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Deb Durant

@debdurant

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Architect of social infrastructure / pro-kindness, better in 3D www.debdurant.com

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Join our board!
WEAD is seeking an a Treasurer. This is a volunteer board position requiring familiarity with financial procedures.
Approximate 2-4 Hour weekly commitment. LINK in BIO with more details. by @debdurant

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2 months ago

🗓️Save the date! WEAD's 30th anniversary celebration and fundraiser
Sunday, October 25, at 12:30 pm, Oakland, California
🍿📽️Special screening of the film: Maintenance Artist
The first feature documentary of Mierle Laderman Ukeles' groundbreaking work
Email info@weadartists.org about sponsorship opportunities or to volunteer the day of the event. by @debdurant

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2 months ago

Mind fully blown .. SOUND UP, PEOPLE!

ART changes lives, changes outlooks, expands our understanding of humanity’s capability & communication & capacity ✨

An amazing fact I learned from @elizrosner via her amazing book ‘Third Ear’ - Did you know the human ear is optimally designed to listen - not to other humans - but to birdsong?

@DhakaBrakha 🇺🇦 you simply A M A Z E
You were my all time fave concert last year & this year did not disappoint! The sublime precision of your virtuosity combo’d w sacred punk rhythmic folk sway … pure DELIGHT

We loved our fascinating Ukrainian neighbor-sisters, hey! @iuliia_zador - sharing tales of seeing the band in tiny clubs back in the day .. supremely cool 😎

The Universe is waiting to give You gifts ✨

So much gratitude for the heart & soul of these four humans which they joyfully shared w us. Just BRILLIANT 💗💯💗

#2 is my fave, which one’s yours? taken in Siesta Valley Bowl by @debdurant

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3 months ago

Exciting news! : Artist Peggy Weil will be our next featured speaker, Thursday, August 6th, fr 5-6pm (PT)

This one will a LIVE ZOOM ONLY - (not available for later viewing) so don’t miss out!

Our speaker events can be watched for FREE, but as a non-profit run almost entirely by volunteers, any & all donations are deeply appreciated (& massively helpful, going towards paying artists & numerous other excellent programs.)

I caught Peggy’s current show at MOMA in NYC & found her digital art ‘Core Memory‘, w explorations of Greenland’s ice core drillings, as well as in the Salton Sea, to be pure fascination - what truths these studies tell us about the earth’s past, as they plunge 2 miles below the surface, travelling back in time 110,000 years.

As the new coordinator for the Art+ Speaker Series at Women Eco Artists Dialog, I couldn’t be more thrilled to host this conversation! (Q&A to follow the talk.)

Hope to see you all there!
Link in bio taken in MoMA The Museum of Modern Art by @debdurant

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3 months ago

Happy summer solstice! ✨🌞✨

It’s been awhile, Insta..

For the past several months we’ve been working on a project.
Not a business plan, a way of being in the world,
in this crazy time,
mulling how best to spend our time,
where to put our attention,
focusing on who & what we support.

The truth is, we’re not really looking for followers. We’re more interested in finding ppl we want to stand beside.

Because really everything is about relationship, & everything is connected.

Collaborators, makers, builders, artists, storytellers, singers, dancers ~ creative folks forging connectivity,
figuring it out,
this crazy evolving messy world
we all inhabit together.

We’re trying something new.

As one friend puts it, jump off the cliff & build your parachute on the way down.

Leap & the net will appear…

Come check things out -
it’s very much still a WIP
but we’d love to show you

see you there.

Link in bio
www.porch-project.com

Pix: MOOD fr this past week in NYC/Brooklyn
Go Knicks!
#knicksin5 taken in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, New York by @debdurant

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4 months ago

So much pleasure creating this beauty to reflect the ✨ s p e c t a c u l a r ✨ beauty of its wearer & her beloved! High school sweethearts, now empty nesters, whose love & light never dims

Loving & admiring his clarity for her desire ~
over the decades his formula has remained the same:
The quiet focus of essentiality ✨
- kin to simplicity -
but embued w rarity,
this focus itself rare, indeed

Center: near flawless unheated natural brilliant cushion cut 1 3/4+ carat deep blue sapphire, sourced from a women-led artisanal African mine, expertly cut & faceted in the US

Surround: a whisper chorus of top color and near perfect clarity diamonds encircle the sapphire

Setting: the gleaming platinum open wire design is inspired by a similar one I made in the early 90’s - meant to ergonomically hug the finger in the most comfortable way possible - which I’ve worn every day for the past 3+ decades.

