It has been an exciting winter observing the salmon spawning in our local streams. The rain came earlier than expected along with large numbers of Coho and quite a few Kings as well. The Steelhead are just starting to show up in the last couple of weeks, and we've been excited to get back out into the woods and find them after all of the recent rain. I was able to capture this video of Coho spawning on the Noyo river earlier this winter.
Our work inspires and settles into the deeper parts of our consciousness, and when we feel creative it surfaces in surprising ways. In this case, when I walked into our local bead store, I saw salmon eggs, rivers, stones, rain...
Brandon Gulch, Noyo River
Ca King Salmon Eggs
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Abundance necklace: coral, labradorite, petrified wood, silver
Here's what I came up with:
The coral beads represent "salmon eggs" surrounded by labradorite "fresh water", then petrified wood "stones" with which they may build their redd or nest to lay their eggs in the stream. The stones are paired with labradorite "salt water", cloudy with life and nutrients from upwelling, honoring the years spent in the ocean before returning to the stream to spawn. The silver ties everything together to include the fisherman and the celebration at the table with respect for the journey the salmon have taken.
F/V Animal Fair entering Noyo Harbor