The Art - "Mountain Ring"

Mountain Ring

approximately 7" x 9"; ink on paper.


This is the third piece in my 21-part Jerry's Book (AKA The Brown Book) project.

I began this piece around the same time I started this blogging project and now that this blog is coming to an end I really wanted to complete this piece in time, because y'know how much I love synchronicity. Thankfully I did finish in time, in fact this one is hot off the presses, I got it done only a couple of hours ago. Phew!

There are two deeply personal stories interwoven with this piece... or at least with it's inspiration. This is an abstract representation of a ring, my ring, which I call the Mountain Ring. As a hard and fast rule I don't wear jewelry, or at least I didn't. I don't know... just one of those things. You know how you have an image of something in your mind? Well the concept of men with jewelry was always warped in my mind. Certainly I've seen and known men who could pull off the look... but because something is right for others doesn't necessarily mean it's right for you. The idea just never sat well with me. But I wanted a ring. I needed a ring. And sometimes you don't know the why of these things. The language of the heart is not the same spoken by the mind, so I can't really peg what it was about a ring. It could've just as easily been a necklace, no? Or a bracelet? I don't know...

The search for a ring began with the two stories I mentioned earlier. Both take place at the same time but in different places. There's a timeline of events in this plane, The Physical, and another that takes place... I don't know where, The Spiritual? It was in that space that I found something very precious to me. I found it in a time of great loneliness and in deep darkness. It is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I've the image of it in my mind and the feeling in my heart. It exists. And I wanted to protect it, to save it, to hold it, to honor it, etc. And that's when another story began to unfold.

I remember the first time I saw the ring in it's jewel case. I remember how right it felt. That's it! That's the one! It was exactly what I'd been looking for, exactly what I wanted. I had rock & steel in my mind; mineral & metal. They became chrysocolla and silver. It was perfect. It fit in every sense of the word. What I found I meant for others to protect. These people were extensions of myself. But it's just my nature to project in this way... it had to be symbolized. I envisioned mountains. Not men, not women, just people; people who lived in these mountains. Great mountains and great people. People of metal and rock. A hardy people. They are strength and resiliency personified. It is they who I wanted to entrust this very precious thing. The mountains and the people became the ring.

The actual ring exists as three that form one at the base. Again, I just have to mention how well everything fits. The sketch is partly inspired by kundilini yoga, specifically its chakra system. The inner most ring represented is the Ring of Claws that represents survival. Survival as differentiated from living. The Ring of Claws is scavenging... it's holding on... it's getting by... it's clinging to life as opposed to living it. The second ring is the Ring of Fire. This place is of procreation and sexual gratification. This is the street corner. This is the whores & hustlers. This is a life ruled by loins and lust. The outermost ring, the third, is the Ring of Thorns. This is a life ruled by competition. This place is of aggression and violence. Together, the three rings represent the Animal life... the life and aims we share with the animal world, the most base form of living, a non-spiritual life.

The fourth ring, that of the heart, occupies the same space as that of the Mountain Range. The second part of my ring is a square-cut piece of chrysocolla set in a "ring" of silver that sits atop the "animal" rings. The "ring" of silver is bound to the square piece of chrysocolla and looks very much like a range of mountains. The jewel in turn looks like a vaulted blue-green sky. Inside this space is where my Mountain People live. I envision a whole world all their own, safe and impenetrable. In each of the four directions, to give life to this world, I've represented the four elements; Eastern Earth, Southern Fire, Western Wind and Northern Waters. At the heart of the range is a representation of the actual jewel, offset by 45 degrees to call to mind a diamond/precious mineral. It's there that the burial ground exists; the safest place in all the worlds. This space, this world of mountains exists exactly between the Lunar and Solar powers. From this place the powers are undifferentiated and in balance. This is the place of the heart. This is the realm of spiritual growth; compassion. This metaphysical state exists beyond the three physical ones. This is one aspect of the heart; strength. Strength is what I've chosen to take away from my stories.


DS333, cryptic.