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Dear
Ornament Reader,
The delightfully iconoclastic actress Mae West was once famously quoted as saying that “too much of a good thing can be wonderful” and that goes for Ornament too. Our contributions keep accumulating. When we counted the final two years of printing four issues per year, Volumes 27 and 28, we had published 320 and 336 pages respectively. With our move to five issues per year, Volumes 29 and 30, we now have published 388 and 444 pages respectively. Our domestic subscriptions have remained the same at twenty-six dollars, except for a one dollar rate increase at Volume 27, No. 3, a particularly memorable issue, with a cover feature on Teri Jo Summer, among other gifted artists. That issue was just one among hundreds published on our over thirty-year journey. This issue is also significant with much to enjoy and to consider. The cover feature embraces the jewelry of Lucia Antonelli, in which she says how her passion for beauty encompasses all the world’s cultures. Antonelli says “Life is a solitary journey. No matter what we have or whom we love, in the end, we only have our own internal conversations with our spirit to keep us on a path to self-realization. Listening to this voice is crucial to our well-being. My work keeps me in close contact with this voice. It acts as a buffer to the outside world and helps me resolve any personal problems I may be having at the moment. Other times, I string from a place of joy and contentment. In the end, it is a mixture of all that life holds.” Katrin Noon reflects that “fashion requires passion, commitment and above all patience. There’s an ebb and flow as well as inevitable highs and lows of bringing a collection from concept into reality. Through the years, I’ve come to realize that the drive to design is my connection to the world; it’s what I have to offer.” The article Identity by Design describes how Native American cultures take a holistic approach to the world, in which everything is intertwined and incorporated within a comprehensive worldview. For many native tribes the clothing a woman wears is a visual representation of her triumphs and tribulations. It is a method of telling the story of her life. At each stage of a female’s life, dresses are produced that characterize a critical point of transformation from a girl to that of a woman. This issue marks the last in our thirtieth anniversary. The past year has been a quiet notating of our service to the field of personal adornment. There have been no parties or events, conferences or symposiums, bells or whistles that hosanna a job well-done. It has been a year, as usual, of single-minded dedication to providing our interested readership with more information and beautiful artworks to inspire and challenge your hearts and minds. Ornament creates history each time we publish an issue about personal adornment—we appreciate this as our legacy and acknowledge with gratitude that we had the stamina and shouldered the risks it took to bring to the world this particular aspect of humanity’s creative spirit and our potentiality of being even more a force for good. We are currently blessed with a truly wonderful staff—creative, smart, hardworking, energetic, as tenacious as we are, who believe and trust in our mission—a tight-knit crew that supports and empowers each other every day. We close another issue and another Postscript by invoking an Irish blessing that we wish we could say to each of you individually but collectively as well. “May the road rise to meet you, May the wind always be at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face, May the rains fall softly upon your field.” We offer our sincere thanks. You have helped draw out the best in us, two of Earth’s sojourners, and Ornament, as manifestations of the myriad possibilities for human outreach. Thank you for helping to make our lives bright with the affirming light of life and fulfilled with endless satisfaction.
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Art & Craft of Personal Adornment © 1974-2007
Ornament Magazine. All rights reserved. |
