What Glitters

I had forgotten how much fun New York could be. When the city shines there is nothing like it. I tend to malign it a bit too much. Last week was so full of color. The CFDA event was held on the most beautiful evening at Alice Tully Hall. And, as expected, the stars were out in force.  However, the thing that stole the evening was the tribute to Alexander McQueen. The tribute was read read by Sara Jessica Parker and a defiler of his last collection followed. It was by far the most impressive runway collection I have ever seen, and in many ways trancended fashion. The clothes were not really wearable, which of course I appreciate, but rather costumes that were so artfull in their delivery. I sat there thinking of how hard it would be to create pieces of jewelry that would suit thoes forms. It was extraordinary. Usually I find a need to tone things down a bit in order to make the pieces appproachable to some people, or easier to wear often with different looks. Yet this show was a reminder that functioality is sometimes not the goal and that fantasy has its place.

To be honest, I have not really been painting as much as I would like. The idas since CFDA have been coming fast and furiously due in part to the McQueen runway show but I have not had the patience to sit down with paint brush and fully execute the design. I'm surrounded by a dozen napkins from different airlines or the teaar sheets from magazines that I have been able to scribble design on. There is a pile and its getting daunting. There was the intention of doing them this past weekend at the farm but I kept hearing P. Allen Smith in the back of my head insisting that the tomatoes go in the garden early in June. The tomatoes and watermelon will abound this summer. Way over planted. 

I admit a strong affinity to watermelon. I really think it is my favorite food. There is nothng better in the morning coming out of the fridge then big chunks of watermelon. Yet as important, is the color of watermelon. Think aout how hard it is to describe the color of watermelon with out using the name of the fruit. It is certainly not pink nor is it magenta. Watermelon has its own color and signature in every way. No other texture like it. When light hits watermelon it shines in a very singular way even when you have that orange heirloom variety. In the gemstone world, there is only one gemstone that shares much with watermelon, and in doing so it becomes the fruits perfect counterpart. The gemstone I refer to is called spinel, and as one of my favorite people likes to say: "spine.....with an 'l'." The stone comes from burma most often, and is the only gem that can acheive that perfect watermelon hue. Far more than watermelon tourmaline does. There is a richnesss and depth in the color that glows in a fine piece of spinel. The material that looks most like watermelon comes from Tanzania and is the most expensive color available. Though similar material does occur in Burma along with some shades of blue and orange. I do wish that spinel was a bit more understood by people in general because I believe the stone to be far more interesting then ruby. Spinel is rarely if ever heat treated and as a result does not have a homogonized color feel to it. There are always odd scondary colors that seem to come through the stone and announce themselves. Each stone seems to have a very unique character unlike heat treated stones. I do find it difficult to match spinels perfectly unlike the diamonds that sit on my desk. I find it a wonderful challenge to make earrings where I am constantly making color ajustments to accomodate the capricious spinel and to balance the two different pieces. I would encourage the reader to investigate the stone, as it is one of the wonderful gifs of nature. Just like the blooms on the island that will hopefully make it to full grown fruit that cool hot August days.