Disclaimer:
Inner beauty isn’t about not taking care of yourself. I mean, we ladies still have to attract mates, right? We aren’t luna moths with heady pheromones that do all the work on a fellow nectar drinking night flying flapper and besides, there’s something to be said for feeling beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.
Inner beauty isn’t about not taking care of yourself. I mean, we ladies still have to attract mates, right? We aren’t luna moths with heady pheromones that do all the work on a fellow nectar drinking night flying flapper and besides, there’s something to be said for feeling beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.
I’m just saying that something important is within us and neglecting the care of that inner stuff of the soul affects our wholeness.
And now:
The Body Cavity Series
I recently (as in, within the last three months) dreamed up this idea of creating a series that features animal forms, enameled, with open body cavities one can gaze into. I gathered myself, last week, and set upon the creation of the first piece in this series. I wasn’t actually sure if I could bring these ideas into being in a beautiful way…because surely, when you hear the phrase “body cavity” you don’t think of beautiful things — which is why I especially love calling this series as such…it’s somewhat disconcerting to read, isn’t it???
The first piece in the series features a jackrabbit form I hydraulically pushed into being from one of my original press templates. I opened his form up and placed carved ivory blooms in his core. The entire notion of the body cavity series is to bring to the forefront the importance of inner beauty and the possibility of the beauteousness of virtue — something so often overlooked in a North American society that pushes us so hard to have a prettier face, prettier hair, perfect breasts, long legs, thin and fit arms, flawless skin, manicured nails, immaculate makeup, a busy and successful career, a competitive nature, a charming and extroverted personality…the list goes on and on and on.
What about the core of our being?
Is the core of your being suffering from neglect?
Do you wear your body like a mask over your stunted heart and soul?
I love meeting women. More specifically, I love meeting women who are blooming beautiful on the inside.
I’ve found that don’t really notice what my best girlfriends look like anymore.
Yet, when someone asks me about them, I start out by saying:
My gosh. She’s so tremendously beautiful.
I’ve come to realize, I’m talking about the insides of those women.
They’re blooming beautifully on the inside. If I were to sit down to draw them or paint them, I’m not sure I could remember a truly cohesive likeness of their facial features or bodies…beyond vague details: blond, green eyes, tall, short, wide hips, narrow shoulders, full lips…..
The funny thing is, I can sometimes fail to see the beauty and potential beauty that is within myself.
I can fail to cultivate that region of my being.
I can focus, to a fault, on the surface things.
I can neglect the development of my virtues.
I can forget that this body houses something more important than the flesh and bone that makes it;
it is a home for my conscience, my character, my personality, my soul, my spirit…..my essence, my verve…
the real me.
The me I want people to see and remember when they look at me.
The me that My God loves and cherishes.
The me my husband respects and serves (and vice versa).
The me my friends comfort and confide in.
I want people to remember me for how I responded towards others in tricky situations.
For the way I treated others.
For compassion.
For the way I could laugh with reckless abandon.
I want to be remembered for: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.*
Those are the attributes that grow ivory roses in the soul.
The way I see it, when your heart, soul and spirit get big enough, bright enough and beautiful enough no one notices what you really look like anyway…they can barely see you because of the ethereal glow that spreads itself across your skin and beams out of your eyes and open hands.
I have a lot of work to do when it comes to cultivating inner beauty in my self.
It’s something I want to encourage in other women.
In my best friends.
In ladies I hardly know but feel a connection with.
You. She. Her. Them. We.
To commit myself to that work, I dreamed up this series and concocted the first of what I hope will be many!
This necklace is composed of sterling, copper, enamel, coral, carved coral flowers, carved ivory flowers, sari silk and green quartz.
It took five days of work, months of daydreaming and sketching and a studio full of tools to create.
It’s delicate.
It’s massive.
It’s vivacious.
It’s beautiful.
I poured my heart and soul into it.
It’s festive.
It’s cheerful.
It’s serious.
It’s calm.
It’s merry.
It’s strong.
It’s one of a kind.
And lastly, this lipstick is called Sephora Rouge (0127B RO6).
In case anyone was wondering.
