Making a Magical​ Wand and the influence of Harry Potter, art class

Recently I’ve been listening to Harry Potter audio books in Italian and yesterday I made my own magical wand. Wands are an important tool in the wizarding world and I was reminded of my own history with them.

It started with one of my assignments in Mr. Irwin’s class at La Colina Jr. High. This lesson was in Trompe-l’œil (French for “deceive the eye”). It is a technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. I still have both the wand and the drawing, seen below.

EOgDXwqwStqBoXN0hVb7%w0YGDj+tKSIaM3AUB+a1wXA

I’ve always been praised in a classroom setting for my ability to complete the assignment. But in college, by the third year, there are no assignments. I realized, when looking back at old images, that I made something add but similar during that time. Although, as you can see in the photo below, the scale of this wand is much larger.

DCP_3646

One unique detail that connects both the new wand and old wand in the presence of a face. The wand from 1995 has a face carved in the wood and the wand from 2019 has a red jasper stone skull. I don’t know when I carved the face in the wood but based on my original pencil drawing it was after that. Perhaps the origins of this tradition are tools used for protection like a stick, club, or staff? There is bound to be a rich and complex history of wands with faces for me to research.

Historically, Red Jasper was known as a stone of vibrancy and endurance, a talisman of warriors and a promoter of justice, protection, and life. CrysalVaults

The wand just I made is a collection of symbolic and meaningful beads for me, similar to a charm bracelet. They are wrapped in copper wire and affixed to a bamboo chopstick. It’s photographed above with and below without the large paper bowl I’ve been using to display a collection of stones and gems. I simply love the combination of color and light. I’m not inclined to draw the wand like I did in the past. I am enjoying photographing it and might assemble more of them because I like the way they look and the assembling of small objects.

Uqbahw54SpufioXPIupLPA40otLdBiQ12PN58tS0bFYg8V%stJi%RtylrHHzYRZ8Ag