What's the Worst Gift You've Ever Gotten?

   I want to digress a bit today from Hieropice-specific news to talk about thoughtful gift-giving.  Here in the US, we are in the thick of Mother’s Day/graduation/Father’s Day/wedding season, and that means a lot of gift-giving.  A lot of Hieropice’s customers are giving their purchases as gifts, which got me thinking, how do you ensure you give a good gift?
  I take gift-giving very seriously.  I’m one of those people who listens carefully all year to friends when they exclaim “ooh!  I want that bag!” or “ughh, I wish I could afford that bracelet, but oh well!” and then makes a note on my phone to get it for their birthday.  I love wrapping gifts.  More than unwrapping them, probably.  I buy wrapping paper for Xmas year-round, and like to wrap all my Xmas gifts with a theme in mind.  Last year it was nature.  This year, I’m undecided.  Alice in Wonderland, perhaps?
  But what if you’re not that type?  What if you often find yourself scrambling, at a loss, desperately trying to pick something you HOPE someone will like.  You put a ton of pressure on yourself to get something great, but struggle to figure out what that is.  Or, you’ve got that person in your life, who never seems to want anything specific, who dislikes everything, or would express appreciation for anything you got them, even if they intend to promptly shove it into the back of their closet?
  I have gotten some bad gifts in the past.  For my 25th birthday, a friend got me a citronella gel candle in a martini glass.  Not sure if she thought I typically slept nude in the woods, and thus, had a massive mosquito issue, but I didn’t know what to do with it.   An ex-boyfriend thought that since I love dogs, I would love books about how to groom bijon-frises.  I don’t actually own a bijon frise.  Or a dog, for that matter.  And, I’m thinking, I’d just pay a pro to handle all that fuzz rather than attempt it myself, but, I guess, I can still appreciate his efforts.
  So where did they go wrong? 
1) Convenience – If you’re buying someone a gift primarily because purchasing it is easy for you or requires minimal effort, chances are, your gift won’t be well-received.  There are exceptions, say, when the receiver has expressed a specific interest in an item or brand, but generally, if your thinking is “ooh!  look at that thing right next to the register at CVS!  I’ll buy it for Susie!” Susie might not be too happy with your choices.  Sometimes there’s a transportation issue involved in buying a gift for someone at a retailer they specifically like, which is when buying online becomes a great option.
2) Buying what you wished they’d want, think they need, (or you want!)

  Just because you think they might need a new backpack, pair of socks, or dress-shirt, doesn’t mean you should buy it for them as a gift.  Gifts of necessity are best for non-holiday gift-giving, meaning, you should grab your hubby a new pair of socks when you first notice he needs them, and forgo putting them in a box under the tree at Xmas.  Again, the exception would be if your hubby specifically said he wanted a new pair of socks for Xmas.  Then go for it.
   Along the same lines, sometimes we WISH our loved ones would utilize certain objects.  We might want our son to read more, and think getting him a stack of books for Xmas will do the trick.  Or maybe you want to see your wife wear more lingerie, so you spring for some on her birthday.  But, typically, people elect to spend their time doing the things they enjoy, wearing the things they like, etc.  So if they haven’t chosen to spend their time reading or prancing around in lingerie thus far, it suggests they just don’t want to (with exceptions, of course).  If they’ve expressed interest in other things, get them those things, and put your own wants/needs aside.  Trying to impose your own beliefs/priorities on someone else when giving them a gift rarely makes the recipient happy.
    And don’t get your loved ones gifts that you want for yourself.  It’s tacky and rude, and usually transparent.  I had throat surgery once, and asked a visiting friend if she could bring me some sorbet, the only thing I could eat at the time.  She showed up with chunks of watermelon instead, and when I explained I couldn’t eat it because of my surgery, sat there and ate it in front of me.  Don’t be that girl.  No one likes her.
   3) But..but.. I don’t get why he/she wants that, it’s stupid!
     Yeah, you might think that wall-mounted indoor thermometer/humidity-reader is weird and silly, but your dad wants it.  That’s the whole idea behind gift-giving, making someone ELSE happy.  Sometimes that means buying something for a loved one that you just don’t see the value in.  It’s ok.  Just comfort yourself with the knowledge that your loved one will adore it.  You’ll make them happy.  They’ll smile and thank you genuinely, and know you care about them.  Well done!
4) Re-gifting/cleaning out the closet
    This one’s intuitive.  Unless you dislike the person who’s receiving your gift or are participating in a Yankee Swap, don’t re-gift.  Again, unless you happened to get the exact item your friend wanted as a gift, and know you won’t use it.  I’m pretty sure the martini-glass-citronella-candle was a re-gift, and it offended me.  It sent the message that that friend couldn’t be bothered to actually choose something she genuinely believed I’d want, or make the effort to go purchase it (or make it!)  If you’re willing to give someone a gift, acknowledge and honor to mojo/juju/karma you’re sending along with it.  The “I just grabbed some crap from my closet and stuck it in a bag” energy comes through with a re-gift/closet find.  If you’re ambivalent about your feelings about someone, somewhat indifferent, or pressed for time, how about a gift of chocolate, tea, or coffee?  You can’t go wrong.  Or at least, not as wrong as a martini-candle.
     So now I want to know, what’s the worst gift you’ve ever gotten?!