GUFFAW!
xx
Jillian Susan
*I’ve not mastered any of these things…I openly confess…but I’m working on them every day…two steps forward, one step back.
i'm utterly entranced.
utterly.
how in the world did you become the wonder that you are?
Intriguing. I'll admit my former-biologist self was intrigued. Proposition: Next time, put a Dove soap bar inside the body cavity 😉
wow great, you are great!!!
congratulations
As usual your words are bounding out from my screen and into my eyes with a truth that cannot be denied…What a profound statement of love for yourself, and for all the ladies of the universe. I want to read it over and over again and make it into some kind of long mantra, or daily meditation reading, to remind myself of importance of cultivating that inner love/beauty in myself! Once again I find myself tearing up at reading your words…they alone would be enough to create a "listing" of, and sell for a small fortune in your shop, they have the power to heal and to teach, and to inspire…I can only imagine the feeling of wearing the amazing creation that inspired/was inspired by them! A thousand thank you's Ms Plume!
Beautiful! Oh, and I love the necklace too!
From one work in progress to another 🙂
…PLEASEpleasePLEASe pardon me…forGIVE me…
but
HOLY SHIT!
Jillian Susan, You're an amazing woman and I am proud to call you my friend. Thank you for another fabulous reading and another fantabulous, awesome, gorgeous piece of heirloom art!!! And yes, the lipstick is nice too:O) Hugs, Sal
I love your thoughts because they are reaching so many. One of the fun things about "being" older is that in the transition to being invisible you no longer have to worry about hair, eyes and hips. You are invisible. seriously no one cares about your outside anymore. the good of this is that you have time to cultivate the "muchness" that MJ reminded me about from Alice in Wonderland. Alice had lost her muchness. So the big challenge is to remind those younger sisters that while the external is a pleasant past time the muchness will remain and grow if you only give it a chance. Love the lipstick ; )
You, dear woman, will be remembered, because you are exceedingly beautiful – in mind, in soul, in your work and even in body.
You are an exceptional woman.
Thank you for being in this world. You help me remember what it is all about.
okay, i've calmed down now…
…you ARE all those wonderful things & more…
& to me…
so very, very, very
SPECIAL…
XOXO
*speechless* *sigh*
with love to plume!
I have neglected my inner beauty far too long and my outer beauty is suffering for it. Thank you for the lovely post and inspiration of it. The piece reminds me of a previous post of yours where you said something along the lines that your bones were carved with flowers. I need to look back because those words were so beautiful too.
Beautiful words and jewelry as usual!
Again, You have stolen the words that float around in my head unexpressed. You express them much better than I ever could. I can tell you have I never met a woman I have not called beautiful. Every woman, person I meet has some beautiful quality that I love and adore. They all have something to teach me that noone else could. They are all beautiful. I love meeting people and seeing the beauty in them. Your work is perfect with the way I feel. You have such a beautiful skill. I love that you share it with all. Thank you!
Brilliant. I am so in love with these and the whole concept behind them pretty lady. What a gorgeous way to be reminded our our inner beauty and the real daily work we must do with ourselves.
legen…wait for it…dary!
you are more than you know.
x.
What Nancy said the first (!) time, what Kym said, and, and, and. What can I add? That I love these works of art of yours that carry the rich weight of thought and heart as well as metal and minerals. That what you write is true and inspiring and as well-smithed as your silver. Thank you, again. And yep, that's one bloomin' hare!
xxxx
that post was inspiring, thank you for the gentle reminding to be who were created to be, in His image.
I shed a few tears over your post…it was just what I needed today. Thank you, Jillian….for inspiring, and empowering.
