Where are the Leaves?

Last Saturday I trekked in the Carmel Mountains, near Haifa.
(I have being trekking with a group for the last 26 years, once a month.
See  the board of “My Treks” in Pinterest)

We walked through the burnt forest, which was destroyed two years ago,
in a fire that lasted for three days. The view was incredible.
If only 43 people were not burnt alive, it would be even more romantic…

 

It was like walking in an upside down  world :

The  grey-brown colors of the ground were placed up against the clear
blue sky, whereas the green of the usual tree-tops, was placed on the ground .

It reminded  me of  the Romantic  North- European Painting
at the end of the 19^th century.

Caspar David Friedrich, A Tree in Moonlight, ca. 1882

But in contrast to this somber painting, the view was full of joy and life
as the spring blossoming was in its peak.

 

The  annual  red wild flowers which  are  indigenous to Israel were in full bloom.
In fact, it is officially recognized worldwide that Israel has the most  red flowers of these kinds.    

                                    

          

                  But  where were the leaves???

                                   

I would like to introduce my leaves jewel collection,
 as a tribute to the dead trees of the Carmel  Mountain.

We all love trees. We adore their size, their shape, color, even their age
 but we hardly look at their leaves – their smallest component…
 The leaves in my jewelry are the theme.  They are collected from very common trees ,many of which we see along the sidewalks, and in public gardens .
After drying them, they are coated by Sterling Silver  in an electroforming  process which gives them their hardness and preserves their original texture.

In fact, I take the  leaves  out of their original context and from being
small and ignored elements,  I turn them into  autonomous object,
beautiful as they are for themselves - I give them another “life”.
Since they are so trivial, they even can be understood as a metaphor for other trivial and ignored things around us – that we can easily enjoy!!!... 

If you have an idea of a leaf   jewel , I will be more than glad to cooperate.

Leave your comment  below,

Thank you,
Vita