Susan Ewington On VENA AMORIS
Listen to Tourniquet by Zach Bryan — Susan Ewington’s choice of text for Vena Amoris.
Susan’s El Alma Ring is inspired by “Take care of the blood that your love runs through”
“This was a quote that immediately came to mind when reading the brief. Although I traversed a whole range of other written words, I continued to return to this as the sentiment about love that I wanted to respond to.
My interpretation is that the most honest and deepest forms of love are dependent on how well we care for ourselves beneath the surface. To “take care of the blood” feels like tending to the inner world of our thoughts, emotional health, and our sense of self.
In my experience, the strength of a long-term relationship is deeply connected to this kind of quiet, inner self-preservation, and how we can maintain it within ourselves. The way we hold ourselves shapes how love can live and thrive with another person, and also within our children.
The combination of this quote, my interpretation of it, and the title ‘Vena Amoris’, for me, conjures visceral colour and imagery, and a connection to an old-world aesthetic. Drawing on the language of historical jewellery, where symbolism and sentiment were inseparable.
The gemstones chosen echo a physical sense of blood and warmth. The tone and shape of the ruby, the warmth of the champagne diamond, and a subtle nod to historical diamond cuts in the single-cut diamonds.
When playing around with the composition, the layout of the settings took an unexpected turn into a stylised sacred heart form, which was completely unplanned, but very satisfying to settle on!
Beyond its religious associations, the sacred heart has long been tied to guarding the emotional self, holding both vulnerability and strength at once. In this way, it mirrors the quote perfectly: love endures not just through devotion, but through the care we take in protecting the heart that carries it.”
