Interfictions Auction 21 - Pendant Based On Interfictions

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The Beauty of Strange Stories by Mia Nutick

1.75? pendant, mixed media on ceramic.

Based on the Interfitions anthology

I am a writer, editor, and sometime maker of shiny things. Once upon a time I realized that I had a pile of old dilapidated books of fairy tales with yellowed edges and pages falling away, and I hated to see these old books go to waste. I decided to make some collages using bits of the pages, and in cutting out words and phrases I happened upon the idea of making new poems and thoughts out of old fairy tale and mythic imagery. I wanted to make little poems into adornments for those who love the written word. I called these pieces Chimera Fancies — little pieces of altered art, old storybooks and glitter, fragments of dreams and mysterious messages from the Universe.

Mia Nutick

Interfictions Auction 16 - Necklace Based On “Black Feather”

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Black Feather by JoSelle Vanderhooft

15″ (inside) necklace made with bone, onyx, amazonite, glass, howlite, seed beads, hematite, garnet, cloisonne, coral, “quarz” glass, diachroic glass and sterling silver. Click the image for a hi-res version.

Based on “Black Feather” by K Tempest Bradford

When I read a story intending to create jewelry from it, I take very careful note of color - both those mentioned in the story and those which occur to me as I read and after I lay the story aside. This was terrifically easy to do for K. Tempest Bradford’s “Black Feather,” because color is a central theme in this piece, from the red of a mother’s womb to the steel skyscrapers of Manhattan to the white of clean linen shirts to the ever shifting blue of sky. And then, of course, the ubiquitous black feathers of the title, which I have endeavored to represent with onyx.

“Black Feather” is a story, among other things, about accepting death and the soul-transformation that we go through when we stop fearing our mortality. For this reason (and to represent a plot point that is too beautiful to spoil for you here), I have created the necklace’s pendant from the memento mori of a skeleton, a glass egg and a red bead representing the living we who stand between both ends and beginnings.

This was one of the most challenging necklaces I have ever made, and one of my favorites. I hope that I have represented Tempest’s story accurately and skillfully.

JoSelle Vanderhooft

Interfictions Auction 15 - Necklace Based On “A Dirge For Prester John”

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The Lapis Tree by Cris Fisher, Queen of the Cat People

Lapis hearts, moonstone drops, quartz, glass, pearls, & sterling. Click the image for a hi-res version.

Based on “A Dirge For Prester John” by Catherynne M. Valente

“I took him to the river which churns agate against marble and showed him the thing we had made: a sapling, whose stem was of silver, whose leaves curled deep and blue, lapis dark as eyes, veined in quartz flaws. Tiny fruits of white opal hung glittering from its slender branches, and the moon washed it in christening light. This is hell, he quavered, as I stroked the jeweled tree. It seemed to shrink from him in shame. I touched his face, his unyielding neck; I wrenched his head towards me, and he stared into the eyes that blink from my breasts, the cobalt leaves peeking around my ribs like the heads of curious peacocks. At the ends of the earth is paradise; look around you, the earth is nowhere to be seen, I had whispered, and I do not need pearls.”

Ms. Valente never fails to include literal treasures in her work- luscious gems and precious metals- and has inspired me to make so many pieces of jewelry based on her stories. This passage reminds me of the alchemical aspect of love, transforming base people into precious creatures, which is the very nature of the human soul. But some get hung up on perceived costs and don’t realize it is given freely.

I’m also a sucker for lapis.

Cris Fisher

Interfictions Auction 14 - Necklace Based On “A Dirge For Prester John”

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The Blemmyae by Joselle Vanderhooft

21″ necklace made with cloisonne beads, bone, Botswana agate, glass, copper findings, and approx. 3″ carnelian pendant. Click the image for a detailed/hi-res look.

Based on “A Dirge for Prester John” by Catherynne M. Valente

Valente’s tale is a complex story about colonialism, religion and an incredible romance between a Blemmyae (the “anthropophagi” to which Othello refers in Act I of Shakespeare’s play) and a befuddled priest. It’s a story of scorching desert sands and madness, of Old World and New World, of love between two very different beings. It is a tale of dichotomies, religious, cultural, emotional.

This piece is made out of copper chain and copper findings, to match the desert sands of her homeland which Prester John “discovers.” Along with the carnelian pendant, she is made from cloisonne beads, bone, Botswana agate (the large black and white beads that look, appropriately, like eyes) and glass (the small black and white beads that look like eyes).

Joselle Vanderhooft

Interfictions Auction 13 - Necklace Based On “Rats”

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Lily, Surrounded by Rats by Helen Pilinovsky

Necklace made with antique faceted gunmetal glass beads, black stick pearls, and jelly glass. The smallest section of necklace is 14″. Click the images for hi-res versions.

