Blood on their hands

I sent out two emails to two of the local galleries to see if they wanted to consign me. I figure someone will be interested sooner or later. Both were looking for artists, and they seemed pretty legit from my research, so I sent out some emails to inquire.

This brings me to the whole concept of the production and materials used in my jewelry. Most of the Revel accessories are made with glass beads, but I've come to market them as "mixed media." I'll experiment with just about any kind of material. Some of it works and some doesn't, but at the very least, I can't say anyone's failed to notice it. I've prided myself on making things that nobody else has and that always manage to get attention.

The most common metals and stones I use are sterling silver and hematite. Sterling is the default metal because people don't usually have allergies to it, and it's relatively easy to come by. Hematite just makes everything look better. I don't usually add gemstones unless they come in the charms or settings I pick up. Many are WAY out of my price range, but there are times when I need to use them to create the piece. So I pick them up wherever they are sold. Personally, I don't like diamonds. Don't much like wearing them and I find them a little too bland for what I make. Plus, they're extremely expensive. But there are times when I get a commission, and the person has a very clear idea of what they want. I had a friend have me make her something to match a bridesmaid dress, and it required gemstones to match her sparkly gown. I donated a set to an auction that had little diamonds in it because the auction's theme was James Bond 007 in '07 (diamonds are forever--get it?). Most of the ones I use are smaller and a lower quality because they're easier to come by. That's just the way my budget works, and the people I design for don't have a problem with it.

But here's where a socially conscious artist has problems. We had to watch the Blood Diamond movie in one of my classes, and in another, we watched The Diamond Empire. I liked them both, but it was really shocking to see just how gemstones (not just diamonds but gems in general) are mined and marketed. Many of them have child laborers, and the profits don't even go to the laborers but rather to cartels or kleptocratic governments. They just go to finance conflicts (hence the term blood diamond). A kleptocratic government is a government whose policy is generally one of theft. And that is exactly what the gemstone marketers do. They make contracts with these governments to control the market. The most famous company, De Beers, has a monopoly on the market for diamonds because they control exactly what goes into the stores. Of course, it doesn't help that they've got a very ingenious marketing campaign and partnerships with Hollywood to put their products into movies. Their business practices are hardly what you would call ethical, and it was pretty gross to see all of that.

Now this calls into question as to what I should do to make my jewelry. I know I don't often use diamonds or really expensive gemstones, but there are certainly times when I do. It's not that much, but still, the items I purchase could be supporting something nasty. And being a member of all sorts of human rights organizations, it would be hypocritical to just ignore the issue. I wonder if there is a way the companies could market their gems to say if they were conflict-free or something like that. If worst comes to worst, I'll just switch to secondhand ones. They're the real thing, and the money doesn't go anywhere near financing conflicts. It just goes to the seller.