Faeries, Dragons....Saturns and Moons…..Dolphins drove me... Loony Tunes.........

Years of designing…..working with craftsmen……..We sat on the ground in tiny rooms with primitive equiptment…..discussing artistic merit…..angles and clasps…..details, details, details……...Early days…i’d draw something and often take it to a photo copy machine, …..to enlarge it, making it easier to see…. (pre computer age)…… One day returned home….. found 3 pieces on my table…… Could not for the life of me figure out what it was…….. PING………the penny dropped….. They had replicated my designs….. 300% larger than i had intended….. because the fotocopy was 300% larger for them to see the details…….We laughed for weeks…….. no idea what we did with them…. most likely sold at one of the many High end craft shows i did at the time…….

A Japanese designer once requested several sizeable Brass Bats……intended for the back of a leather jacket….. hmmmm…. Hours of brain twisting…..… There was no equipment available large enough to produce it in one piece………How to accomplish this? Et Voila…. By creating a puzzle out of it…. we made castings out of 17 pieces…… which were Soldered together…….

IF you notice a Brass Bat on the back of someone's leather jacket….it's a rare extinct breed!……
So many mad clients….. At one point i vouwed “NO MORE lumba lumba” (Indonesian for Dolphins) Cute, adorable, i love dolphins…... but NEVER will i design another dolphin…… Dolphin mania….. hundreds of them...... went on for years. One woman…..generated copious quantities of papers with pencil written notes scribbled everywhere. (pre tech-pencils/paper?) Constantly changing her order..........

I dreaded waking... seeing a pile of papers shoved under my door…always at an ungodly hour….(shortly after i had gone to sleep)…"Oh zoot!"…She wants to change everything… again!…..Dophin's "smiling too much....
make more “serious’…...needs to be shorter, rounder……taller, wider"

While doing the massive jewelry show…...in Tuscon Arizona.......a two week marathon....

A Tall man… well dressed…cowboy hat, fancy Western boots……He rocks up, loves my work…… He proceeds to pull out some papers and began organizing what he wants to show me……. There was a brief glimpse….."hmmm.... it looked suspiciously like a section of a Dolphin?" Poor fellow........ For me, it was like someone had brought a bag of…… shriveled raisins.........(hate raisins, not the taste, just the texture)….“NO, oh no..... i….i…. can’t do that” He’s flattening out his papers…. Now i can clearly see several sketches of Dophins……”AAAAaaaaaaaaah……..” a semi shreek…….."i … just can’t….. no. No……. i’m sorry….." (now i'm breathing like a birthing coach) I.....….. no…..” By now he suspects i’m having a nervous breakdown, …….or some kind of episode......requiring medication.....

He has NO idea why i am babbling over and over...... “No, ooooh....no, i…….just can’t”
The tall cowboy looking at me........... clueless. “Sorry, what can't you do?” “Ok",....... i'm breathing... more calmly…........About to attempt to explain my bizarre behavior…….while stifling my laughter......... Well aware how nonsensical i appeared to him..............

Out of nowhere, a neighbor from the next booth…… leans over, seeing me struggling. Sinking deeper into social quicksand.....He blurts out….(they know me for many years)........“She doesn’t do Dophins"……. lowering his voice for a touch of gravitas, as if sharing a dark confidential secret......"She was attacked by wild Dolphins in India…. while swimming in the Ganges”

At which point the Tall cowboy, clearly taken aback…..definitely NOT what he was expecting... says…..”OH…..I’m.... so sorry….”He snatched up his papers quickly exiting my booth. Myself and the surrounding booths......were consumed with laughter......He’s probably still telling that story………. A priceless..... excuse as to why i refuse to even consider producing anything....... vaguely resembling a dolphin…… never again…….a Puffer fish perhaps......but no more Dolphins….............

Never swam with dolphins, nor have i ever stuck my big toe in the Ganges, on any of my many trips to India............................
Ah India....... a travelers.....gem.........
That's a story........ for another day........

This was the Last Dolphin Pendant....inspired by the Dolphins who jumped out of the water...when the Dalai Lama visited a Marine Park........ Clever they are......light and LAUGHTER, Syberella...........

special Thx to @Samuel Stonehill @Jockey and @Chron for their encouragement and tech advice........

Images: All foto's are mine of my own original work....
Animated Gif Sources-From top to bottom : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9