Based on “Rats” by Veronica Schanoes

“Rats” is a fairy tale inspired by a nightmare, a retelling of “Sleeping Beauty” which overlays the death and life of Nancy Spungen, late of punk-rock legend. I read “Rats” for the first time in the spring of 2006, I think, knowing nothing about Nancy Spungen or Sid Vicious - all I knew was that it was a beautiful, mind-blowing, heart-breaking revision of a fairy tale that had never really appealed to me. The innate passivity of “Sleeping Beauty” had ticked me off since I was a child (maybe I was too influenced by an early reading of Hamlet: the line that always rang in my subconscious following her curse was “were it not that I have bad dreams”). I could never figure out why she’d been so quick to trust, why she’d sought out the tender prick of the spindle in the first place. But, give our heroin(e) a reason to seek the needle? I’m there. All I know is, “Rats” made me cry, which almost never happens.

Lily, Surrounded by Rats is made up of antique faceted gunmetal glass beads, twinned black stick pearls, and a luminous tear-drop of jelly glass found in a junk shop.

Helen Pilinovsky

Interfictions Auction 12 - Necklace Based On “Black Feather”

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Black Feather by Elizabeth Genco

Approx. 25″ necklace with vintage glass beads on macramé cord. Click the images for hi-res versions.

Based on “Black Feather” by K. Tempest Bradford

“Feathers are powerful messages and special gifts.”
“It’s nothing. You’re overtired.”
“Ravens are messengers from the otherworld. Someone there wants your attention.”
“You probably ate too many tacos before bed.”
“It’s not from a crow. Not a feather that big…”

“It’s a symbol. You have to find the meaning.”

I have been fascinated with shape-shifting for a good many years, and ravens even more. Like most writers, I am also fascinated with symbols. Back when my husband and I lived on opposite coasts, his letters and emails were riddled with symbols and it wasn’t long before they began to arrive in the mail: a leather notebook that he made himself, a wishing stone, captain’s bars. “I’m very talismanic,” he said. I took that as a good sign.

So if I’d been the one gifted with a feather and a vision at the top of Inwood Hill (a perfect place for both, by the by, though I must confess that living in Brooklyn, I don’t get here nearly enough), you’d better believe I’d be searching for clues. Not having any raven’s feathers, I wanted to make a piece that evoked their essence. A piece that reminded me of raven’s wings, but left plenty of room for meaning.

The basic design is not my own - it was taught me by the woman who introduced me to beading. I still have that first piece, made about 10 years ago. I’ve often found myself looking at it and thinking, “Hrm, I should make another one of those.” But just as symbols have their reasons, so do actions. I guess it wasn’t the right time ’til now!

The materials of the necklace are safe for someone with allergies. About half of the beads are from a vintage necklace I’d been saving (ie., also waiting for the right time).

Elizabeth Genco

Interfictions Auction 9 - Pendant Based On “A Dirge For Prester John”

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Like A Heavy Dream by Mia Nutick

1.75″ pendant on a 13.5″ cord, mixed media on ceramic.

Based on “A Dirge For Prester John” by Catherynne M. Valente

I am a writer, editor, and sometime maker of shiny things. Once upon a time I realized that I had a pile of old dilapidated books of fairy tales with yellowed edges and pages falling away, and I hated to see these old books go to waste. I decided to make some collages using bits of the pages, and in cutting out words and phrases I happened upon the idea of making new poems and thoughts out of old fairy tale and mythic imagery. I wanted to make little poems into adornments for those who love the written word. I called these pieces Chimera Fancies — little pieces of altered art, old storybooks and glitter, fragments of dreams and mysterious messages from the Universe.

Mia Nutick

Interfictions Auction 8 - Jewelry Set Based On “Timothy”

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Timothy Set by Sarah Evans

Earrings: Silver wire and seed beads on stainless steel hooks; Choker and Bracelet: Freshwater pearls, silver wire beaded “whiskers”, and red frosted-glass cats’ tongues sewn onto black velvet ribbons. The bracelet is 7″, the choker is 14.5″ expandable up to 16.5″. Click the images for hi-res versions.

Based on “Timothy” by Colin Greenland

I made this set hoping to tie in a visual image of Timothy himself…the cat, that is. Black velvet ribbon with spots of white–the pearls–are meant to be his coloring, and the curled wire his whiskers. The red beads sewn in there were originally red petals, which seemed appropriate at the time because so much of the story is looking out over the garden. But I like them because, when looked at the right way, they also resemble cats’ tongues. The red charm in the middle of the choker with black lace stretched over it represents all the cloaked passion in this enchanting story. Also, regarding the earrings: I used many colors there instead of just red to reference Timothy’s seeing color for the first time. (The earrings are also whiskers.)

Saran Evans

Interfictions Auction 7 - Necklace Based On “Post hoc” by the Author

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Post hoc by Leslie What

20″ necklace with turquoise, antique chrysoprase, Czech crystal, sterling charm, and handmade focal bead. Click on the images for hi-res versions.

This is the first of our Author Auctions! Leslie’s piece is based on her own story, “Post hoc“.

This necklace has a one-of-a-kind handmade 2 inch borosilicate focal bead and a sterling mailbox charm (it opens but is, alas, empty). and is strung on jeweler’s wire with natural turquoise, antique chrysoprase carved beads, Czech crystal, stone, trade and assorted beads. All beads and findings from the collection of Leslie What.

Leslie What

“Prester John” and “Boxcar Diner” Auctions Ending Tomorrow

Don’t forget, the auctions for Prester John and Boxcar Diner are ending tomorrow afternoon. Get in your bids, you may win!