It originally was conceived of w a central fertile void, meant to celebrate the gift of emptiness - creating & nurturing open space for that which will come ..
a concept as vitally important as it is uncommon in today’s thinking..

As a designer, to see this version with a central focal point that captures their mutual feeling of ‘you are all that I want and need’ is a deeply satisfying evolution of the concept, & an ongoing conversation that answers the question: what happens next when you make enough time & space for your desires?

This object of ceremony, which my brilliant clients conceived of both separately & together - was made to celebrate a special birthday & has become a true honoring.

Deep bow to all the talented, thoughtful, hard working & ethically oriented ppl involved in making this work possible. In an industry known for its long history of harm, I am so grateful to connect w an ever-growing community of ethical jewelery professionals🙏🙏

I am so thankful & lucky to be any part of this. What a beautiful way to spend one’s precious time, creating objects to tangibly reflect the dreams of others.

Most heartfelt wishes to you both for every continued happiness, K&M! It is always my pleasure & honor to work together 🙏✨

#ilovemyjob taken in Ohlone Territory by @debdurant

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10 months ago

‘BIG FEELINGS: Emotions Made Material’ currently on view at the Richmond Art Center thru November 20th, featuring Artist Talk + Circle-Making Session on Sat., Oct 18th, fr 11am-1pm

Thrilled & honored to be participating ✨
So fun to see many dear friends & meet new ones at the opening!

What better way to meet the current moment than this beautiful exhibition exploring the full spectrum of possibilities for global re-empowerment of the feminine?

Expressed thru the lens of the circle form - elemental & eternal – these works symbolize ‘balance, unity, and the continuous flow of feminine energy and light..’

From the curators of BIG FEELINGS: Emotions Made Material “In a world newly buzzing with AI, Big Feelings offers art powered by lived experience, intuition, and consciousness. The exhibition showcases a collaborative map of Richmond told through BIPOC cultural narratives and materiality; a large-scale print installation that is a personal exploration of friendship, sharing real advice from real people; and a participatory work of over four hundred circles radiating feminine energy. These projects employ mechanized and technical processes – letterpress printmaking, cartography, and the disciplined repetition of the circle – yet at their core, each transforms emotion into a material for making art.”

Featured Artists include Erin Fong, Ayesha Ateekh, Bhagyasshree Ramakrishna, and Shivani Vinayak Atre;

The 6000 Circle Project Artist group The Calling: Chantelle Goldthwaite, Yasmin Lambie Simpson, & Sheila Metcalf Tobin

Find time to come see it! 🙏
*be sure not to miss the giant fish sculpture on the front of the building by the incredible eco artist @andree_singer_thompson taken in Ohlone Territory by @debdurant

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a year ago

23 yrs ago we hand carved & then cast into cool platinum these two rings for the happy couple 💕
Flush set w beautiful blue cabochon sapphires to mimic water droplets, eternal source of life 💦
alongside a beloved family diamond 💎

We recently replaced each of the sapphires which, two+ decades of wear later, needed replacing & lovingly repolished the platinum finish back to its original gleam ✨

Tending to the precious objects that symbolize our most precious relationships is an honoring 🙏

Wear them in good health G&E for the next 23 yrs to come!

