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FIRE IN THE EARTH
ing
loveliness might be expressed in jewelry tree of the limitations and
static rigidity evident in even the best de-signs derived from the old
time-worn sources. Here also might be found the one element designers
are forever seeking: timelessness of style. In the beginning it seemed
an impossible undertaking, this attempt to control the elusive will-o'-the-wisps of shadows and rays, but finally after years of experiment it was discovered that rays of light from the sun
could be reflected so that they would resolve themselves into fantastic
patterns which might possibly be interpreted in terms of jewels.
First,
however, it would be necessary to fix the patterns so that they could
be studied at length by artists and designers, and for a time this
presented a major difficulty. Fortunately, it was overcome through the
development of involved photographic processes which were expedited by
late scientific advances. From hundreds of photographs of cloud
formations, light rays, and other aspects of the heaven a certain
number were chosen as basic pictures of reflected sun rays. From these,
artists drew scores of master patterns and from these, in turn,
numerous unique and interesting designs emerged, vibrant with the
vitality and motion inherent in their source. And, while all the
designs showed an unmistakable relationship to their origin, no two
were alike.
This
was success, but it was only partial success. In order to render these
highly modeled designs into precious metals and gems without losing the
rhythmic qualities of the light rays, it was necessary to train
specially selected craftsmen, whose skill already was established but
who were capable of adapting themselves to methods and practices
hitherto unknown to the designing craft. Many hours were spent in this
training and many pieces were made, some of them to
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