Exihibt: Circles and the Mon

Anyone who has spent a little bit of time browsing through my photos will notice that I really like to use circles. There is a reason behind the madness!

The first thing that comes to mind is my Japanese family Mon.

A Mon, in English terms, is a family crest and often consists of some kind of symbol surrounded by a circle. Ever since I was little I remember walking into my grandparents' house and seeing our Mon hanging on the wall. That image always stuck with me because it was a circle with a floral symbol in the middle. I often wanted a more intricate Mon, much like Imperial Mon, but I've grown really fond of my floral, simple one. It is unique to the Japanese side of me and something that can't be taken away. This was the Mon on my grandfather's side and although he has passed away, a part of him will always be passed on in the family.

Circles are simple yet extremely powerful and versatile. There are so many cool things you can do with a circle or ring, like use it as a clasp, use it in a lariat, hang things off of it, hang it off of something else, or just let it look pretty by itself. I like to take normal beads, in this case circular beads, and use them in an unexpected way. Many people have said this is what makes my jewelry interesting to look at.

The engineer in me likes the idea that a circle has a uniform radius with no jagged edges and is easy to utilize. The artist in me likes the idea that a circle has no beginning or end and just is. I could probably dive even deeper into the meaning of a circle but I'll spare the readers and end this train of thought.

Many of my pieces of jewelry were inspired because I simply liked the idea of using a circle but the two pieces at the bottom, the white mother of pearl circles filled with various collections of beads, were in fact designed with the idea of a Mon in the back of my head. Either way, I can guarantee you the circle won't be disappearing from my jewelry designs anytime soon (there's more coming in the next line!!).