#ilovemywork
#ilovemyclients taken in Ohlone Territory by @debdurant

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a year ago

INVITATION : Saturday 27th 1-3pm

I’m excited to be participating in an exhibition ‘BIG FEELINGS: Emotion Made Material’ at the Richmond Art Center - come on by ! Would love to see you 🙏

Autumnal Equinox, Rosh Hashanah, family memorials, ancestral homelands, colors, textures, seasons.. BIG FEEELINGS, indeed ✨

Sending L O V E out to the universe 💗 taken in Silverton, Colorado by @debdurant

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a year ago

Two hearts that had once rupt before,
found love that they’d cherish, & more!
She crafted with flair,
designs sans compare,
while he crafted her limericks galore.

For 20 sweet years, they’d been bound,
by true love, where much joy could be found.
Then one day, did she query,
“what would make me purrrr, dearie?
A new ring to rival a crown!”

One blush diamond, soft as a kiss,
on each side, fancy yellows whispered “bliss!”
Set in gold’s warmest fire,
Twas her heart’s deep desire,
She’d created a creation not-to-miss!

This woman who loved sparkling gold,
& her man - his heart pure & bold -
grew their family together
(Yes, thru foggy Bay weather)
While she crafted this ring to behold.

For twenty long years they’d been true,
He’d adored her & she him clearly, too.
When her heart yearned for more,
this new ring to adore,
he paved a path to her heart’s queue.

He composed her limericks sweet,
How her love had made him complete.
She smiled, “This is bliss,
For YOU’RE all that I miss—
Now this ring’s made my joy feel replete!

Honoring your deep love & J O Y
as I reflect on my own, tx to this alltime fave project inviting me to create your dream with you, R!
So very happy & thankful.

Honestly, this one resonates on ALL the levels -

creating projects of purpose, helping to realize the value of what it is we have to offer in this life ✨

Together, we transform story into sacred object 🙏

Wishing you every continued happiness, R&L! 💗💗

Hand carved wax cast into certified Fairmined 18KY gold

center: milgrained bezel set cushion cut blush colored diamond
sides: fancy yellow Old European cut diamonds (post-consumer sourced, est. pre-1870’s)

#ilovemyjob taken in Ohlone Territory by @debdurant

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a year ago

It’s a family affair…

They say the garden is a metaphor for life & I’ve been feeling this truth in so many ways.
With the help of our awesome permaculture garden genius @stackingfunctions over the past 8 or 9 months, hubs & I have begun transforming the tiny plot of land we call home from a postage stamp of dead grass into a pollinator garden food pantry which, lately, we’ve enjoyed harvesting from every day.

It’s A M A Z I N G ✨

Not since I was a teenager had I really participated in the planting & growing of fruits & veggies. But I am now trying to learn how to grow food, starting w new planters, healthy soil, good seeds & starts, irrigation..
I’m excited to go outside each day, see who needs extra water, or less, who plays well with whom, & who likes more or less light ✨
It’s incredibly calming, deeply satisfying .. a whole other world 🌱

The latest lesson : carrot seeds spacing. We were stunned to see what happens when they’re planted too close…
Or are they??
I’m actually not sure I’d do it differently next time, these ARE pretty adorable 😅

They’re literally all hugging each other ..

Really looking fwd to having friends over more often for feasting ~ if you build it…

#ilovemyhome taken in Ohlone Territory by @debdurant

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a year ago

Lately, so many things lost ..
a number of projects this year have been about creating new pieces to replace that which is no longer there - for any number of reasons, by circumstance or by choice.

I feel thankful to have work that is often about moving fwd, finding & making tangible symbolic objects of meaning that continue the through lines of our lives.

Here, a new wedding ring, taking the place of one that was lost. Precious recycled 18K gold in a circling constellation of multi-colored diamonds - golds, greens, blues, orange, & a touch of pink - sunset meets water in an eternal dance ..

All the beautiful intentions nestled together, making space for new dreams to accompany the older ones, what best serves who we are now, in honor of who we were when it all began.

Creating objects of ceremony, made by hand, to mark the most important moments of our lives - it is a deep honor & I hold sacred this practice.

Wishing you every continued happiness, L&R! May your love continue to grow & grow 💕✨

#ilovemywork
#humansareawesome taken in Ohlone Territory by @debdurant

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a year ago