Katya - Mistress Metalsmith | Lost Myths Ink, LLC

Mistress Metalsmith
©2002 by Sandra Brandenburg 
MedioCom

The first time I saw Katya's work it was displayed at The Vision and Magick Gallery. Her sterling silver and gemstone jewelry filled the eye. Katya's creates jewelry with a meaning. The pieces are meant to empower and inspire those who wear them. The `Well-Grounded Foot' is a solid reminder that humans connect to Mother Earth through the feet. It integrates you with the source of your nurturance. This design, as in the case of so much of her jewelry, is more than just something pretty to wear (though it is that); it is an amulet as well. Amulets are worn because they remind you of what you believe in, and because they are charms. Charms for healing or charms to help you acquire help or balance. Body part amulets ask, specifically, for the healing of that part. So you might wear a `Well-Grounded Foot' amulet to help your broken foot heal more quickly. You also might wear it to remind you that the earth you tread upon is in need of your love and attention. All of Katya's amulets come with a card explaining the significance of the design.
Each of the pieces Katya designs has a meaning. Here are a few:
`The Well-Grounded Foot'
A solid reminder that humans connect to Mother Earth through the feet. It integrates you with the source of your nurturance. As you give to the Earth, the Earth gives back to you. In Mexico, `milagros' or amuletic body parts, such as hand and foot charms, are offered in shrines in request for healing of those body parts.
`The Goddess of the Heart'
She heals your heart and empowers independence. Her upstretched arms bring in natural healing forces which enable you to take command of creating your own reality. Develops intuition, the path of the heart.
`The Starflake'
It celebrates the magical way that water crystallizes into lacy six-pointed stars. Interlocking triangles symbolize the tantric union of opposites. The Amulet brings a sweet lightness to the heart.
In September of 1991 Kathryn Woods wrote in Sacred River: A Women's Peace Journal, of a mystical experience she shared with a woman (Katya) whom she had never before met, and with a like minded group of people who gathered together. Katya wanted to drum on the power spots in San Francisco. These spots are located on seven hills that correspond, roughly, with the seven hills of Rome. They are said to be centers of power; related to the seven power centers of the body. On the hill (sometimes called Mount Olympus) very nearly at San Francisco's exact center, there had once been a statue entitled Triumph of Light, but it was destroyed in the mid 1950's. The experience appears to have impacted Ms. Woods in an entirely positive manner.
It was her involvement in the attempt to resurrect the Triumph of Light statue that started Katya on her next journey. In 1992 she was one of the founders of the Ruti-Hafsadi Peace Fund, contributing to the formation of Grassroots Peace Schools in Palestine and Israel, promoting the Arts and Communication between Arab and Israeli children. That year she also began work on a series of goddess pendants and miniature statues, based on the goddesses of America. She began with the Goddess of Freedom from the top of the Capitol building. About this series she says,
"Goddess's in the United States are visible to all, yet seen by very few. Their roots come from many of the great ancient civilizations of the Mid-east, Egypt, Greece and Rome. They currently stand tall in many major cities of the United States, and are figureheads or messengers to the people of those cities and the nation. Being a metalsmith these statues speak a language which I was trained in as a designer and as a person with ancient roots. Both research and intuition have combined in envisioning who these goddesses are. Angela, the protectress of Los Angeles, is the only newly creative protectress goddess. The others are historically important statues containing strong intentions of high ideals to the men who envisioned them and saw to their creation atop capitol buildings and in public parks."
Some of Katya's pendants are based on these statues:
Goddess of Freedom Triumphant - U.S. capitol building, Washington, D.C.
Statue of Liberty
Goddess of Liberty - Austin, Texas
Triumph of Light - San Francisco
Our Lady of the Rockies - Continental Divide, Butte, Montana

Katya brings her interest in the natural healing power of the earth to her work as an artist and craftswoman. Nothing about her jewelry is meaningless. But she doesn't make the amulets work. Their wearers do that. The love and energy she brings to her pieces is there for everyone. In order for that power to be accessed, the wearer must concentrate on the result they desire. Healing, revitalization, money, love, compassion -- whatever it is that you want, and whatever is represented by the jewelry you have chosen: 
GOLD is fiery, electric, and active. It bestows life and beauty, and symbolizes the sun.
SILVER is watery, intuitive, sensitive, magnetic and receptive. It symbolizes the moon.
AMBER is crystallized tree resin and therefore it connects humans to trees, the earth, and the vegetable realm. It heals the nervous system and grounds energy while stimulating mental clarity.
DIAMOND is mastery and perfection. It is clear, precise, and focused.
OPAL is energetic, versatile, spontaneous and a stone of the daytime. Due to its' large water content, it aligns with emotional expression. It creates change in your life.
RUBY brings riches, pleasure and passion to create positive expressions of power, strength and will.
TURQUOISE creates a high astral vibration, psychic healing and protection. It is highly respected by Tibetan Buddhists and American Indians, for they believe that it holds the atmosphere surrounding the earth and sky, giving life and breath.
One of my favorite of Katya's designs is the `Jerusalem Peace Hand'. The thumb and little finger are wings; in the center is a cross and one wing is adorned with a half moon and star, while the other sports a jewish star. A prayer for peace from Katya, and anyone who wears it.
To see more about Katya and see examples of her art, visit her website: www.culturalimages.net.
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