Amulets

An amulet is typically a piece of jewelry that is worn for protection, to keep safe. Mine are not so typical. They are small paintings paired with small baskets, nonetheless their purpose remains the same. They are for safety and protection.

Not surprisingly, I started creating them just after Covid entered our lives. A good friend heard about someone who had decided to make amulets, one a day for 100 days. That was the root of the idea, and quite a few of us in the San Juan County Textile Guild made them in a wide variety of styles.

The series began with a really tiny basket paired with a 3” square alcohol ink painting. At first, the baskets felt like nests, and each had an “egg” in it. I was after all at home and nesting. Each has a two-word title – a positive, reassuring word and a more challenging, unsettling one. They are not quite opposites, but to me they seem to belong together.

After a time, the eggs gave way to “babies” and the baskets and the babies were often a little bigger and more elaborate. The paintings began to depict abstracted versions of babies as well. Eventually, the babies left the nest altogether. The baskets were empty, and sometimes there was more than one painting. Instead of pairs of words, the titles became questions. The paintings were often slightly bigger as well, though they remained small and intimate, a reflection of my tiny world. They shifted from alcohol ink to acrylic, watercolor, pens, pencil, etc. The imagery opened up and referenced landscapes and flowers.

The questions seem endless and they keep swirling around in my head. About my own life and certainly about the world around me. Though the need for protection and safety has shifted, it still feels important. As the world opens its doors, I am aware that nothing is quite the same and I am still preferring to nest. For the moment at least, I continue to ask questions and to make amulets. They keep me balanced, focused, and conscious of the beauty that is in each of us and in everything around us. These unconventional amulets are very dear to my heart, perhaps more so than any other work I’ve ever done.