Mermaids

Just discovered the beautiful jewels of Emily Miranda so perfectly suited to adorn one of the Sirens of myth. Illustrated above by Arthur Rackham.






from top to bottom: Bent Scallop Cuff, Oyster Encrusted Cuff, Claw Encrusted Cuff, Grotto Ring, Claw Earrings and Oyster Cuff. Each piece is unique and I find the construction and level of detail awe inspiring. And they fit perfectly with my idea of mermaids as being beautiful and sinister. The only modern mermaid I feel fills this role is Effluvia from the brilliant mind of Dame Darcy.
If you want to find the rest of this comic, it is available in the Meat Cake collection from Dame Darcy.

I will make a concession on the sinister mermaid front for this video from the Flight of the Conchords, as their mermaids dangerous on the misdemeanor level.

Jade

Jade is a semi precious stone, or rather one of two stones made up of different minerals. Jadeite and Nephrite. Jadeite is rarer, but both stones have been used in ornamental carving for many centuries. Both stones are available in different colours, but in both cases it is the purest shade of green that has the most value. The photo above depicts antique Jadeite buttons from China. And while these stones are beautiful and rare, the next images from Jesse Gray are rarer still, as these beautiful jewels are perishable and one of a kind.

Tooth and Claw

When Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote In Memoriam, it was as an elegy for his friend Arthur Henry Hallam. But it is his description of Nature as "red in tooth and claw" that has created imagery that has lasted over one hundred and fifty years. He was referring to Nature's cruelty for taking the life of a beloved friend, but we are reminded daily that Nature does not share our sentimentality.

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation’s final law–
Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek’d against his creed–

Who loved, who suffer’d countless ills,
Who battled for the True, the Just,
Be blown about the desert dust,
Or seal’d within the iron hills?

As Humans we are subject to the whims of Nature.
The entire poem is available here in all its delicious Victorian melodrama.


Two Owls by Debbie Carlos found on Etsy.





Clockwise from top:
Fox claw pendant OdetteNewYork/Tooth Ring e e lewis/Teeth ring by Anne Arden McDonald/Owl Claw necklace by Black Sparrow