these colors have been my inspiration to create resin jewelry encapsulating them. this is a sampling of the fabulous palette i have available to me at the moment - courtesy of my spice cupboard, the herb shop and dad's rock-collecting habit. it gives me joy to know that all of these things came to me free of charge and i am re-purposing them and giving them a new kind of life where they will be enjoyed even more.
in creating this work, I have become interested in what it is that the spices represent, if there is folklore about them and what their history is like. so the other night i started to briefly research it on wikipedia. of the materials i have been experimenting with: paprika, turmeric, sage, cinnamon, safflower petals, mustard seed, rosemary - some have a very interesting history and i am definitely going to research these more to give an added layer of depth to my work. cinnamon and turmeric have especially interesting histories...
did you know... that through the middle ages, the source of cinnamon was a mystery to the western world? some said arabia was the source of cinnamon: giant cinnamon birds collected the cinnamon sticks from an unknown land where the cinnamon trees grew and used them to construct their nests; the arabs employed a trick to obtain the sticks. this story was current as late as 1310 in byzantium. (how ridiculous!!)
another thing i found fascinating was that indonesian rafts transported cinnamon (known in indonesia as kayu manis- literally "sweet wood") on a "cinnamon route"? the thought of sweet wood rafts wafting thick cinnamon into the air evokes such a rich sensation in my mind.
more to come on this...cause now i'm hooked!
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