The third in my series of modern charms, the vein charm. I have copied a bifurcated vascular stent in silk organza and thread with enamelled wire and gold plated beads. These are in fact made by hand for surgeons in Mexico by workrooms of women stitching by hand using gortex and suturing thread:the gold is so that it can be clearly positioned under x-ray.
I began reading the Kalevala a few years ago and was struck by how many charms were used during the saga.These are generally poems or songs requesting help from the natural world and one was particularly fascinating; the hero's mother has to reassemble her son(!) and sings him back together, at one point singing a vein charm.Remarkable in itself but more so the level of anatomical knowledge in the song !
Mine was not easy, a case of wrong tools and wrong materials but nevertheless I produced this little number (3x8cm).
.JPG)
