is the best known, and boasts some incredible local and regional galleries and artists among the array of international ones. I found so many moving works there on a midday wander with my friend John Sharp. Here are a few:

Beyond the big, there are many amazing small shows - from the renowned MASA Galleria, which is in a league all its own, to the Galleria Mascota and even into the private gardens which become oases for art, gatherings and sheer awe at how a city so dense can also harbor a Jardin Secreto with trees taller than some buildings.

Jardin + Masa Moments:

The frenzy of the incoming artists, collectors and visitors aside, there are many tranquil times to be had–quiet walks in Roma Norte, admiring the mash up of architectural styles, cafes and baked goods to make Paris envious, jitomates (tomatoes) so red you feel you are taking a bite of life itself. I could go on and on. But I will just show you more photos instead:

Given any chance, I will gladly go again, and I hope you would do too. I feel hopeful that this year ahead will be a time to revisit the dialog and the perspective on cultural differences, which show contrast and invite reflection, and similarities, which remind us lines on maps are drawn by a human hand, not by the wild things that traverse this land with maps scribed into collective memory.

I hope the wildness in my will bring me there many more times– and to the deeply spiritual, ever more tranquil, stone streets of Oaxaca city as well. Much more on that connection later.

XxA

So goes this peek into my own tangle of experience.

At this particular moment in time, I am the big 5-0, and fitting midlife, I am doing some inventory, looking back and peering in. Because it’s hard to know how best to add both goodness and the gold dust of grit to the current and broader dialog, I find this both terribly daunting and deeply requisite. Because I do want to add something unique and from the heart– and this honest, bare, simple platform is something new for me. So here I go.

I want to tell all, but in the same way I would to a friend over tea, in the quiet space of sharing generously, and, too, with a voice big enough to find new friends’ ears. I plan on using the facets and formations of my wildly varied life experiences to cast colorful light, share some learnings, be funny, be kind and weave together stories of beginnings, middles and endings of the rough and tumbled way I landed in this Jeweled Life.

Thank you for being here.