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Valentine's Day is coming and brings a new topic for Etsymetal team bloggers: how does romance figure into your work? What does it mean to you?
I am a pretty unromantic person. I have nothing against real romance, but this commercialized Valentines day I really don't get. This fake romance that is supposed to be shown in form of overpriced flowers, a hard to schedule dinner that leads to one of the worst traffic days of the year in Los Angeles; giving jewelry, chocolates or wine. Ok maybe these last ones are not so bad. Nothing wrong with good chocolate, any time. But does it really need a day marked in the calendar to give your love a little attention?
PS in case you want to send me a treat: I prefer deliciously creamy milk chocolate, preferable Swiss, Belgian or German. Dark chocolate is good to but not number one for me. I am not much into any chocolate confectionery, just a simple yummy chocolate bar is perfect. And a good red wine goes well with any chocolate. But I really don't need Valentines day to enjoy some yummy treats.
So back to jewelry: Since I mostly sell engagement and wedding rings, romance does play a role in my work. I do get a bit teary every time customers send me overjoyed notes or even better pictures of their big engagement or wedding day. It makes my work so meaningful and I am grateful for that. I took part in someone's mayor life event by creating jewelry. It means the world for me. I can do what I love while making products that become a symbol of love and companionship. These rings are not just luxury objects, they will be with each person every day from that point on for hopefully a life time.
Romantic symbolism sometimes does actually influence my designs too. One example would be my Saw Cut Wedding Ring collection that takes clues from a German wedding ceremony tradition and translates that into jewelry.
I do love to play with metaphors and analogies in my design process. But I usually try to use them in a pretty abstract way. It may need a story to be told to bring out the bigger meaning behind it. Putting heart shapes all over a ring would certainly not be my thing. I am more into hidden messages and magical experiences.
Laney - http://silentgoddess.blogspot.com
Evelyn Markasky http://www.evelynmarkasky.com/blog.html
