:: In the Mojave ::

On a recent jaunt across the Mojave Desert in southern California, I was struck by the subtle palette of the landscape. A whisper-soft blend of a thousand shades of olive-gold, sage green, and buff, it was like driving through an ever-changing abstract painting. Those haunting colors followed me home, and I've been contemplating how they might work themselves into pieces. Here is a good start, one of my series of long amulets on handwoven cord. I had already selected the components and brought them with me on the road trip in the (as-usual, delusional) hope that I would do some work while on the road.

I made the highly-polished pendant myself out of a raw chunk of fossil mastodon ivory from Siberia. It was shaped and polished using only an ever-finer series of polishing papers and a lot of elbow grease and patience. The color is the same as the gravel floor of the Mojave, with some mysterious teal-grey mineralized inclusions in the ivory. It has a softly curved, bladelike form that resembles an ancient artifact.

Above this, a stack of elements progresses up the cord in a vertical line, all of which are handmade, one-of-a-kind beads. At top, bottom and center are bronze beads I created myself. The large disc on the bottom was molded on both sides from weathered saguaro cactus skin (actually, saguaros don't grow in the Mojave, but the feel of the bead works with this piece). There is a disc of fossil walrus ivory from Alaska, and an aqua and brown stoneware bead by Michelle Johnston. A small rectangular Basha Bead rests above these, with silver, green-gold and aqua tones. In most of the shots, the more subtle side is out, but if you like more color you can always turn the bead to the brighter side.

The entire piece has been handwoven onto a nylon cord of neutral brown. I've joined the two sides at the top with another small bead of fossil walrus ivory. The cord is very durable and comfortable, and gives the piece the feel of being an amulet from a forgotten tribe...or a tribe from the future.

Wear this anywhere, layered with others or alone. It's light and comfortable, and absolutely unique. The colors of the Mojave for your world...

Size: 20" from the back of your neck to the base of the pendant when worn. The total length of the open section of the woven cord is 29". The pendant assemblage including all beads is 5 1/2" x 7/8" x 3/4".

Care: You can clean the cord with lukewarm water and gentle fabric detergent, but avoid immersing the fossil mastodon ivory. Wipe the pendants with a damp cloth to clean.

In the Mojave will arrive beautifully giftwrapped in a hand-decorated pillow box, tied with natural fibers and hand-dyed ribbon, along with a handwritten descriptive label.