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GARUDA
GARUDA |
OrganicJewelry
FairTrade.&.EarthFriendly
organic,silver.&. wood.jewelry
OrganicEarrings.com |
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GARUDA:
a phoenix-like animal of mythic strength, the guardian of the Water of Life, famous in South-East Asian philosophy. Garuda is a warrior, a protector, and a chariot of the gods. You can find Garuda in the sacred Buddhist and Hindu statuary in many temples, palaces and shines dedicated to the spirits of the earth and the ancestral heros.
GARUDA strives to provide quality, unique, hand-crafted products to satisfy the soul and beyond...
your purchase supports traditional crafts and families.
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We stand behind the quality of our product and the aesthetic of its design. If our product fails you in any way, we will do what it takes to make it right.
Please contact us if you have any questions about your organic jewelry at mail@organicearrings.com
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Our Mission, Goals,
and place on Earth...
We are dedicated to producing outstanding quality of design and craftsmanship in jewelry while respecting and supporting traditional families and their culture and skill, encouraging environmentally sustainable natural, organic and biodegradable materials for a healthy planet, workplace and community.
PLANET
By choosing organic jewelry as opposed to stone or metal, you are making a consumer choice to combat the environmental hazards and degradation of natural lands created in the processes of mining stone or metal and refining metals. No materials are wasted in our production process. All are biodegradable. Any extra wood from production of jewelry is used as fuel for cooking or composted into the garden, and bone or horn scraps are composted in the garden.
All materials we use for carving our organic jewelry are native to the region in which we create our goods and are sourced from only licensed, regulated wood sellers or as a result of obtaining food (coconut shell, bone & horn). In addition to the importance of using sustainable resources, the materials are chosen also for their natural beauty. We do not use any varnishes or other surface treatments, but rather utilize the natural colors of the raw materials. These native woods do not require pesticides or fertilizer to grow. Any exotic or rare species we use is plantation grown not wild harvested. We do not buy materials from the black market or use any old growth wood. We pride ourselves in the careful hand selection of our materials.
All of the water buffalo and cow bone we use is sourced from local, small farms where the animals are raised by hand for meat production or plowing fields, and is a main food source of Indonesian peoples. The water buffalo bone is a remnant of meat production and farming on the neighboring islands of Lombok and Java. No parts of the animal are wasted. The buffalo are never harvested for their bones or horns. Please see our material information page to find more detailed information on the materials we use.
By promoting and sharing concepts of species awareness, recycling, and overall health of the ecosystem with the community that produces our products we are able to create a unified understanding that improves the end results for all. The materials we choose are sustainable, local or recycled and reflect our desire to give the earth a chance.
PEOPLE
This is a very small, grassroots type operation.
We know that hand made goods take time, healthy people, and a good sense of community to produce! As of 2008, all products are hand crafted by eight to twelve workers from a single community in Bali, Indonesia.
I stay Indonesia annually for several months and maintain good contact with the families with whom I work. In production, we operate based on the following: we do not push the production time of the goods, and maintain a personal relationship with the producers to ensure the quality of their lives is up to standard. This area is Hindu and has countless Holy days that must be respected, and on most of these days people do not work. This is not a Monday through Friday operation, they have their own calendar that we adhere to. Also, as costs raise we conference about it and adjust payment as needed to ensure the needs of all peoples can be met. The structure of this business is very loose and fits easily into the traditional structure here. If we were to try to force it into conventional western style it would create turmoil in the structure of family life here and destroy the local customs. The business operates in accordance with the social structure of the village and local tradition.
I consult with all of the craftspeople who produce the goods in regard to their needs for time, the costs of production, and ideas they may have to make a product better, healthier, or more beautiful. The crafts people also participate in the adjustments to designs and, rarely, in creating new designs. The designs are often adjusted to suit the set of skills of the carvers I work with. Often, designs are made specifically to fit the skill set of one who needs work. This ensures balance in the work flow and job security. I visit with everyone as often as possible and on special occasions. Before doing business we take tea or coffee and chat. After we frequently eat together.
We operate like a family.
PRODUCT
Your purchase supports traditional crafts and families and is a choice to purchase a product produced in an environmentally responsible way. All of our organic, silver & wood jewelry is hand-crafted by traditional people of natural materials. Our materials are responsibly harvested and we support their craft and culture, while improving the quality of their lives and providing jobs where there may otherwise be none. We work closely with the craftspeople to create our original designs as well as traditional favorites. We stand behind the quality of our product and the aesthetic of its design. If our product fails you in any way, we will do what it takes to make it right.
