Functional Decadence

There are times when adding a little bit of sparkle or just sprucing a regular item up so that it gets that response of a gasp and a "oh how beautiful" reaction is perfectly fine. Of course the creator of the pieces needs make sure that they don't go too far or stop short of 'just enough'. It's a fine line, to be sure, and is completely dependent on the person creating the piece and those who view it. Completely up to interpretation, really. Though with all of these factors, the end result is still a show of skill and patience of the creator. What started such a deep thought of common items showing a side of decadence in an other wise regular environment? I had spotted a photo of a chess set worth $600 K made by Charles Hollander Jewelers which was covered in white and black diamonds. A truly lovely set, to be sure, which I think would be lovely in a fantasy photo shoot (though personally I would be afraid of touching it). When sharing the image with a friend, she commented saying it was too much. At that moment, I found myself thinking about some of the other things I have seen over time where everyday items are turned into beautiful works of art yet are still functional. 

'Gold Playstation' by Matthew-Walk

Matthew-Walk.deviantart.com (United States) 

Though it's in his gallery, US based artist Matthew actually features something that his jeweler step father created for singer Genuine - a gold Playstation controller. In the description of the photo, he makes note that the controller is covered in diamonds and rubies. A favorite piece among the gamers that visit the page, many have voiced their drooling approval over such an extravagant show including several wishing to sell their soul in order to have the controller. 

'Custom Majora's Mask N64 with purple flake' by
Zoki64

Zoki64.deviantart.com (Slovenia) 

Slovenian artist Zoran specializes in custom repaint jobs on game controllers, ranging from the N64 to SNES to Gamecube. Each piece in his gallery was ordered by customers and is a dazzling spectacle of colors and sparkle. One such eye catching piece in the collection is a custom Majora's Mask themed N64 controller with purple flake. 

ChaeyAhne.deviantart.com (United States) 

'Celestrial Sun Astrologers Feather Quill Pen' by
ChaeyAhne

American based artist Chaey specializes in artisan writing quills. What better way for a writer to show a bit of flare and elegance then with the very instrument that they are using to create stories? Each one of her pieces are unique pieces of art. One such example of her eye for detail is her Celestial Sun Astrologers Feather Quill Pen which she notes in the description includes 'Hand painted with hand beaded celestial disc focal'. 

The Humorous Life of a Chameleon

Chameleon. 

When most people hear this term, they automatically picture a lizard able to alter its coloration in order to better blend with its environment. However it's also used to describe someone who is able to incorporate themselves into surroundings that is not native to them or change their appearance. How do I know about the latter version? It's something that I've been called for nearly my entire life. I am the type of person who actually sees it as a compliment since it means that no matter the environment, I would be able to be under the radar that I was a foreigner since appearance wise I would be overlooked since I look like everyone else around me.  

Originally it had nothing to do with what I wore but how people preserved my physical appearance. Between the ages of 3 to 8, most thought that I was adopted due to my hair at the time being straight and on the black side with my eyes being almond shaped. Compared to my father's obvious 'white American' appearance and my mother's olive completion showing her Latin heritage, people thought I was Japanese. By 5th grade, when my hair decided that it will start having it's own personality by going curly, I had the parents of my classmates think that I was an Italian boy who had a girl's name. As I got older, I had the amusing game of having people guess what ethnicity (and for a short time what gender) I was. To this day I actually haven't had anyone guess correctly what I am. Most guesses now-a-days range from European, Mediterranean, Turkish, Grecian, Sicilian, Australian, and someone from South America.

Before photo shoot
(c) Etta Jean

Where am I going with this, you may be asking yourselves. Well recently my friend, Photographer and Author Etta Jean, who knew of my chameleon nature sent me an distress call to my phone. A fellow author was in need of a photo of an Arabic or Indian woman wearing a hijab to act as the front cover for a novel she had written of her life and had tasked Etta to help come up with an image. 

Etta: Question, oh miss chameleon. 

Dawn: Yeeessssss? Should I worry when you call me that? 

Etta: I can't find any Hindu/Middle Eastern females who wear/could wear a hijab. 

Dawn: I see where you're going with this. 

Etta: Think you could be passable? 

Dawn: Maaaaayyybbbeeee >_>

We agreed that this would be the biggest test for me to see if I could pull off the look of not only a different ethnicity but a different belief system then my own. In one week I studied how a proper woman of the Islamic faith dressed, put on a hijab and wore her make up. I lost count of the amount of images I looked through and took mental notes of. Finally the day of the photoshoot arrived and I went from regular mix-breed Bohemian artist living in Northern California to a proud Arabic woman of the Islamic faith. Etta and I agreed that we would keep hidden my actual background from the author and the publishing company that they were apart of and would only bring it up once either there were guesses or if I appeared completely out of place. So the waiting game began. Then, the first comments came in from one of the publishers saying "Well, she is quite lovely and got the expression I was thinking of quite well.".  It was a nice compliment, to be sure but I was still holding my breath on what the author would say. Then this morning, it happens. I receive the following message from Etta: 

After getting dressed for photo shoot
(c) Etta Jean 

 "I am cracking up right now. It would seem that you weren't exactly what they were looking for. They needed someone a little bit more European in appearance. You were too Arabic."

I couldn't help but laugh for a good 5 to 10 minutes. My lungs burned, I was short of breath, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Unknowingly to this author, she had just given me the biggest compliment that I could ever receive from someone. The fact that I, a mutt, was able to cause someone else of a faith that is typically stereotyped as being of people of mostly Arabic decent (though other ethnicity are part of it) believed that I was of that background - I'm still astounded. So it would appear with the photos during the shoot, I did a little too good of a job of portraying what I was supposed to.

Once the other photos from the shoot are available, I will include a link but in the meantime, if you would like to follow either Etta or myself via social media, feel free to find us at the following locations: 

Etta Jean (author) on Facebook 
Stacy J. Garrett (photographer) on Facebook
Dawn Star Wood (artist) on Facebook