Design Insight: 'Carnivale' necklace

I've had lost of people compliment me on execution of my pieces, so, in this blog, I thought I'd go through the design processes for the Carnivale necklace!

My boyfriend, Nick, is the guilty one for this necklace's inception. We were in one of my favourite stores, Earthworks, when he flashed a sun charm and moon charm, followed by the bug planted in my head, "You should make that Carnivale necklace with these." The sun and moon are the most classic icons for light and dark, good and evil; the dualities of man and nature that we witness every day. These icons are most prominently featured in the show's title sequence logo. Take a look at the promo shot above, featuring the Season 1 cast.

The characterization of 'light' and 'dark' are in Ben Hawkins (seated by truck wheel, played by Nick Stahl) and Rev. Justin Crowe (far right, fist in air, played by a brilliant Clancy Brown). As the series plays out, the audience is witness to the actions, intentions and motivations of these characters, whether they are suited to benevolent or sinister means. The best lesson learned from this show would be not to judge a book by its cover!

This piece is merely meant as a basic theme piece; everything selected was to achieve an overall look that matched the atmosphere the show had created. The selection of stones used were for colour representation of the show's setting; the show takes place during the 1930s in the American Dustbowl, known in history as the Dirty Thirties. The Dust Bowl (geographically defined as western Canadian and American prairie lands) suffered periods of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damages. With the already stagnant drought that has dried up the soil, the winds pushed the dirt eastward and southward creating huge storms known as "Black Blizzards" or "Black Rollers", with visibility no more than a foot in front of you, sometimes as far as New York City and Washington, D.C. Many farming families (known as 'Okies', as many had migrated from Oklahoma) had deserted these useless farm lands and homes and travelled to California and other states, finding much better living and working conditions, although they were often viewed upon in contempt by state residents. Experts and historians will say that the Dust Bowl, leading to the Depression, "was a human and ecological disaster caused by misuse of land and years of sustained drought." In a land of dirt and sand, broken dreams and displacement, a travelling carnival would provide some distraction to the difficult times of the era. Enough of the history lesson, onto the necklace!

Television Themes in Jewelry: 'Dead Like Me' & 'Carnivale'

Well, being 'under the weather', and so is the weather at present moment, I figure I could show my latest pieces based on two of my favourite television shows from HBO, Dead Like Me and Carnivale. I found Dead Like Me on television one night in syndication, while Carnivale was introduced to me through my friend, Laura, who was eager to 'spread the love' of the show by lending me Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. Both of these shows deal with some rather darker issues than most shows on cable (hence airing on HBO) and creating something of a cult following. The imagery and concepts in both these shows provided me with a lot of themes to work with.

Knowing how my brain works, there'll probably be lots more!

 
Dead Like Me introduces the viewer to a pagan story about Frog and Toad and the Jar of Death. When Toad was commissioned by God to take car of the Jar while he was busy creating everything else, Frog was eager to help. Unfortunately, Frog was so eager that he jumped on the Jar, causing it to break. That is why everything must die, Georgia Lass muses, played by Ellen Muth. "Makes you wonder how much better the world would be if frogs just stuck to hawking beer. So there you have it, the mystery of death finally revealed. We all die, some of us sooner then later. For me it's going to be much sooner. But that's only the beginning of my story."

Georgia Lass was 18 was she was struck by a toilet seat that fell from an orbiting space station into the atmosphere. Instead of being ushered into the afterlife, she remains on Earth as a grim reaper working in the Accidental Death/Dismemberment and 'Outside Influential' department. Every day, she receives a Post-It note giving her a name, place, and ETD (estimated time of death). Her job is to find the person at said location before mentioned time and take their souls before they 'bite it', so to speak; a courtesy offered so that said person about to expire (always in some violent manner) wouldn't feel any pain when said person died. 'George', as she prefers to be called, appears as another person to the living (credited as 'non-George' in cast listing) and still has to maintain the life and responsibilites of a living person, such as employment and housing, because reaping doesn't get paid through 'proper channels.' George, her boss Rube (played by Mandy Patinikin) and her merry band of reapers live amongst the living merely as observers, but even that can prove to be dubious!
I had made two necklaces as a tribute to the story that introduces the series, as well as the recurring imagery of the frog and toad. George even has a pet frog named Mr. Blinky!

 
DEAD LIKE ME necklace, no. 1. I really wanted to make something special, so I opted to spend a little bit more money on materials and the luxe look of gemstones at one of my favourite local bead stores, Earthworks.