Early January of 2023 I received an email from M. She found my work through Gallery Lulo and promptly became an avid collector, adding jewelry each time she visited Healdsburg.  But she was reaching out because she wanted to commission an engagement ring for herself. Her partner T and her started talking about marriage and they each wanted a ring that reflected their personality. She felt my aesthetic would suit her well.

So we begun a journey. 

We met about 4 times via zoom for extensive conversations about her and her partner, but mostly her. M is from the Middle East, is an amazing dancer (both traditional and contemporary) and is a big Adele fan. We spoke about growing up, family life, coming to the USA, finding our footing and finding love.

This creative journey I live has allowed me to meet and connect with so many wonderful people. It amazes me each time that simply what I put out into the world, in form of jewelry, brings people into my orbit not just for a transaction rather for a meaningful exchange and building a relationship. 

Each design I create reflects the person. Dance seemed to be the connecting thread between M's growing up and her life in the USA. Dance is about fluidity, movement and freedom which is so synonymous with my jewelry. 

When I do custom work I present 2-3 ideas to the client.  At the onset we determined that ring will be in yellow gold with ruby stone/s. M loved the In Motion ring (which came to life couple of years after I made the custom piece for Antoinette and Bill- more on this ring read HERE) and that was our starting point.  I adjusted the ring to accommodate a single ruby stone. 

But I was guided by two other things.

First one; the Farsi word for dance "Raqs" رقصیدن  Written word had such a sculptural presence for me. I concentrated on the loop on the far right as a guiding point. Single ruby stone would be tucked into the fold.

Second idea was  two people coming together- but in a way that Khalil Gibran puts it "...but let there be spaces in your togetherness" in his poem on marriage. (It's a lovely poem read it HERE) I really wanted to fill the space with stones rather than having a single large ruby. This of course was the most complex design out of the three, but also the most interesting. 

She loved all three ideas, but after some thinking chose the "two to tango" because it was about the two of them coming together. 

I prototyped a few pieces in brass to get the curve right and then I fabricated the ring directly out of 18k gold sheet.