Another narrative work, Hiraeth (a Welsh word for a kind of nostalgic homesickness or yearning for something irretrievably lost), honors McKeown’s father (he died in 2023), whom she describes as a “maker and imaginer of the rarest form.” This piece, with its concentric partial rings of perforated silver, dark cocobolo, and Brazilian agate, suggests the directionless void that comes with grief, “a void that seems to consume the very air.” But she also includes hope in the form of silver and golden granules, some just perceptible through the translucent stone into which they are set, and little gemstone sparkles that represent “the promise that that which is lost, longed for, is in us, among us and of us.” McKeown notes that, “throughout history art has been a vehicle for rebellion,” and she sees ample opportunity for rebellion now. “I think that no matter what’s going on, art is the one thing that the sons of bitches can’t take away from us. It’s clean, it’s pure.” She struggles with her inclination towards quiet rebellion (and her desire to keep her art unpolluted by the horrors of daily politics) and her concern about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of that approach. “I’m still looking for exchanges with other people about how they feel. I think we are all looking for what we can do.” She believes, though, that art can make a difference, “If I can make a piece of jewelry that makes somebody feel happy, and I make a connection with them, and we see each other in an authentic way, I think it knits the tribe.” She also has faith in the power of being a maker. “I really feel like the art of creating—it doesn’t matter if you’re making jewelry, it doesn’t matter if you’re making cookies—is magic. It’s a gift from the universe, BYRON MCKEOWN , 1966. Photograph from Better Homes and Gardens , 1970. the ability to create, to take raw emotion from your heart and bring it out of your hands, it’s magic.” McKeown invites us all to participate in that magic. SUGGESTED READING “Art: It’s a Process,” Discover Tlaquepaque 18, no. 31 (Fall/Winter 2024), 45-55. “Check Out Lesley Aine McKeown’s Story,” VoyagePhoenix , June 12, 2024, https://voyagephoenix.com/interview/check-out-lesley-aine-mckeowns-story/. Honaman, Tammy. “Advice on Being a Professional Jewelry Artist from Lesley Aine McKeown,” Interweave , November 18, 2017, https://www.interweave.com/article/jewelry/advice-professional-jewelry-artist-lesley-mckeown/. “Meet Lesley Aine McKeown: Artist, Jeweler,” Shoutout HTX , December 9, 2020, https://shoutouthtx.com/meet-lesley-aine-mckeown-artist-jeweler/. CORALLINA BROOCH of vintage Italian oxblood coral, diamond, sterling silver, twenty-two karat gold, 7.0 x 6.7 x 0.6 centimeters, 2025. HIRAETH BROOCH/PENDANT of artist-carved Brazilian agate inlaid with twenty-four karat gold, cocobolo, sterling silver, twenty-two karat gold, Mali garnet, white diamonds, 6.4 x 6.7 x 1.1 centimeters, 2023. 23 ORNAMENT 45.4.2025
Ornament Magazine Volume 45.4 2025: Page 23
