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When I was 15 my high school boyfriend and his family invited me on a family trip to their timeshare in the U.S. Virgin Islands on the island of St. John. In addition to snorkeling in Waterlemon Cay and out and around a little island where I came across (and touched!) a sea turtle, I had my first (and only) water trampoline experience in Cruz Bay on the other side of the island. Aside from the memories and standard tropical fun that come along with a Caribbean vacation, my then-boyfriend bought me a ring in one of the island shops.

My ring, still in near perfect shape many years later.
The ring is made of yellow and rose gold, and sterling silver. According to the shop owner, this is challenging to do because each metal has a different melting point. The ring has moons and stars and a single tourmaline stone. Inside the ring is a stamp of a feather. The shop owner said the ring was made by Feather Spirit, a jeweler in Indiana who makes each piece completely unique. This is one of my favorite pieces of jewelry still to this day. Not just for sentimental reasons. All of the different metals make it match just about any ensemble.

Feather speaking to customers at her booth in Asheville.
Many years later (11 to be exact) I searched for Feather Spirit out of curiosity to see if she still sold jewelry. Back when I was a teenager I couldn’t afford her other pieces so I figured it would be nice to add another one with my adult income! I found her website and noticed she was going to be at a summer festival in Asheville. So, I scheduled a writing workshop there that same weekend and stopped at the festival where I found her booth and dozens and dozens of bracelets, necklaces, and rings with her signature moon and star symbols.
After she was done helping a few happy customers I showed her my ring and told her the story behind it, how much I loved it and her work, and told her I was interested in one of her necklaces and wanted to know the story behind it. She told me she is a poet (before I even told her I was one too!) and that the inspiration for her jewelry comes at any time of day and sometimes from her poetry. She asked me to tell her what I liked about the necklace I had picked out.
I told her I liked that there were twelve dots around a single center stone, making thirteen total. I told her that I had just reconnected with a friend from high school (now my husband) earlier that summer and that we had met each other thirteen years before. (According to her website her “designs [are] inspired by the movement of time.”)

One side of my Feather Spirit necklace.
I also liked that it was reversible! On the back I liked that there are clouds in subtle designs throughout the background. I also liked that there were two stones–sort of representing me and my love.

The reverse side of my necklace.
She refused to tell me what inspired her to make the piece and instead told me that she preferred I attach to it the story that fits me. She liked seeing the joy that her jewelry brought people. She would only tell me that she had woken up in the middle of the night with the inspiration to create this necklace–and the cloud design in particular had been part of her dream.
Earlier this year I had visited her website to see if she would be traveling through the South again, but no dates were in my area. I was toying with the idea of ordering a pair of earrings straight off the site, but I preferred to see her pieces in person. This week I visited her site again and was greeted by a memorial. Feather has passed on after fighting cancer.
I will wear both of her pieces today in her memory and in the joy she so loved spreading.
That’s beautiful! 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
That was a beautiful way to start my day. Thanks for sharing this wonderful woman’s story…and your story!
Thanks! I’m glad I got the opportunity to meet her. 🙂
I’m glad she didn’t share her inspiration for the piece. That’s the way it should be in poetry and, apparently, jewelry design.
Ambiguity is nice, but I would have liked to have learned her reasons! Gustavo brought up this topic last week at the poetry critique. He was surprised I interpreted his poem one way and he wanted to ‘fix’ it but Chris says it’s good to let anyone form their own interpretation, even if it wasn’t intended.
I, like you came across Feather many years ago at an art show in Birmingham Mi. I bought a bracelet with stars and moons (have always had this about the sky since I was little) I cherished that bracelet…rarely took it off…lost it at work and it was found. Years later I wa at an art show and really had not found anything. We were preparing to leave and I looked up and saw the sign FEATHERSPIRIT on the wall and I could not get there fast enough!!/ I have many pieces by feather now and many earrings…and although I make jewelry I wear hers. Thank you for your tribute to her …she was indeed, a VERY special artist!
I am so glad to hear of another person’s serendipitous joyful experience with Feather and her artful jewelry! Her pieces have a strong energy and I love them.
After I learned of Feather’s death I reached out to a jeweler who was selling some of Feather’s pieces online. She only had one left as of a few months ago. A ring, size 8. I can connect you with her if you like.