Of Turtles and Thrones

Image Copyright Wings, 2011; all rights reserved.

In late 2010, Wings was honored to receive a commission for two very special pieces from internationally acclaimed author George R.R. Martin and his beautiful wife Parris McBride. Wings was asked to design a matching pendant and pin, each in the shape of a turtle, a totem that holds special significance for the Martins. Each sterling silver turtle is hand-cut and hand-stamped, with each shell formed of a deep blue-green spiderweb turquoise cabochon. These two matching cabs, mined from the same vein of host rock, are from Wings's special "stash" of turquoise: old, hand-cut, hand-buffed untreated stones from Nevada.

Since that time, we've been blessed to get to know Parris well, and through her, I've met her husband briefly. You may recognize his name: George R.R. Martin is perhaps best known as the author of the best-selling literary fantasy series known as A Song of Ice and Fire, what will eventually be a seven-installment history of the fictional medieval world of Westeros. I have now read, and love, the first four books: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows. The fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, is slated for publication on July 12, and I'll be picking it up the moment it's available.

More immediately, the first book has been turned into a cable television series, Game of Thrones, which premieres tonight on HBO at 9PM EDT (7PM here in New Mexico). We've seen the trailers, and we'll be glued to our TV tonight. We hope you'll join us - and if you haven't yet read the books, do so! It'll be some of the most vivid writing and fully-realized imagery you'll read anywhere.

And Parris and George: Chi miigwech and ta'a, from both of us. Congratulations to you both on tonight's well-deserved success, and on the many more to come. Blessings and love.

New Paths

Image copyright Wings, 2011; all rights reserved.

Yes, I miss home. But I'm away for a good cause. And in a few weeks, I'll be back where I belong.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to use whatever spare time is available to me to do something I've been meaning to do for four years now: Create an educational space for issues related to Wings's artwork. Everything from silversmithing techniques to information about gemstones to Native arts generally - you'll find information here, liberally sprinkled with cultural and political references, no doubt, since that's what I do. but if you want to learn more about what he does and how and why he does it, drop by every now and then. There's a lot to discuss.