My Burning Man History
Since 2006, I have been heavily involved in a growing and global movement called Burning Man. From the very moment I stepped onto the vast six square mile dusty playa, I was forever connected into the vast realm of OZ. Burning Man has shaped my art, focused my commitment to service and opened a new dimension of exploration and play.
My camp, Oasis 47, is an art camp. I teach resin inlay, a process that combines two-part resin into the back of bronze pendants to make cloisonné designs.
We all experience meaningful gifts. One is the story of a ceremony we did at the Temple, leaving our 2009 Evolution Horseshoe Crab pendant in honor of my friend's mother who had passed away... The following summer, a BRC citizen biked up to my camp's art car and asked about its unique shape, a horseshoe crab. Noticing the pendants that hung from our friend's necks, he pulled out his pendant which he had found the previous year, while digging through the Temple burn remains. He followed us back to our camp, where he took off his pendant and gifted it back to my friend.
This gave me the idea of writing a book on The Jewelry of Burning Man with LadyBee (Christine Kristen) and photographer George Post. I love putting ash and playa and even ground glass from the Man into my resin inlay jewelry- but as a teacher, it is the discovery and delight of my students that fuel my passion.
In 2011 I conceived of a large sculpture project called Ring of Fire: a 25 foot steel ring to be placed onto the playa, its diamond a place for offerings to be burned, and the carbon from them could be made into diamonds.
While the large Playa sculpture project has not yet come together, I have been gathering ashes from Temple burns, and in 2021 made the first such diamond.
From Dust to Diamonds
"Boundless Space: The Possibilities of Burning Man" was a charitable sale featuring the remarkable expressions of creativity that emerge from the annual Burning Man event and global culture.
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This one-of-a-kind ring was custom made from 18kt gold to hold an Eterneva lab grown diamond made from Temple Burn Ashes; Carbon from the 2011 Temple of Transition burn was spun into a 1 carat, red, emerald cut diamond. The black silhouette of the hills surrounding the event on the right side of the ring is filled with resin inlay from the very same carbon that is creating the diamond, embracing a lovely Easter egg of meaning.
Jewelry of Burning Man
This glossy hard cover volume, 9 x 12 inches, about 220 pages, features 300-500 full color photographs exploring a collection of over a 1000 works of Burning Man jewelry. Compelling interviews trace the stories of various pieces and their makers and acts of unbounded generosity. Autographed copies are available upon request.