-xo-
Jillian! Quite lovely, lovely, lovely indeed. I think from a lovely artist with a lovely soul and mind comes lovely art. You are a proven case study of that. We seem to be on a similar wavelength as far as the fruits of the spirit are concerned- http://heiditriathlon.blogspot.com/2010/11/last-mile.html
What an amazing piece and even more amazing thoughts behind it. 🙂
xo
masterly feats.
glorious.
xox
and, dear j-feather: all your words from beginning to end is why i hang around you.
totally agree: it's the inner essence that makes up the true beauty queen. and it's what i feel inside myself: i feel plumb ugly and dark when i am not acting with true compassion.
all the outer accoutrements are just additions and layers: i have to feel *it* within.
so, open me up, puff out my heart-space, and set a pearl inside there for a reminder: be good, be kind, be loving, be beautiful.
xx
[and, my word verification is "vistler"….somehow that means something to me….]
what an incredible heart and voice x
we hold so much potential… and often forget to push ourselves to bloom. thank you for the message – visually and verbally
to the beautifulness within !
xx
Lynsey
this is a wonderful discussion that has stayed with me throughout the night…& here is (i think) my final thought…
you know…one of the reasons i enjoy blogging so much is that i can express my inner most feelings/inspirations/motivations/reservations…be it with beauty, kindness, imperfection, or of big dreams, little thoughts, random musings…without anyone knowing that i have wide hips, green eyes, blonde hair, narrow shoulders, full lips, flawless skin, long legs, perfect breasts & manicured nails…
or not
most of which i don't…
but you as a reader/follower can solely focus on that inner stuff…stuff of my soul when the mask is down that affects my wholeness…which in turn can affect OUR wholeness…& of which connects us all as one true, loving soul. it's quite refreshing, freeing & rather empowering.
thank you plume,
ooodles of love to you, may it fill all of your body cavities…regardless of how disconcerting it reads…you know what i mean.xxxxO
pure talent!
You make my day with your posts all the time. But this one was incredibly special and inspiring. You are so beautiful in and out.
I just love you!
Oooh so wonderful. The best details in ever nook <3 Lovely!
you must have creative juices just oozing out of your pores! this is AMAZING. as usual :o)
I know I already emailed you about this, but I wanted to comment about this piece as well.
I always admire your work for it's creativity, craftsmanship, and your obvious love of it. It's all special. But THIS PIECE. I'm absolutely in ove with it. It's really, really amazing.
Had to take in a big breath and then exhale while I was reading this.
I drank this in like a sweet nectar.
I utterly love this amazing necklace for it's visual beauty and beauty of concept.
Whether we speak of beautiful looking people or objects of desire (art etc)….Beauty is a hard thing to define because it's so personal.
To be sure, when inner beauty springs forth it's immediately recognizable and so much more alluring, mesmerizing than outer beauty.
xo
Had to take in a big breath and then exhale while I was reading this.
I drank this in like a sweet nectar.
I utterly love this amazing necklace for it's visual beauty and beauty of concept.
Whether we speak of beautiful looking people or objects of desire (art etc)….Beauty is a hard thing to define because it's so personal.
To be sure, when inner beauty springs forth it's immediately recognizable and so much more alluring, mesmerizing than outer beauty.
xo
Had to take in a big breath and then exhale while I was reading this.
I drank this in like a sweet nectar.
I utterly love this amazing necklace for it's visual beauty and beauty of concept.
Whether we speak of beautiful looking people or objects of desire (art etc)….Beauty is a hard thing to define because it's so personal.
To be sure, when inner beauty springs forth it's immediately recognizable and so much more alluring, mesmerizing than outer beauty.
xo
I adore you.
That's all I'm going to say right here and right now. But I really do.
Oh, it is simply just time for a beauty revolution….
to redefine what beauty means…
we only become "invisible" if we choose to define 'beauty' as something obviously quantifiable by the judgement of others…and lets not forget that outer beauty is a mercurial thing…100 years ago, those who represent today's idea of 'gorgeous' would never have fit the bill….
There is beauty in the glint of an eye, the love in a voice, the kind smile and laughter that would melt an iceberg…the rest of it is simply a fashion statement….:)
This particular piece, Plume is both abstract and artifact, modern and ancient, all at the same time…
magic!
( oh and my work verification, I am NOT kidding, is:
truck) ha!
Thank you all so much for embracing the concept behind this series the way you have! I'm glad to encourage you!
Thank you also for finding this design beautiful. That means the world to me.
I laughed out loud at your comments, cried a little, thought a bit deeper and thoroughly enjoyed everything you ALL had to say!
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you!
xx
Jillian