This spring, as Ornament assembled another issue and raced
for the deadline, we, like the rest of the world, have been buffeted
by the rapidly accelerating economic and social changes taking place
in our country as well as environmental ones, like the horrific one-two
punch of deadly cyclones in Myanmar and giant earthquakes in Sichuan,
both populous yet risky areas of Asia. During 1944 to 1945, I lived
as a child in Chunking, the capital of this mountainous province,
and remember passing through Chengdu while going from Japanese-occupied
Shanghai to the unconquered portions of China, where we had our first
bath and visited a dentist after months of travel by every means,
including by foot, wheelbarrow, mule carts, and open cargo trucks.
In addition, there is the critical matter of physical and personal
well-being. Carolyn’s mother Kathryn has had several bouts of
medical emergencies during this period, some necessitating hospital
stays. Yet Kathryn’s vital life-force keeps her moving forward,
much to our happiness. While publishing deadlines are artificial entities
and not-earthshaking should they not be met, our thoroughly professional
and dedicated staff treats our publishing schedules seriously and
tries to keep on track through our and their own more difficult days.
How does one reconcile all this and sort out the priorities that must
be made? One such priority is our contribution to the betterment of
the world in which we live. We have always believed our mission, as
represented by Ornament, is to educate, inform and inspire,
to chronicle our times and that of the past, so future generations
can know what it meant to be a craftsperson in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries, as well as during those past times when humans made handcrafts.
All of the articles printed herein we consider to successfully reinforce
our commitment and impart valuable life lessons. Carol Young and Cari
Borja, two clothing artists, one oriented toward using ‘green’
textiles and the other toward dramatic clothing, are both living fulfilling
careers. Holly Anne Mitchell utilizes newspapers and other printed
items to make jewelry with pointed and timely messages. Spirals describes
a particular design project hosted by the American Jewelry Design
Council. The Council consists of jewelry artists who each year stretch
their creative abilities by creating ornaments based on a stimulating
theme. Ancient Shell Ornaments of the Americas introduces readers
to one of the oldest materials used for jewelry. There is also included
the powerful jewelry of Nancy Worden; uniforms of airline attendants;
the fascinating hats of Hungarian designer Valéria Fazekas;
the unique reactive metal products of Bill Seeley; the Bellevue Arts
Museum Artsfair; a design exercise using beads for earrings; and reviews
of some very interesting books. If one were to come upon a copy of
Volume 31, No. 4 a hundred years from now, that Ornament reader would
receive an extrordinarily informed viewpoint of personal adornment
taking place mid-year 2008.
This spring, as Ornament assembled another issue and raced
for the deadline, we, like the rest of the world, have been buffeted
by the rapidly accelerating economic and social changes taking place
in our country as well as environmental ones, like the horrific one-two
punch of deadly cyclones in Myanmar and giant earthquakes in Sichuan,
both populous yet risky areas of Asia. During 1944 to 1945, I lived
as a child in Chunking, the capital of this mountainous province,
and remember passing through Chengdu while going from Japanese-occupied
Shanghai to the unconquered portions of China, where we had our first
bath and visited a dentist after months of travel by every means,
including by foot, wheelbarrow, mule carts, and open cargo trucks.
In addition, there is the critical matter of physical and personal
well-being. Carolyn’s mother Kathryn has had several bouts of
medical emergencies during this period, some necessitating hospital
stays. Yet Kathryn’s vital life-force keeps her moving forward,
much to our happiness. While publishing deadlines are artificial entities
and not-earthshaking should they not be met, our thoroughly professional
and dedicated staff treats our publishing schedules seriously and
tries to keep on track through our and their own more difficult days.
