Indian Blanket Flower Pendant

I’m really excited to share a new piece I made. Unfortunately, due to injury and family, new work has been few and far between lately. This is an Indian blanket flower, also called firewheel, a flower from the sunflower family that is often associated with strength, endurance and warmth. There are many legends associated with this flower that I ran across, but the predominant legend I found was this:

The legend tells of an old Indian blanket maker whose talent for weaving produced such beautiful blankets that other Indians would travel many miles to trade for one. The old blanket maker had never taken an apprentice and when he realized that he had only a short time left, he began weaving his own burial blanket. It blended his favorite browns, reds and yellows into the beautiful patterns for which he was so famous. In time, the old man died and his family dutifully wrapped him in this blanket, which was to be his gift to the Great Spirit when they met. The Great Spirit was very pleased because of the beauty of the gift, but also saddened, because He realized that only those in the Happy Hunting Ground would be able to appreciate the old blanket maker’s beautiful creation. So, He decided that He would give this gift back to those that the old Indian had left behind. The spring following the old man’s death, wildflowers of the colors and design of the old Indian’s blanket appeared in profusion upon his grave … to bloom and spread forever.

-From the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center 

This pendant was entirely done by hand, mostly by the technique of hand-push engraving. It is a slow, meditative technique. If I am not completely relaxed, focused and in the moment, it’s just not going to work. What a wonderful feeling to completely get absorbed in my work!