Sunday, June 6, 2010

La’ Chaim

This post will be a little personal.

La’Chaim – To life.

This is going to be a little bit about my heritage.  And a little about history.  Back during World War II, there was a period of time called the holocaust. I’m not going to go into a spouting about what that was about.  I just know that if I had lived during that time as the person that I am today I would have been affected in two ways.  1)  I, ethnically speaking, am Jewish  2)  I am a Jehovah’s Witness

007ungarnintellektuellevztgestikuriDuring the holocaust, it is widely known that Jews were affected and greatly persecuted.  They were forced to wear yellow stars of David to identify them from  others in the concentration camps.  However there were other groups that were treated the same way.  They were just identified with different patches of cloth.  With Jehovah’s Witnesses it was swatches of purple cloth in the form of triangles.

JWShirt

It is a sad reflection of our history as humans and what we are capable of.  However that is not the point of this post.

Not that long ago I got a pendant from Amate Studios, it was a triangle.  As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  It was just a matter of figuring out the execution.  I sat down the other night and let the muse/mojo take over.

LifePendantFront

LifePendantSide

I mixed some Ice Resin with Pearl Ex and away I poured.  But as it cured/set I wasn’t happy with it being so plain.  What could I do?  Then I got an idea.  I grabbed my Kabuka Mold from Ten Seconds studio and found the word I wanted to use & that most importantly that would fit.  However if I just pressed it against the mold itself it would be reversed, what was I going to do?  I grabbed some scrap metal & put it on top and ran over it with my stylus.  Pressed it into the hardening resin and let it finish setting.  Once it was finished setting I pulled it off and this is what I had.  I did rub most Rub On Metallic from Craf-T.  So even if you can’t tell there’s a word on there it was a great looking texture to it.

I was very pleasantly surprised.

I hope I haven’t completely bored you with a little look into me & my history.

6 comments:

Jessica Diedrich said...

This is GORGEOUS and so symbolic for you, too! WOW, girl-your talent for this jewelry stuff is SOMETHIN'! I love how it turned out w/ the mold. So pretty! Thanks for sharing that w/ us, too...the Holocaust has always really bothered me and I think it's important to remember how we as humans have such a terrible power to hurt each other, but even more importantly, the power to heal each other even years later by being tolerant and loving. On that note, LOVE YOU!

Anonymous said...

That is GORGEOUS and so touching!

Lynne Phelps said...

History is always interesting. You know that quote "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it" and that is so true. The idea about using your kabuka and metal to reverse the text is great - I love metal tooling so I knew what a kabuka was right away, LOL! Neat idea about how to make a pendant to doubly honor your heritage.

Scrapacat said...

Oh sweetie! I love this! It means a lot to learn a little more about you, my dear friend! The project turned out wonderfully, and you have a little treasure in your hands. Hugs, and thanks to your ancestors for surviving through this storied past. ~ky

Jeannette Siciliani said...

Wow, the piece you made is stunning! My dad served in WWII; and my mother was in a camp. I think it is a time in history that should talked about often, and certainly never forgotten. Thank you for sharing something close to your heart with us. On another note, pearl ex has so many uses! It seems that it wasn't used much anymore and now I'm seeing it used again.

Rebecca Ednie said...

Awesome post. I had no idea you were Jewish! The pendant is gorgeous! What a great idea to reverse the mold. Clever. Thanks for sharing.