... I give to you...
... a little souvenir.
"It's that little souvenir
Of a terrible year
Which makes my eyes feel sore [...]"
I'm going to start off the 12 Days in an understated way, with a simple and pretty appropriate piece of jewellery.
This enamel pin by Candles of Her Brain, says it all for me, because let's all agree 2020 has been crap for everyone, and a complete and utter shit show others, in one way or another. So this is pretty much all I'd like to take away as a memento.
The pin - though the designer doesn't specify it - is a lyric from the song Here's Where The Story Ends by The Sundays, an English alternative rock band whose debut album, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, on which this song appears, was released in 1990, so is now thirty years old!
I was probably still listening to my parents music in 1990, I can't remember anything specific that at age five I'd have been listening too independently, other than songs from Sesame Street or Disney movies, I mostly remember lots of singing along to The Beatles and James Taylor in the car, and Spin Doctors and Madness while dancing around in the kitchen with mum. But The Sundays weren't a band my parents would have listened
too, so I only became aware of then ten years later, thanks to the tv show Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Are we too far into the apocalypse (pandemic) to beep her?
In Buffy they used a cover of The Rolling Stone's iconic song, Wild Horses, which is beautiful. But this song, that I listened too over and over again, is rooted in my brain, is one I love and is one that just fills me with nostalgia when I hear it. It was also a small part of why, when I was a lot younger, I was drawn to this necklace by Nick Hubbard.
Nick Hubbard, a narrative jewellery who I have admired since the day I saw and was subsequently given this locket by my parents, sadly passed away in 2013, but the jeweller wasn't alone in creating these whimsical designs. As a team he worked with his wife Jean, releasing their first collections in the early nineties, each piece stamped with a little Brick (for Nick) and a Bean (for Jean), their hallmark. The company, under Hubbards' name has continued on since his death, his wife and daughters, Phillipa and Elizabeth, along with a team of jewellers, preserving his name and creative legacy by continuing to produce his designs. Each one handmade and imbued with joy.
This piece of jewellery, and the creativity and narrative that Nick Hubbard jewellery has, has always been an inspiration to me. It made me realise early on that lockets didn't have to just be stuffy hearts or ovals. They didn't need to be engraved with scrolls of flowers. The closures, which in this case is the little spike of top of the door, didn't have to be the traditional clasp, but could be something decorative and special.
This necklace would probably been the more beautiful and designer led piece to post as the first entry into 2020's 12 Days, but when I saw that little enamel pin, it spoke to me and seemed the perfect fit. Partly for its representation for a nostalgic song and my necklace, but as an unwittingly perfect marker for a year that I'd rather forget.
Plus, you know I can't resist an enamelled pin!
It's Christmas Day now. So, Merry Christmas! I can't promise I'll get these out when I should, but when have I ever. And whether you celebrate the day or not, even in a year where we're not all together, we're back in lockdown, and nothing seems quite right, I hope you have a good day. Eat, drink, hopefully get a gift, watch some telly and crash out without any fear of judgement. After this year, we all deserve it.
Merry Christmas! Day two tomorrow...
Link || 2020 Little Souvenir of a Terrible Year - Typeface Enamel Pin || Etsy
Listening: Here's Where The Story Ends - The Sundays
