Butterflies & fairy tales

A happpy childhood is what Jul Dizon’s exhibit reminded me of. Chasing dragonflies at my grandma Hernandez-Manzano’s garden, sucking the stem of an orange santan for a taste of honey, running away from the giant capre under the balete tree while watching my grandmother water her ever dearest plants. On the other side, in Lola Gloring Berenguer delos Reyes’ garden, I saw butterflies taking a whiff at jasmin plants, birds chirping on a sole calachuchi tree, black and red bugs crawling on emerald leaves whose appetite was evident from the holes on the now brown leaves. Giant Mariposa moths flew in both gardens and we hated them because they might blind us.

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The butterflies and moths I was staring at in a showcase today were blinding but safe to touch and feel. They were sparkling even, and made of tiny yellow citrines beside flowers of pink sapphire.

Every jewelry piece I saw on that show window was inspired by nature. Jul Dizon’s display at the Shangri-La Hotel held me spellbound that I decided to go to the inauguration cocktail of her new shop at Peninsula Hotel. That night, well-groomed women complemented the coral and mother of pearl-shaped flowers and vice versa. Citrines, sapphires, tourmaline, rose cut diamonds of different hues set in yellow and white gold depicted God’s creations that are enticing to humans. Daughters Candice and Janina Dizon had succeeded in adapting the study of botany and entomology in their accessories.

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Hovering around the exhibit with Vivien Yuchengco, I was amazed at the jeweler’s skill of fitting big and small stones in the correct places. The craftsmen’s skills of transforming multi-colored stones into flowers and butterflies did not only keep me breathless but made time stand still, keeping me young forever. I wondered if anyone ever buys semi-precious stones by the packets. What’s the most important, the design of these stones or the mere act of purchasing these jewels? Both, says Jul’s eldest son Sid.

Another memory comes to mind, this time a fairy tale. Once upon a time long, long ago, witches had wings and could fly. The witches soaring above spotted a farmer milking his cow and the wife churning it into butter. One witch stole the milk and the other the butter, and then flew away. That’s where the word butterfly came from. Isn’t that a charming tale?

Passing through the non-glare glass cases at the Pen, I saw orchid earrings beside moth pins (their scientific name is sphingidae). Moths belong to the same family as butterflies, right? Thousands of varieties of moths gave Jul the liberty to craft different species in one exhibit. Her flowers and leaves are tiny and large, beautifully interpreting God’s creations through square, oval and round tiny stones. What better inspiration for an artist like Jul and the girls who are taking over their mother’s craft?

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Here’s another version of the origin of the butterfly. I remember Damisma Eusebio’s legend. "During ancient times there lived an old woman on the shore of a lake who had a fine flower garden. Near her home was a small village of fishermen.The villagers usually visited her and brought with them fish to exchange for flowers. The people believed that the old woman was an anito because she never worked in the daytime. Every night her home was magically lighted and the people saw inside the old woman and many dwarfs. People believed that the old woman turned into a beautiful girl at midnight and the dwarfs were her helpers.

One day, a young man and his wife came to the village. They were proud and haughty. They disliked the common people of the village. They loved only beautiful things and hated everything that was ugly. Walking by the river they saw the old woman’s garden and went inside to get some flowers. The old woman saw them and told them to go away. The couple mocked her because she was ugly. So the old lady went inside her house and brought out her cane. She touched them with it and said, "As you loved only beautiful things and hate everything ugly, be changed into the most beautiful insects."

The couple instantly changed into the most beautiful butterflies and began to hover among the flowers. Beautiful! At least the old lady was kind. And that is why butterflies love flowers... and this is why Jul put butterflies and flowers together in her exhibit "Flora and Fauna." Just like matchmakers, butterflies carry balls of pollen to the stigmata of a flowers. Eggs are laid and the plants become hosts to the butterfly larvae that will feed on the leaves to survive. The eggs turn into butterflies but alas, live for seven to 14 days only. Jul’s butterflies live forever! And so does her "fish on a wave" brooch.

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Jul Dizon, whose mother was a jeweler before she retired, garnered international awards for her designs. It was Jul, an accounting major, who drew her mom’s designs. She still draws and has been using a lot of colored stones in different sizes to interpret her ideas into pins of mother of pearl, earrings in coral and turquoise, sapphire necklaces bursting in a rainbow of colors, necklaces of the tiniest rubies, and sapphires of shades ranging from light blue to dark blue. With the price of diamonds soaring, Jul’s jewelry prices will delight wives and, most especially, their husbands.

An achievement in design and labor, Janina says, could not be celebrated without the whole spectrum of colors mother nature has generously provided mankind. From the icy pinks of kunzite, to the dramatic greens of tsavorite, to the pastel hues of tourmalines and sapphires – everything is from Gaia and the heavens. Janina, Candy and Ginny, with their imagination and gifted hands, have interpreted God’s magic.

Janina says that nature is our teacher and we are all artists somehow. Looking at one piece, I wondered where the translucent wonder comes from.

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There is division of labor in the Dizon family. Atty. Dizon minds the farm. Ginny and Sid Dizon work and design at the plateria. Ginny has always loved to draw and work with her hands from watching her Lolo Camacho put beads on gowns as a little girl. Daughter-in-law Lucille sells her mother-in-law’s jewelry at the Pen with Janina. Brother-sister team Sid and Candy take turns at the Shangri-La Edsa shop. All items, whether bulky or fine or whatever a woman’s whims are, Janina can do with "no problem" being her favorite phrase. As of now, it’s all about slender butterflies, fragrant petals on stems, tear drop diamonds transformed into earrings and jade pendants – a shining testament to Filipino craftsmanship.