The new line of jewelry this year incorporates the traditional writing, “Aksara Suci”, meaning “sacred letters”, is an effort to raise awareness of the importance, sacredness, and beauty of tradition. Aksara is no longer commonly
used, as it has been replaced with western letters and is being lost and forgotten, especially by the youth, in the spreading westernization and globalized use of roman characters.
The packaging we choose is very minimal. We are always open to and looking for better options that are more environmentally responsible. If you have any suggestions, please email them to us at GARUDA@OrganicEarrings.com
We do our best to ensure you will be completely satisfied in both the aesthetic and quality of your new organic jewelry. As we are committed to your style sense and taste, we are always open to ideas about size, gauge and material of your Organic Earrings and body jewelry, and well as the designs you wish to have and the quality of the overall experience. Please contact us with any suggestions or wishes about what you would like to see or have. Whether you desire wood jewelry, bone jewelry, horn or mother of pearl jewelry, we will to our best to accommodate all of your needs. Due to the nature of hand-made jewelry, it may take several months for custom designs or suggestions to become available, as the process of creating a new size, new design, or working with a new material goes through many, many samples, varied stages of perfection, and stringent quality checks to ensure well matched pairs of organic earrings, organic body jewelry, and gauged earrings. All of our tribal stylings are original designs, less a few classic spirals and twists and the basic hoops. Barbara works hard to create these new ideas, and all your enjoyment and complements are highly regarded by her as well as all the hard working crafts people creating the master works in organic jewelry for you to enjoy.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any desires for new materials, styles, or sizes!
We are here to serve you!!!
enjoy your exotic nature...
Thanks and Kind Regards,
GARUDA, Barbara & Michelle
Please contact us if you have any questions about your organic jewelry: mail@OrganicEarrings.com
How we got here...
GARUDA: a phoenix-like animal of mythic strength, the guardian of the Water of Life, famous in South-East Asian philosophy. Garuda is a warrior, a protector, and a chariot of the gods. You can find Garuda in the sacred Buddhist and Hindu statuary in many temples, palaces and shines dedicated to the spirits of the earth and the ancestral heros.
Why did we choose "GARUDA"?
In 2001, when I was first starting GARUDA Organic Jewelry, I was faced with a great deal of strife and struggle, and was trying to piece together all the details of a new and socially responsible business while reclaiming parts of my spirit that were lost ....
Dealing with the irresponsible and immoral practices of importers, producers of hand-crafted items and business people left me with a sense of despair at the shape of the world. I had almost every kind of encounter possible with people who were ruled by only the dollar and had no remorse or consciousness about laying waste to anything that lay between them and more money. No one seemed to consider the needs of the highly skilled crafts people who were producing their goods, or that they were even human for that matter. Very few considered where the materials came from or how they were obtained and what impact that has on the planet and life as we know it. It seemed the whole world around me was about getting things cheap, fast, and now and then turning around to sell it for as much as possible with zero liability to the society from where it came. I was very discouraged and disheartened when I began to see all this....
After a much needed spiritual awakening brought on by bountiful internal struggle and contemplation, I rose like a Phoenix, and in while South-East Asia, the closest animal to it, the Garuda, came to me in my dreams night after night, bringing me solace and strength. It was a gift from the spirits of the island, I accepted it with great reverence, and realized it IS possible to operate a business in a morally and socially just manner while still maintaining responsibility to our mother, the Earth.
The energy of Garuda is forever enshrined in GARUDA Organic Jewelry policy and practices. We strive to produce and maintain a socially just atmosphere in all of our actions, from the sources of our materials to the practices in our production and all other steps on the way to deliver this fine Silver & Organic Jewelry to you. Life and Living is our first consideration from our material choices to our employment policy.
We hope the energy of life and love invincible comes to you through the love that is put in every step of our business...
A note from Barbara-
Here's a little more about me, GARUDA, what we have been doing, and how we got here.
When i was a child, i was raised on PBS and National Geographic (thanks, Mom!). This filled me with an urge to understand, experience, and travel, and with a great appreciation for art and culture.I wanted nothing more than to see the world and understand what native cultures of other place lived like, ate, believed and felt.
