This month marks a personal anniversary for me - three decades ago (can’t be THAT long?!) I left my native Finland for what was supposed to be just one year in London as an exchange art student. Around that time, I was working a lot with pewter, or as we say in Finland, tin. Pewter is a tin alloy, containing 90-97% tin and small additions of antimony and copper, which are added to harden and strengthen the intrinsically soft tin. The pewter that I use is lead-free.
In Finland, there's a New Year tradition of melting tin when the year changes, and pouring the hot melted metal with a quick motion into a bucket of cold water. Through that process, it takes a random shape from which the future can be predicted. Often the resulting shape of the tin is interpreted by observing its shadow on the wall in candlelight. I remember always wishing to see a palm tree in my New Year’s tin, as it would be a promising indication that I’d get to travel to the sunny, warm Mediterranean on holiday in the coming year!
Through this New Year tradition (which used leaded tin before it got banned for its toxicity), I was familiar with this metal and its malleable properties. Its nature seemed to fit my way of working well, as I like to proceed organically, letting the flow take the results where they might, while I simply facilitate the process and revel in the uncertainty of what transpires. In my work, I love to be astonished. Not planning ahead with too much control, but instead allowing details and directions to surprise me. Before Spirit Carrier, I worked in the field of book arts, creating designer bookbindings and sculptural book art pieces, focusing on a symbolic narrative through the interplay of materials and textures. Tin was one of my most cherished materials during those years.
A few details of my book art pieces with pewter from 1992-2002:
Returning to make pewter's acquaintance to celebrate my three decades of art in various forms feels both natural and surprising in its naturalness. But of course pewter! In the same free-flowing, organic manner as I always loved it.
Tin is one of the seven magical metals in alchemy. Associated with the planet Jupiter, the history of tin goes back hundreds of years. Alchemy is fundamentally concerned with the transformation of base materials into higher states of being. Tin, as an alchemical metal, embodies the process of transmutation and the potential for personal transformation and growth. Jupiter is linked to expansion, growth, and prosperity. It represents the idea of abundance, benevolent power, and the capacity for positive change, as well as broadened perspective and a deeper understanding of life's mysteries.
Jupiter is a planet of luck. And don’t we all need some more of that! A flow of luck… whatever form that luck takes for you - maybe it is a need for stable finances, more career satisfaction, or uplifting love. Maybe the luck needed is in finding new directions and opportunities. The sense of being lucky fosters feelings of joy and hopefulness. All of this I wish for you. I’m pouring the wishes and manifestations of expansive luck from all corners of the universe and beyond into these pewter pendants, each unique and one-of-a-kind because life always creates itself anew. Combining with various crystal energies, I’d like these pewter talismans to remind you of your own ability to effortlessly flow towards what has heart and meaning to you, to let life love you by bringing you the best of luck.
I have titled this new collection as 'Flow' ~ to embody the effortless ease with which I want you to experience the presence of luck in your life. Allow it. Let life love you.