By now you're likely acquainted with the Bombay Beach earrings that I continuously create, but you probably are in the dark about their origin story.
It's too cool to keep it from you any longer!
Last February, right before Covid hit the US in the guts (in the "before times") I skipped town to go to the wedding of one of my dearest friends & my squeeze & I decided to make a road trip out of it.
I'm very fortunate to have a partner who also gets a kick out of exploring abandoned houses, ghost towns, & overall unusual places. We rented a car when we got to Cali & after the wedding set out to explore.
We'd both heard of & been super curious about Salvation Mountain & the lawless area of Slab City & of course went to scratch that itch! It's fascinating on all levels to see how people live, especially when it comes to deviating so far off the standard societal path. There was so much art & so many cool, strange structures, as well as a lot of garbage & mayhem. In a place seldom patrolled by the fuzz- there's naturally going to be a lot of outlaws. We were as prepared as we could be for all this, but on our way there we nearly passed a sign for Bombay Beach. I can't recall what made us turn around; be it the sign or perhaps I had a moment of recognition. Either way- I can't express how glad I am that we checked it out.
We went up & down dusty roads where about 1 out of every 10 houses/ structures had people residing. The bulk majority of the housing was hodgepodge shacks, dilapidated trailers, patchy houses, etc.
And there was art everywhere.
It was a straight spraycation.
Graffiti was all over the place; Art instillations in the most random of places; big, skeletal ships made from drift wood; a swing set about 30 yards out into the water of the Salton Sea; risque photography strewn about in trailers free of the typical, cumbersome 4 walls.... It was incredible.
The place was totally a magical surprise. We'd have loved to stay & learn more about it there, & to talk with more locals, but sadly our schedule was tight & our hotel was farther away into the all too quickly descending night.
We were able to explore for several hours & walk away cooler than before. For sure/ If possible (;
This place haunts my heart & mind in the best of ways & I walked away, able to draw so much inspiration from it.
When I returned from my trip I had a vision of a new style of super funky, pretty, & very time consuming (but worth it) earrings to make: The Bombay Beach earrings.
Each pair is traced out on sterling or brass sheets, sawed out, pierced, stamped, & created around specific stones. The sawing work takes so long but I am not complaining!
There are currently a few pairs online as this blog post is entered, though this is subject to change at any time. The good news on top of all of this is that I'm still so psyched on this design & plan to continue creating new ones, so stay tuned to my newsletter and instagram for them to drop!
