http://lighterthanme.tumblr.com/page/13
"A Story I Haven’t Told
This is my favorite necklace. My dad always had it but wouldn’t give it to me when I was younger, afraid that I would lose it. It is a handmade piece by my great uncle Jim Kitson. Him and his wife Sue lived in Alameda. Their house is wonderful, full of cigar smoke and weird, wooden, antique furniture. All sorts of weird trinkets and statues and figures fill the house, spilling out into a backyard full of cacti and succulent plants. Under the wooden stairs that lead out back is the studio. Marked with a cow’s skull, the studio holds all of my aunt’s felting, as well as Jim’s personal collection of bones and pictures and even old gravestones he found. Metal and dye and paint fill the basement and all of his beautiful sculptures and paintings fill every bit of space. His metal work is incredible.
My uncle Jim used to have a business called Hawk Enterprises. He designed jewelry and other pieces around hawks. This necklace is one of his pieces. He casted the hawk himself."
More at link.
eta:
"A few years ago, he was hit by a truck.
It didn’t kill him, but he lost his sense of smell and taste. As a result, he stopped eating very much and became depressed. The damage from the crash left him unable to make his art anymore. He was already skinny from having quit drinking, and losing weight because of that strain. The last time I saw him we were camping in Levitt Meadows, a place my family has come for generations. Jim was so at home in nature.
We had lost so much family on my dad’s side, and Jim used to say “In this family, we need to say I love you as often as we can.” It became a joke that someone was always dying. But I never thought it would be Jim.
Two years ago he shot himself. He cleaned up his house while his wife was out, he wrote a note, and placed his wedding ring on it for her to find when she came home from work. He took his gun, went to the park, and killed himself. "
OMG that is so freaking sad. RIP Jim. Your art will live on forever.
