Posthumous Collaboration, Part 2
May 21, 2024 brought another wave of heartbreak. My dad, AKA Big Len, passed away. Big Len – aptly named because of size of his personality – was THE party, THE room, THE commander in chief. He was passionate about several things including music, golf, and photography. Oh, the stories he fervently shared about the BEST CONCERT EVER (there were many!) and the music of JB, JT, and JD (Jimmy Buffet, James Taylor, and John Denver). Seeing Jack Nicklaus play golf – YOU’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS! His proudest accomplishment (besides raising 4 children and marriage to the love of his life for 56 years) was his time spent in the United States Air Force, retiring as Lieutenant Colonel after 20 years in military procurement.
It was Big Len’s black and white photography that I turned to when searching for a way to honor him. Months before he passed, Big Len planned to toss out a binder filled with his negatives, contact sheets, and photos that he developed himself during a photography class in the early 1970s. Seeing the treasures and historical documentation in the binder, I grabbed it before it landed in the trash.
Inspiration to create this collection came easy. His contact sheets contained perfectly sized images for my jewelry settings. I chose gemstones with meaning – fluorite (green was his favorite color), quartz (it “amplifies energy”), pyrite (his zodiac birthstone), and labradorite (for protection). For the earrings, I chose tiny oakleaf connectors to honor Big Len’s Air Force career. And - as it often happens when I am making jewelry - while rummaging through my “Randoms for Repurposing” bin in search of a specific doodad for the necklaces, I unearthed three vintage American Legion ribbon pins missing their medals. Labeled FINANCE OFFICER, HISTORIAN, and COMMANDER, I transformed the pins into Ancestor Medals/Amulets (inspired by artists Jack Ravi and Amy Duncan).
I will continue to create with his photography…a few collages are already percolating in my brain. His contact sheets are begging for more necklaces and earrings, and maybe even a few more Ancestor Medals. I’ve already chosen a name for this collection, ReCapture…my attempt to capture again, to recover, to renew.