In 1994, when I was 16, I started to travel to see a great deal of live music all over the country (mostly with a guitar player that happened to be one finger short.) This was a truly eye opening experience that certainly changed my life and the way I view the world forever. Like a lot of people on the road I created a way to get by. I sold hemp jewelry at first to make my way, then started making intricate custom peyote stitches (bead work) with stones set in them, that were catering to a more personal scene...
As the world around me and my own person went through some major transitions, I lost my interest in the kind of travel and lifestyle i was living, and after some patching of my bones, went to college. I studied sculpture, silversmithing and life drawing in college, and was seldom seen outside the studio. This gave me a foundation to understand the details of design and craftsmanship, and to help me better communicate my ideas as well as be sympathetic to the needs of the craftspeople. In 2001, while in school, I made my first journeys outside of the US and discovered a place that was rich in culture and spirit, and had a large population of very skilled craftspeople. I fell in love with the place, and have returned at least once a year every year since. From the beginning I purchased only handmade goods and sold them just to shops and friends to cover my travel expenses.
I began to miss my previous existence and lifestyle a bit, and at the same time found festivals to be a great outlet for both my spirit and my product. In the fall of 2003 GARUDA did it's first festival in it's new incarnation, and has since not stopped, feeling the spirit of all the beautiful people there and the strong sense of tribe drawing us back constantly. From this platform I started the website, using the festivals as a vehicle to promote the constant presence on the web. It seems to have been a good idea.
In Asia, specifically Indonesia, I work with as many as 18 craftspeople, all of whom come from traditional families. What I mean by that is that they are not westernized, and follow the traditions of their culture. What's the culture? Hindu. It is truly amazing and their lives are rich with ceremony and community, and they believe in Karma as a staple of life. Not just Karma of the individual, but of the entire Island. They see that if one person does a wrong deed it will affect everyone around them.
I work with them firsthand, and pay them wages that are more than fair. The villages and families I work with have in essence accepted me as one of their own. In the time that I have been working with these families they have steadily improved their standard of living and level of craftsmanship, as well as skills with English. I love them dearly and miss them often.
We respect all the customs and holy days, and there are a lot of them, so at times it can be complicated and when a big holy time comes work may stop for a week or more at a time. There are at least 6 such large holidays and uncountable smaller ones, which makes for a lot of days off!
Why earrings? I can’t think of a better place to express who you are without words than your ears. They frame your face. Seated on either side of the most expressive part of your body they are powerful and get a great deal of attention, but are not so outspoken as a t-shirt or bumper sticker. Wearing organic materials feels natural and unobtrusive to the energy of your body. The tribal styled designs express a part of our souls deep with history and proclaim a relationship with all that is ancient and unspoken, yet billowing with truths and connections to our tribe. They ask the universe to recognize your soul as sacred and unified. Basically, they give you HUGE Mojo.
As for the materials, check out our material information page on the web site. (go to materials) That gives an introduction to what I will say here.
First, I need to explain what we mean by "organic".
We call them organic earrings because they are made of organic materials, carbon based, not metal or stone. Secondly, all the materials are organic by US standards (though not certified) as they are either wild-harvested or raised on small farms. They use no medicine that is not natural, no hormones, or chemicals. As a matter of fact, they don't even have access to such things in most cases.
I am constantly looking for new materials to work with, while still maintaining standards of safety, health and environment. The designs and materials continue to evolve to fulfill the spirit of change and adventure, and I find new inspiration around every corner. I take the opinion and input of every customer into account as i make new designs, choose new materials and make quality standards ever higher.
This is a super small business. Here in the states it is only myself and a part time employee who manages the website. This is truly a grassroots operation, I make the designs (with an exception of a handful classic traditional designs) and work with all the craftspeople, bringing everything into the US, designing my own web site and making up the systems we use.
All of this comes as some incarnation of all my life's dreams, as I have dreamed of all this before, and did not even realize that I was walking down the path that led to it, but when I ended up here I saw that it was where I had always wished to be.
I am not certain what will come around the next corner, but I am sure that I have more dreams waiting to be both fulfilled and dreamed.
For now, you can only find us at festivals and on the web at
http://www.OrganicEarrings.com, but we are beginning slowly to wholesale, though only a hand full of small shops carry our goods at the moment. ( add link to shops) .
Who knows what will be on the next horizon...
Kindest regards,
Barbara Szymcek
GARUDA
http://www.OrganicEarrings.com
enjoy your exotic nature...
Join Us on MySpace!
http://www.myspace.com/OrganicEarrings
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