Bushwacker Ring
[red jasper and rusticated sterling]
Feeding the Flame Ring
[mexican fire opal and sterling]
Well yes.
I DO have plenty of things to do today.
Thus far I have attended an art history lecture, chatted with my local barista, consumed shredded wheat with drizzled honey and checked in on the terrarium (see above photograph). The fact that I am literally, entirely without any sheet silver, solder, flux, liver of sulfur, sterling wire (in all round gauges), bezel (in all it’s forms) and chain makes working very difficult indeed. I’ve been peering out the front window all morning long hoping that UPS will swing by a day early and help me out a bit. I’ve resorted to thumb twiddling and half hearted attempts to photograph the mountain of jewelry I have stockpiled in the living room on various earring and necklace racks. Tedious for me (et toi).
I think I’m just going to go perch and preen in the studio for most of the afternoon which will, no doubt, result in sketches and the delicious activity of touching cabochons.
I’ve got a serious art nouveau and deco obsession at the moment. Combine that with the frilliness of the Baroque Period I’m currently studying in my art history class and you have some interesting jewelry ideas that I’m plucking from the trees in my mind like ripe plums off the trees in August. I associate work and creativity with growth, fruit, the fecund soil of the great northern plains, alluvial deposits in river valleys, glacial moraines, spring run off coursing it’s way over Idaho as the high places and low places shed their winter white coats and push green through their skins.
Oh I do.
I do associate making with the displays and functions of nature.
I can’t help it.
I want to testify, I want to solemnly swear that God’s green earth is just as spectacular as you might think it is. I want to make an oath, I want to perch on a podium and confess that goodness and creative genius flow from His fingertips and zap us all daily with gentle lightning strikes that hit our soul like a Tibetan monk strikes a gong high up in the Himalayas. Do you hear it? Do you feel it moving out from your spirit and spreading itself over the warmth of your skin? Let it display itself. Glow with it. Be good. FOR YOU ALSO ARE HIS CREATION.
I’m desperate to let my work testify to the shake and rumble of creation as best as it can. I want to rusticate my sterling to the point that it looks like the crumbled and weathered granite at the base of the mighty Sierra Nevada batholith. I want my silver to shine like the sea.
I want to look at it and touch it at the end of the day
and say, “This is good.”
I want it to be good.
I like your terrarium. Plants always die in my apartment. Do you know a good plant for northern light?
a surprise post for me because I was just roaming in an attempt to focus, and what a treat
beautiful ring, and your attempts at presenting God’s beauty are very very good Dear Plumella
the terrarium seems to be busting with energy
and lucky those sterling sheets that you will be cutting. molding. pounding
keep making pretty things because all prettiness in the contingent world is a reflection of the grand spiritual world of god
-m
Your words and pictures never fail to bring me joy and always serve as a reminder of the beauty that surrounds us. Thank you.
Thank goodness there are people like you able to put such thoughts and emotions into words! Kudos.
P.S. I’m drooling over the Feeding the Flame Ring!
Jillian,
thank you for sharing your creative process with the world (both the results AND how you perceive it).
It is fascinating and inspiring. It brings me joy knowing that you are out there creating.
I love this post. 🙂
And I am lusting after that opal ring. SO lovely. Let it shine, indeed.
Hey, are you wearing Danskos in that piccie? Talk about comfy…
Pretty picks Mrs. Plume. I hope you don’t have to twiddle your thumbs all day Take care!
~Marina
Oh, dear lady, your work resounds with skill and echos the voice of gods creation in nature….I cannot for the life of me stop dreaming of the Prairie Horizon earrings… but I wont be able to capture my own for sometime… they are radiant and simple…
Lasso up the postman so he/she may procure more of your tools and supplies, and we will all be waiting to see the beauty you create with our eyes!
I love reading your creative writings….God is pretty creative and I love how you acknowledge it. It blows my mind when I gaze upon the tiny details of the magnificent things he has made. I too share your great appreciation for it.
ps, did you put rags in your hair to get the curlys?
Oh.
Man.
Oh man.
Sometimes I am struck with the fact that I really LOVE what I do. My job isn’t a job at all. My work doesn’t feel like work. What a blessing it is to feel such passion.
Miss C: I think those vine things do well in low light and they are prolific with their off shoots. I have a houseplant book, I’ll look up some Northern Light plants for you.
Oh how I miss the Northern Lights.
M: The terrarium is out of control. I haven’t ever watered it! Isn’t that amazing? I think I’ve had it for 5 months now and it just breathes it’s own water into existance. I’m thrilled each and every time I look at it.
Wowsers.
And as you know, I totally agree with you on the God stuff.
Susie: And you, my sweet, are utterly encouraging at every bend in the road. Thank you for reading. It gives me a reason to write!
Lulu: See the reply I just gave Susie and please, don’t ever stop reading. Ever. LOVE you.
Galina: Love to you wherever you are! Thanks for coming back for more! It really does mean the world to me!
Mari: “Let it shine…” Oh yes sister!
Marina: I am indeed! Farley ate one half of my first Danskos. I always buy a pair while I’m on Bainbridge Island (home to one of my dearest friends). The pair in this photo were purchased when I was on Bainbridge Island, WA as a maid of honor. It was quite the time. The shoes made life more comfortable:)
Skinny: I tried to lassoo the post man today but he brought me a cozy sweater instead of silver. I couldn’t begrudge him that!
Melissa: I set those curls by twisting sections of hair and pinning them in place for the night. It’s always a bit uncomfortable to sleep on but while I’m on the quest for BIG HAIR…nothing else does the trick!
XO
PS All jewelry in this post is coming with me to First Friday in Pocatello…what does NOT sell (most of it probably) will be listed in the shop over the weekend! So take heart! If you see something you like over the next few days, there’s a good chance that I WILL be listing it in the shop!
Thanks for your patience grasshoppers!
Don’t be so silly, it’s ALL going to sell!! I love that your Danskos have a story 🙂 I was just in that part of WA this Christmas. Lovely lovely country…I hope to live there some day. Thanks for answering my question and again…all your jewelz will sell. :}
hey curly que!
will you pin my hair for me?
that’s all,
mme.
I need a terrarium… and the ability to curl my own hair. Currently, I have neither.
Of course I love the new finger bling, and I am adoring your lovely curls. I hope your supplies have reached you and that you will have time to create, create and create! I wish I could be going to First Friday!
Marina: Thanks so much for your encouragement:) I don’t MIND if I don’t sell a thing actually. I’m kind of hoping to list everything in the shop for you ladies anyway!
Mme: You know I would. RW laughed at me all day yesterday and kept requesting that I throw Shirley Temple tantrums. Conversations went like this:
Robert-LOOK at how big your head is. You’ve got the biggest head and the smallest body. How do you walk without tipping over???
Me – Easy. My hair has a lot of air in it so it’s not too heavy at all!
Em: Come live at my house for the summer and we’ll get you plenty of both! XOXOXOOXOXOX
Elaine: STILL waiting on the materials. I’m always lucky enough to have UPS deliver to my house LAST. It will be 5PM when I have some boxes finally land on the front porch. Sigh.