Pearl Knotting and the Art of Being Present

Good pearls need to be knotted. With a surface hardness of only 2.5 - 4 on the Mohs Scale, having an appropriately sized tight knot between pearls keeps their fragile surface of nacre from wearing. The knot should be just big enough to create the space but small enough to be unobtrusive.

I do not like knotting pearls. Why? Because every knot is a potential problem. If, in the process of trying to tighten a knot against a pearl the cord slips off the knotting tool -- leaving a tight knot with space between it and the pearl -- there is no “undo.”

There is only start over.

And at what point in the process is this most likely to occur? Toward the end, of course -- because the motions have become routine. My mind wanders. 

I have ceased to be present.

So each knotting session becomes a lesson in being present, one I have ample opportunity to practice over and over.

The above is an example of a piece in my Ancient Splendor Collection that I redid 6 times. It’s an antique Mughul pendant with table-cut diamonds and red spinel cabochons that make up a seated Ganesha – on very lustrous cultured baroque pearls accented with 

18K meenakari* beads. The back of the pendant also displays meenakari work.

*Meenakari is the Indian art of fine enameling. Because a shallow layer of high-carat gold was used in Mughul pieces, and is therefore soft, the back of pieces were enameled to prevent the gold from wearing off on the wearer’s skin.

If I Only Had the Time

In a perfect world, I’d have the ability to clone myself like Dolly the sheep.

Have you noticed that whenever you begin stimulating your creative juices in one area, you start feeling creative in many other aspects of your life? Seven or eight years ago, shortly before I started my jewelry career and a couple of years out of high-tech, I would have told anyone who’d listen that I didn’t have a creative bone in my body…well, maybe a smidgen, une poco, and I would have thought it centered around writing – not that I could have made a living a it. Now, six years into ‘this’ life, there are so many things I’d like to do that I get dizzy just thinking about them all.

There’s a string of nouns that for me describe the heart of the creative process when I’m working on jewelry: rhythm, balance, color and flow. The same words relate to so many other areas that I’d love to delve into…if I only had the time.

If I only had the time, I’d be a clothing designer; the clothing lines and fabric designs are already in my head. I’d be a turner of wood – in fact, I was already signed up for a lathe class when my fate turned in the direction of jewelry; however, the vision is still there on a back burner, simmering. I’d be a potter; I love ceramics and my few hours at the wheel were pure therapy. I’d be a spinner of wool, doing my own dying and knitting up heavenly visions – my first and only beading class was to learn how to embellish knitted pieces with beads; but the teacher said we HAD to make a bracelet and a necklace and, well, you know the rest. 

I Guess It'll Do...

“Good decisions are based on experience. Experience is based on bad decisions.” One of my favorite aphorisms, as a jewelry artist, this saying has never been more applicable than to the experience of buying gems. There are costly gems, there’s junk…and there’s a lot of stuff in between. 

I know. I own products in all three categories.

It took a while after I started designing for me to realize that when I’m at a gem show or vendor’s showroom and I hold up a strand of beads and think, “well, I guess this’ll do,” that I should just flush the money down the toilet and be done with it. Because every couple of weeks, I find myself throwing away a strand or two of something I paid good money for but now wouldn’t think of passing on to my customers.

At a gem show, standing at the booth of one of my favorite vendors, the person next to me asked, “does he have good products?” I said “yes, the best.” She asked, “does he have good prices?” I said “no… because he has the best products.”

So the next time you’re in a situation that you find yourself thinking, “I guess it’ll do,” don’t. Insist on/wait for the best.