Hope is a thing with feathers

This piece was created for my lovely friend, YY, who requested for a ring inspired by her favourite poem by Emily Dickinson, titled  "Hope is a thing with feathers" 

The process of visualising a written art means having to break it down into key concepts and visuals that the poem speaks of. In this piece, 

There are 2 features in the ring that I wanted to emphasise:

1. There is a hidden bird in the ring holding a sun light (my interpretation of “hope” is a thing with feathers) - hope here is the light that the bird carries with it.
2. I used many wavy elements to represent hope being found in the “storm” or “strangest seas” - these waves come together to form a heart. Which I also feel represents YY as a person who seeks out the beautiful things that even the most chaotic situations bring.

The design continues to extend out into another sun light. I wanted to use this to represent how hope can be found in the MIDST of any situation, and that hope is something that keeps giving. This is represented by 3 “hidden” sun lights all across the band of the ring.

A vintage gate is a reference to a “perch” which birds often rest on. In the poem, Dickinson references that hope perches in the soul - but I also interpreted another layer of it where the soul is like a gate that has to be welcoming for hope to enter.

Thank you YY for allowing me to be part of your favourite poem <3

Love, Jaymee