I do have a Three Natures Etsy Shop – but why stop at one when I can have three? Three Natures is home to gemstone, crystal, silver and metal clay jewelry. FYeah Jewelry is the place for fun gifts featuring my favorite four-letter word. And finally, Cinter Metal Clay is where jewelry artists can were once able to buy my metal clay powders to make their very own custom jewelry. (A consequence of the pandemic: I lost my supplier for metal powder, so I am no longer able to make clay or new items from metal clay.)
Metal clay is one of my favorite art mediums. Tiny particles of metal are held together with a nontoxic binder and water. This gives the metal the same properties as any kind of clay – squish it, texture it, roll it up in a ball and start over.
When I first took the name Three Natures, it was in reference to the three gunas: tamas, rajas and sattva. In his triad, Cinter Metal Clay is tamas: an inert lump, waiting to be transformed. I grouped my rajastic pieces in FYeah Jewelry. Finally, my Three Natures Etsy Shop contained the last category: sattva. This shop was originally named Gogoshebogo, after my sweet black lab Indigo. Here, I presented pretty crystal earrings, symbolic pendants and affirming words.
Problem is, I don’t agree with the moral hierarchy this triad implies. Tamas is dull; rajas is hyperactive. Only peaceful sattva is “good.” (I’m oversimplifying to make my point.) Yet the reality is, we need rest (sleep is so tamasic!). We need to argue in order to come to an understanding, or get really excited to break out of a slump. We need to say fuck that noise, when appropriate. Nothing is static. The interplay between these three states is what makes life interesting.
Perhaps by letting go of these categories, I’ll be free to create a website (and life?) that better reflects my true interests.