I’ve been doing a dash of enameling here! ‘Tis the season for it! I find that enameling in the summertime is utterly intolerable in my un-airconditioned studio space, as I have shared before. In these cold months, there’s nothing like hunkering down in the studio with a hot cup of tea while my kiln burns bright and my work space is merry and cozy. In the winter, the days I enamel are the only days that my studio space is warm enough to work without a down vest or jacket and a thick set of fingerless gloves. I can even go without long johns if the kiln is running! Delightful! This morning, when I sat down to finish the chain on one of these necklaces, the snow was falling thick and fast outside while a blustery wind was busy pulling the last of the leaves from the trees and grapevines. I felt perfectly rosy looking out my big studio window and up into the snowy mountains. Perfectly rosy. I was playing soft, soulful music on the stereo and for the first time in a long while, my mind was as quiet as my hands while I worked. I have a gentle, white dove on each shoulder and creative work has been simple, intuitive and murmuring these past few days.
Sometimes the rankled details of the world build a thick wall, as though with russet bricks, between the easy click and whir of the mind and the ability of our hands to plainly and gracefully reach for space.
This is the happy snapping of chains, fires enough to fuse glass to metal, the ever rising.
And before I go, a tune for you!
so glad the white doves have descended upon your bright shoulders.
i love the new work. gorgeous!!! xo
Thank you! I’m glad for the doves as well. I was a little restless for a while.
I see your heart, and your heart sees me…
🙂 xx
nicely put. thank you.
My pleasure!
how perfectly wonderful that you are at peace, now, in your studio….
may you continue to rise above and reach for the light.
xx
Unless I’m sinking, I’m always rising. HA HA HA!!! Oh well, what human isn’t, right? Thanks chickadee!
I love this image of you in a toasty studio. The enameling is beautiful. I am sometimes astounded at you – constantly developing and building on what you’ve done before.
Lizzy, something funny RW said to me the other day is that it’s alright to make stuff that looks like stuff I made before. Something in my brain tells me that if I’m not exploring and breaking new territory for myself ALL THE TIME, then my work isn’t fresh. But the truth is, I have a new perspective on life every time I sit down at my bench to work and even if the objects I make look similar to the things I’ve made before, it’s alright, it’s still me, and I’m still growing, and that spirit of growth attaches itself to the work and it’s the reason I’m WORKING.
I read a blog post of yours recently that stated you only ever write poetry about the physical body….and something else…..and if I remember correctly, you wondered if that was OK or not. I think it’s perfectly ok. And even if a poem sounds like a cluster of different poems you have penned, it’s still something you made and it’s still a reflection of who you WERE in the very moment you WROTE it.
i enjoyed reading this.
agreed! something new always gets added to the old because our experience and knowledge is evolving and growing. oh sigh.
SIGH indeed! Sometimes the path to becoming brighter and better is a rugged one. 🙂 Know that I gladly shoulder some of the weight for you, sweet friend, today and always. You’re going to make it. xx
sounds so peaceful, working away in the warmth while snow falls outside. thanks for the musical interlude, a dreamy moment in this early evening now.
It was peaceful! And you’re welcome:)
absolutely perfect.
love the new work.
love this wonderful song (and her voice!).
sounds like it has been a snowy adventure out there at the gables…
x o
It was for a bit…..then most of the snow in the valley bottom melted off and everything is just crispy and frozen now. 🙁
Thanks for your kindness. x
Magical…& YOU are on fire!
XO
HA HA!!! xx
I’m loving all of your new work, totally beautiful
Thanks sweet lady!
Be still my heart. Lovely pieces.
Love to you always, J. x
Thank god for those little birds of quiet and a whole mountain of snow. MUAH!
– K
Hello friend! Thanks for being here today! x
That red…yea yea yes! love them all but I want that powerful piece ’round this neck!
I love Jill Andrews, paired with snowfall, tea and art – couldnt get much better!
Lu, I confess, the red was my favorite too. There’s been a birth of adoration for NUTS AND BOLTS in my heart lately — probably because we’re dismantling an Airstream…RW says he’ll be able to build me a TUGBOAT by the time he’s through with this thing…can you imagine? I’d love to have a tugboat! Anyway, the red one reminds me of a lot of things, but the chain on it looks like delicate little strips of steel riveted together to make the bones of a boat or plain…
I love Jill Andrews too. I think she’s special and passionate.
Oh so BEAUTIFUL… Just like you!!!!
xx Juli~
Juli! XX
those are really lovely! I just discovered your blog 🙂
Debbie! Thank you. And welcome here. I’m glad to have you. x
Just beautiful necklaces! I love, love, love the enamel with the pearls. Beautiful images too.