An Ode to Nature

   

romanescu, a relative of cauliflower/broccoli

     I have to say, I think nature does it best.  The crazy, colorful, complex creations that spring up around us are better than anything I could create.  My entire motivation in art-making is to attempt to capture some of that mysterious beauty, and make it wearable.  I think I’ll spend the rest of my life trying, (and failing, really).  But I try.  And it’s intriguing to try, and to discover new imagery, new vistas, that seem like they should, and should always have been, worn.
      In creating, I like keeping close to the Earth, or as close to it as I can.  I love thinking about the origins of glass; inert sand and base elements fired till molten, transforming into delicate transparency, as ancient as we are, really.  Who figured it out first?  Or mastered the art of it, somehow knowing how to handle a material no one had ever witnessed before.   It had to be inherently frightening, and dangerous.  I strive to create something new like that, an innovation, that will be forever mysterious and fascinating.
    I saw mace once, the raw, sheathed form of nutmeg.  I thought it was incredibly beautiful, and how sad, that we only value the brown, ground spice from underneath, and most of us never get to see it in its natural form.  What an incredible piece of jewelry it would make!  When I went to Tanzania in 2010, I was so excited to go to a spice farm on the island of Zanzibar, and see where all of those fragrant/flavorful seasonings come from.  We saw vanilla orchids and pepper vines, green and climbing upon the Zanzibar apple and cinnamon trees. 

mace at Mr. Abeid's spice farm

I smelled the root of the cinnamon tree, identical to the scent of Vicks Vapo-Rub.  I squashed turmeric roots and curry leaves between my fingers leaving orange hues and spicy scents behind.  And then, Mr. Abeid, of the spice farm’s title, held out a yellow bulb, spotted brown and unassuming, and sliced it in half to expose the scarlet mace beneath.  It was my first site of it, fresh, and I was enamored.  I couldn’t take Mr. Abeid’s fresh stock home, but happily purchased a pack of his dried mace to squirrel away in my suitcase.

Nutmeg Pod Necklace, Brass

   Back in the states, I was at a bit of a loss as to how to handle the pods, preserve their color, hang them or showcase them to their fullest.  I decided they were so beautiful on their own, I would just shellac them, and drill them to affix a beautiful bail, and hang them from a simple chain.  The finished necklaces became some of my favorite pieces, attached to a wonderful memory of a far-off adventure.
  I hope to go on more adventures, acquire more materials that bring the energy of their origins with them.  Create more work, and send more out to you, with the hope that that energy carries through.

Nutmeg Pod Necklace

The Sources of Inspiration

Tanzanian flag bracelet, in Chidi's stall

In the Fall of 2010, I moved to Tanzania, Africa, for a month, to volunteer.  It was quite a change from the icy tundra of New England in late Fall, and I was glad to go!  As an artist, I was particularly interested in the town of Bagamoyo (literally, “lay down your heart”, due to its role in the slave-trade) on the Eastern coast, which has been an artists’ community for generations.  I hoped to absorb as much of the unique design, technique, and craft inherent to the local artists as I could, and possibly acquire some new, locally-made materials.

In Chidi's arts/crafts stall, with the group

   









We would meet in a local artist, Chidi’s, arts/crafts stall, set up on the side of a dirt road.  It was filled with his paintings, and jewelry, instruments, and housewares made by members of the Maasai tribe.  He was selling the items to the occasional tourist who passed by, but considering how infrequently that happened, he was willing to loan the stall to us for our morning sessions.

Coasters, laid-out on the mat in Tanzania

    Some time later, I found beautiful pairs of traditional Maasai beaded earrings, using the same technique as the coasters, at a stall in the Mwenge Craft Market, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania’s capitol.  They were intricate, and beautiful, and very, very large.  The style was unlike anything I owned, and I knew it’d be a bit of a challenge to find opportunities to wear them back home in Boston, but I purchased them anyway, from a Maasai vendor at the Market. 

Original earring on left, my repro on right

    But I was hooked.  The design was so beautiful and unusual, I imagined other women might want to wear it too.  And I wanted to perfect my technique, to get the wirework as neat and even as the Maasai artist had done.  I modified the technique a bit, and kept creating new pieces until I thought I’d really gotten the hang of it.
    After I lost yet another earring from a second original Maasai-made pair, I realized it was the flimsy earwires that were the culprits, and knew modifications were needed for sale to a Western audience.  While the traditional earrings were beautiful, they were created in an environment with limited resources and a different esthetic, and I wanted to utilize better quality materials like semi-precious stones, sterling silver, and rocaille glass beads.  I wanted to add a bit sparkle, for the more glamorously-inclined woman.  I began offering my pieces on Etsy, at my shop, Hieropice, and the rest was history!  I’ve been creating new and interesting versions ever since, blending different colors and altering the shape.

Cobalt and Gold Maasai Beaded Earrings by Hieropice

     The major hurtle the artisans in Bagamoyo faced was relying upon tourism to sell their work, as the locals, who have an average yearly salary of $357, cannot afford to buy it.  The minimal tourist traffic there barely supports them, and they desperately need an outlet.  They deserve it, the artists are incredibly talented, dedicated, and practiced.  I hope to, one day, return to collaborate with Maasai bead artists back in Tanzania, presenting them the new beading technique I’ve developed and new materials, and relying on their existing beading skills to create the pieces Hieropice will sell.  In this way, the artists can access a new, solid market for their work, and infuse some much-needed income into their community.  With your support, we’ll make that happen!  Thank you for it.
With lurve, Dara