My husband can tell you I often walk around muttering something about 'getting my act together.' He laughs and asks, "Yeah? When is that going to happen?"
He and I both know -- in truth -- that I have my act very together. But it never feels like I do.
Which is why I am reminded of that old adage that "feelings aren't always a reliable guide to action." Instead, clear thinking, imagination and resourcefulness must guide the way.
I write about my life as a woman 'of a certain age,' as well as about my art and creativity and my connection to other artists, because I hope that my life can be a small example of a vital female life that adventures on, despite the responsibilities of raising children, being a wife, caring for elderly parents at the ends of their lives, and, finally, being a studio artist and owner of a small art business.
Always seeking balance in all of this, I bootstrap myself along, somehow finding the energy to reinvent myself not just once or twice, but instead hundreds of times, its seems. I try to not define this as 'failure.' I hang onto the consistency and continuity that is me, in whatever stage of life I find myself in.
Life is an adventure, and existence is a gift. However confusing or painful, however many times one seemingly must start again, it is worth it.
Tonight, as I write this, I am reminded of what my dear father-in-law believed and often said: "Take care of what is yours." I have been hearing that in my mind today. I find my breaths growing deeper. I find myself starting to discern, again, what it is that is mine, and what is not.
And I know, again, that when I fully inhabit what is mine, I feel alive and ideas become unbottled and start to flow. And balance returns.
These are new pieces... a Painting Jasper pendant, embossed craft brass tab earrings and hand-wrought bronze leaf earrings. All are available in my Etsy shop!
I've had the tiniest amount of time to make some new things, shoot their pics, list them in my Etsy shop, and bring them to this blog.
Earrings and pendants hold my interest these days. I know I'll move on to some other things once I've had my fill of making small statement pieces for the ears and neckline.
Embossed copper disk earrings dangle from handmade sterling silver earwires. Find them in my Etsy shop or in the scroll over on the right side of this blog page!
I always have many more ideas than I can execute! So I was delighted one day recently when some of my drawings turned into finished pieces.
Blossom Jasper pendant set in fine silver onto patina'd copper, with sterling silver wirework.
I love freeform shapes and mottled surfaces. Jasper cabochons so often inspire me.
My goal, when I design and fabricate, is to create modern 'relics.' I always imagine someone rifling through an old jewelry box or scuffing through fallen leaves and unearthing my pieces.
It hardly matters which. The metals and stones are of the earth and my design is usually organic.
Oval green Imperial Jasper from Madagascar, set in fine silver onto oxidized bronze, with recycled sterling silver 'pebbles.' The cut of the stone is so formal, an oval, but its graphics are abstract. I cut the bronze backplate to resemble a peninsula of land with geographic features.
Here's the link to my whole Etsy shop!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CityRusticJewelry?ref=pr_shop_more
I write about my life as a woman 'of a certain age,' as well as about my art and creativity and my connection to other artists, because I hope that my life can be a small example of a vital female life that adventures on, despite the responsibilities of raising children, being a wife, caring for elderly parents at the ends of their lives, and, finally, being a studio artist and owner of a small art business.
