It is said that there
are no words to express the beauty of Alaska. You just have to
go and experience Alaska for yourself! Early inhabitants arrived
around 4,000 years ago. These early tribes were known as the
Tlingit-Haida and the Athabascan peoples. These tribes, along
with many others, lived in a pristine land that was beyond compare.
They learned how to survive in a harsh environment that most
people today would not survive. An early name for the land that
we know today as Alaska was Alyeska, which in the Aleut language
means “The Great Land”.
I was inspired
to make Alyeska’s Jewel upon seeing images of the 800 mile
long Alaska Pipeline. Oil was discovered in 1968 in Prudhoe Bay.
Construction of the Pipeline began in 1975 and was completed
in 1977 with up to 20,000 employees working towards its completion.
The 48” diameter pipe moves oil at about 5.5 miles per hour
from Prudhoe Bay to it’s distribution destination in Valdez,
AK. This “gold-mine” was, and still is, the largest
US oil supply delivering over a million barrels of oil each and
every day. The pipe had to be supported off of the ground due
to the weather and to the fact that the Pipeline was not to inhibit
the movement of any migrating animals. Along with Alaska’s
abundant wildlife and simply stunning scenery, the oil delivered
by the Pipeline is truly one of Alyeska’s jewels!
Alyeska’s Jewel
is a 3-D shaped, Peyote stitched bangle, that wraps and zippers
around a piece of plastic tubing. The tubing has a magnetic clasp
attached to each end and is hidden once the bangle is connected.
Four bands of Peyote stitch are attached to the bangle and embellished
with Herringbone Filigree shapes and surface embellishments.
Whether you choose to have a continuous bangle without a closure,
or you choose to add the hidden magnetic clasp, the bangles look
the same. An embellishing edging connects the strips and the
bangle together visually to create a dramatic piece of wearable
art.
Description of
techniques that are used in Alyeska's Jewel:
