When you Love someone and you have spent many years together, life is a long memorable journey that you share together after the dust settles, or when you get

together with friends and family to reflect on the stories that stand out the most. A story bracelet is a treasure that can be created to display some of these stories,

many depending on how much you want put into it. Bill and his son Alex are masters at creating jewelry story images, finely hand engraved with your story and

your special moments, pets, children, as Native Life Crest Creatures, and even treasured possessions or family crest symbols. There is really no limit except

maybe your budget. These wearable art pieces are priceless heirlooms to pass on for many generations, telling your story from now to then.

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There was a stillness in the room after I asked the ever scary question, about love and...sex in the Chinese everyday lifestyle. As if it isn`t a little taboo here in Canada, just try approaching that topic in a country that has so much of it`s freedom of speech controlled by the power of communism and government military censorship. My question was posed to the wife and ambassador of Beijing at a special dinner put on at their palace or temple, could`nt tell the difference between the two because all the buildings were so big and ornate. Much to my surprise, and my shocked aboriginal travel mates, the ambassador and his wife were very polite about their responses and they took up to half an hour in open discussion, which would be 15 minutes without the translators. It was easy to see that they were also being very careful with their opinions but it was definitely one of the highlighted topics of our two week journey.

I was a little more reserved on that topic for the rest of the trip and focused mostly on the learning experience of how the Chinese people live everyday and observed them as they observed and studied us. Most of our communication was through translators but you could see the importance of the English language everywhere as it was displayed on most signage as their second language. I also noticed that they were very conservative about in a moralistic way and that their marriage system is still enveloped very strongly in their traditions and is very risky to mess with. No easy divorces and certainly a tough system for the men and boys to fit into for there was a lot less women than there was men, out numbering them 4 to 1 according to a government survey. Very scary considering that most of them will never marry or have a sexual relation with a woman for their entire life, so competition is tough but mostly arranged in the family royal system, especially in the high archy population.

Mostly we should be thankful that we have so much freedom in our love lives but truly it is with a price that we carry on painfully allowing marriages and relationships to be so disposable and meaningless, enough to give up so easily. The Chinese are very strict and dedicated to their traditions and their business and family relations. This I respect and wish we could have more of that type of honour in our society. A society that now seems to have no conscience or hearts when it comes to bereaking laws and rules. I welcome more interactivity with my new friends from far overseas, plus I look forward to sharing more of their lifestyles and culture in my next article.

Be thankful and charish your heart and freedoms.

RINGS DO GET SCRATCHED- Sometime in the future after wearing your ring or rings there will be some wear and tear, no matter how careful you are there will be scratches and scuffs. Pretty much like your brand new car, oh how that first scratch really does hurt doesn`t it? Your ring will be a lot more active in the risk of wear because you are using your hands all the time every day.

SOLUTIONS- Unfortunately there is only one real solution, other than hiding your ing in a safe or worse yet in a jewelry box on the dresser or neatly hidden... under the bed? Yes I know all the hiding places, with years of listening to the stolen jewelry insurance jobs i have heard them all. Use a safe if you must leave your jewelry at home. So many people don`t wear 98% of the jewelry they own, which is a big and easy target for theives, but for the most commonly popular jewelry that is worn most if not all the time, is my native style of jewelry, or any of it for that matter, so it is logical that it will get some wear and scuffing. wearing gloves would be the only way to prevent scratches, but not really great for showing and sharing your Love Rings or Story Bracelets.

When you see native art around you in our west coast environments, it seems to speak of our history and the mysteries contained within the art forms of the west coast aboriginal artists.

There are very few art forms around the world that compare to the intricate details of painted black and red imagery, or how these characters transform from flat two dimensional to three dimentional

mythology creatures, and even more abstract in flat carved panel work.

My experience with wood carving originated at the Ksan Indian Art school in Hazelton B.C. in a very beautiful interior community where the recreated indian village housed a training facility. My teachers there were very 

particular about their methods of training us, starting with the respect of the art of tool making and progressively moving us into wood carving, but only after a month of intense design training. It was a wonderful way for

me to start my career, learning from amazing master carvers like Vernon Stevans, Art Sterritt, the late great Walter Harris and Earl Muldoe. Additionally to these great teachers I was surrounded by a beautiful wilderness 

of birch trees, fantastic mask carving material, two rivers meeting on either side of the school, and of course the enchanting recreated longhouses. All very inspirational and really enhancing the cultural immersion into my

ancestors art and creativity.

I do love to carve wood but the reality of my greatest passion is mostly in the illustrative realms of my creativity, wood just isn`t good for an impatient artist like me, so I have enjoy the intricacy of jewelry and storybook

illustrating more. It will always be a sideline hobby for me and something I can teach and pass on to our young people, and showing the importance of the historical value to them will keep the respect I learned over the

years, alive in a way that the art form gets the true value that it deserves in the collectors market.