Starlit birthday key

Completing circles is usually a very good thing and tends to bear even better things in their completion.  The circle of Sepia's key has been a bit of a triangulated puzzle.  Initially Hans Haveron painted "Sepia's Secret" which shares a deep truth about the creative process.  Then came his friend, Adam Lambert who was already well acquainted with Hans' work and owned a piece or two.  "Sepia" spoke to him and he purchased the other half of the "Keyhole series" and that painting hangs in his home today.

But Adam felt the need to keep the "Secret" with him all the time and chose the element of the key, which unlocks the Eye of Wisdom, to have inked into his forearm.  This drew the attention of another friend of Hans', Shannon Shiang, jewelry designer from New York City.  Shannon had already taken another element of one of  Haveron's works, the scarab, and replicated it in three dimensions of bronze.  Seeing the key separated from the painting she was inspired to turn it into an actual key.  She would bring a number of samples of Sepia's key with her to Burning Man to show Hans and Adam in 2011. One of the prototypes was gifted to Adam's boyfriend, Sauli Koskinen.

When I last visited Shannon in her studio, the evening that Adam's sophomore album "Trespassing" dropped, she showed me a very large version of Sepia's key cast in sterling silver that she hoped to gift to Lambert at some point.

Enter the "Starlighters".  This fan group formed in 2009 after the launch of Adam's official website.  They were people who wished to dedicate themselves to helping keep Lambert's brand new star shining brightly in the sky of current pop/rock music.  These fans are at the forefront of requesting airplay of Adam's music, voting in various media contests and sharing their love of Adam and his music with as many people as possible.

As with many individual fans and fan groups, Starlighters have participated in the annual charity giving that Lambert initiated on his 28th birthday.  Over the past three years Adam has asked fans to donate to Donors Choose and Charity Water in lieu of sending him gifts.  Besides spotlighting charities for his birthday Lambert has also been a supporter of The Trevor Project and Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Foundation.  This year's birthday gifts went to an organization founded by a man who became part of Adam's career almost by accident.  Lambert got his fanbase behind Nile Rodger's "We Are Family Foundation" which encourages youth and young adults to help their peers and children.  Starlighters added their donations to those of all the other fans in the attempt to raise $31,000 for WAFF (at last count the total was over $45,000).

But this fan group wanted to do something else special to show their love for Adam, something with a lot of symbolism.  The discussion started in October of last year.  Carter Setterlund, who became the coordinator of the project, suggested going to Shannon and Hans about the creation of a special version of Sepia's Key and then contacted Shannon about the project.  Shannon suggested the large silver key along with making it extra-special by adding precious stones to the design.  Further conversation between the two resulted in using the lyric "Stars in my black and blue skies" from the song "Underneath" on Adam's latest album and selecting white and black diamonds and sapphires.
From there Shannon and Carter went into action to spread the word and raise the funds for the project, all on the q.t.  They wanted this to be a complete surprise to Adam.  Everyone was told not to post things on social networks or public message boards.  Communication was done via emails, private messages and by phone.  Shannon reached out to customers of Skins & Stones who had previously ordered keys.  Starlighters communicated with all their members.  Eventually, they not only raised money, some members also donated actual stones for the pendant.

Meanwhile Hans created the special casket the key would be boxed in.  The fan group also put together a "birthday book" filled with letter and messages that was compiled by Carter and has gorgeous cover art done by Lucas Vitek.

Then came the final stage of the project-actually delivering the key and the book to Adam.  The hope was to do so before Adam left for his 6-week Asian/European tour last week.  Again, Hans and Shannon were called into action.  Everything ended up coming to down to wire.  So close in fact that the gift was delivered at LAX while Adam was waiting to board his flight to Seoul, South Korea.  Shannon had flown in from New York and Hans delayed his trip to Texas.  Thankfully all the Powers of Light were watching over this process and the key and book were successfully delivered and Adam was totally surprised.  According to my own conversation with Hans, Adam loved the gift and Shannon told Carter that Adam was really moved by the sentiment and symbolism of the gift and noted how sweet all involved truly are.

Adam showed his appreciation to everyone who is a part of this gift by wearing the key at his first concert of the Asian leg of this tour in Seoul, South Korea.  Below are photos shot by one of the people at this performance.  This morning he tweeted, "Special thanks to @Skinsandstones and all the fans who chipped in for the ferocious skeleton key necklace!! I LOVE it!!!".

I want to sincerely thank Carter, Shannon and Hans for working with me and helping to share this story.

For more information on Shannon Shiang's organic Skins & Stones line visit http://skinsandstones.com/ . There is an on-line store at the site where you can purchase various versions of Sepia's key along with all her other current work in this line.  Shannon has another line, Shiang New York.  These pieces are very unique and sophisticated and are also available for purchase. Hans Haveron's work can be reviewed at http://www.haveronstudios.com/.  Lovely archival Glicee prints of some of his paintings can be purchased at Fine Art Direct.  Haveron is preparing for the gallery show "Raven's Riddle" which will be his and father, Bill Haveron's first ever father-son show at the Kirk Hopper Gallery in Dallas, TX.  The show opens March 2 and runs through April 13th.

Shannon Shiang - the "key master" and so much more

It's late Sunday morning in a sunny Manhattan apartment in Tribeca, a few blocks from Chinatown.  Joined by "the committee" of two Siamese and a black long-hair cat, I sat down to chat with Shannon Shiang, owner of Shiang New York and Skins & Stones jewelry studios where she creates stunning work.  She is also an active member of various art tribes throughout the country, is concerned about the environment and the plight the oppressed.  Immediately I could feel that Ms. Shiang was a genuine and kind spirit.

The conversation started with taking her art to the level of collaborating.  As artists we tend to be very protective of our own work.  It is a delicate balance if and when we choose to share our craft.  Within the communities Shannon is a member of, they mentor, encourage and nurture others, especially those new to tapping into their creativity.  The trust within these groups is strong and has resulted in amazing works, helping her to make this step. She shared with me the first jewelry collaboration she did with Hans Haveron, the scarab pendant.  The work is beautiful and opened the door for all the other work she has done with him.  She also showed me a sketch for an upcoming project she is doing with John Park.  Park has teamed with Haveron on several murals so this choice made sense.

The discussion faded in and out of the tribes subject.  Arts community gatherings play important roles in Shiang's life.  She is an avid "burner" and also attends Lightning In Bottle.  The events prove to be inspirational, spiritually refreshing and an opportunity to stretch her own talent while helping others do the same.  This year, Shannon chose to use her art to create a talisman for the camp she is a member of at Burning Man.  It is a key that depicts the Burning Man logo as the pupil of the Eye of Inner Vision.  The key unlocks that sight.  Shiang also gifted keys to other attendees who were positive and shared goodwill.

Burning Man was also where "Sepia's Key" first appeared. Shannon, inspired by Haveron's painting and Adam Lambert's tattoo created the first prototype which she shared with both men on The Playa. A copy was gifted to Sauli Koskinen, Lambert's partner. She and Hans then began the process of working out what will become the final product that will be available for purchase very soon.  Sadly, since the announcement of the project, a knock-off of the pendant has turned up on eBay.  Both artists hope that people will note that this is not their work and will wait to purchase the real one.  This situation has affected the release date of their keys that they were hoping to coincide with the release of Lambert's sophomore album, "Trespassing".  The Skins & Stones timeline has been moved up and the first batch of keys should be available very soon.  Note that the approved pendants will bear both the Skins & Stones and Haveron Studios logos.

The "Skins and Stones" line is the more organic line and the one where all her collaborative work can be found while Shiang New York designs is more stylized and inspired by sacred symbolism.  One piece in particular draws from Tibetan Buddhism. A dog tag that depicts the sacred mandala that the monks use for meditation and spiritual healing was designed and is being sold to raise funds for Free Tibet, a non-profit that is very dear to Ms. Shiang.  One of my personal favorite pieces from this line is the Phoenix necklace which Shannon was wearing.  In a follow-up email Sunday night, she shared to whole legend with me. Like most people I knew the part about the old phoenix self-immolating only to have the new bird rise from the ashes.  However, I did not know that the old phoenix builds a nest of cinnamon twigs that also burns.  Also that those ashes are encased in an egg of myrrh, that the young phoenix deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis.

To learn more about Shannon Shiang visit Shiang New York, Skins & Stones, follow her on Twitter or friend her on Facebook.