The Life and Times of the Plume
I Love Your Soul
[Duff Necklace :: sterling silver, copper, brass, enamel, citrine, carnelian and silk]
There’s a great fondness in my heart for this little necklace. My favorite elements are the enameled leaves which practically shiver with heavy frost, the caged citrine nugget (like a pod full of promise) and that little solid sterling cast bone — cast by me — I found the bone on a sand dune on the Green River of Utah. Just a wonderful little collection of natural bits and bobs. Merry for the wearing.
[sterling silver, copper, brass, montana agate, chrysoprase, turquoise, larimar and silk — featuring an electroformed thistle pod]
[sterling silver, copper, brass, dumortierite, carnelian, larimar, montana agate and silk]
[sterling silver, copper, brass, montana agate, larimar, carnelian, sponge coral and silk]
[23 karat gold, sterling silver, copper, brass, montana agate, larimar, dumortierite, sponge coral, carnelian, turquoise and silk]
Like when I was walking in timber two days ago, early in the morning, when the blue light came streaming through the soft, drooping whiskers of the fir trees and the chickadees were teasing each other with their happy, clacking songs. I reached down and scooped up a handful of duff from the forest floor, lifted it to my nose, inhaled and caught the scent of the world turning, the mottled and scabbed scrub aspen spitting gold into the atmosphere, the cinnamon and sugar of the ponderosa pine needles, a thousand rose hips rising through the sky in the bellies of birds, a tiny trace of the curious cologne worn by the man in the moon, a cow moose and her calf striding through beaver ponds like their legs are late afternoon shadows, the twist of the sub-alpine fir in the fists of frost, one fat queen bee, sleepy seeds, chinooks streaming, a glorious rupture of spring creek and a colony of ants marching.
[Slumping Sun Necklace :: sterling silver & 23 karat gold]
light turns blue
as days grow short
under a slumping sun
a bear
fat on summer
seeks a quiet place
to grow thin
once more
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Things to love about this piece:
*the simple, modern lines of the pendant – the little story this piece tells is obvious and unobstructed
*a super dooper romantic chain length — the pendant hits between breast and belly button
*the specific way the pendant wiggles and sways from left to right to the rhythm of my locomotion — it looks like the bear form is actually lumbering across my trunk…I call that unforeseen, accidental magic
[Woke up at 5:08AM…have been working ever since. Feels so right and good.]
[sterling silver, 23 karat gold, lapis lazuli, quartz and vintage angel skin coral branch]
This one really fizzes. It is:
celebration
exploration
deep delving return to self
buoyancy
wild and leaping
serene cascades of light
moonlight through trees
illumination
imagination
the spirit of wild animals
the innocence of wild animals
the savage nature of wild animals
joy
folk art
folklore
a story
my story
scraping free of a hundred razor sharp heart moraines — piled high with the tailings of the violent shifts of dirty ices
gravity
momentum
sweetness
kindness
VOX
truth
the suddenness of knowing just what I am and where I am going
understanding who I have been
forgiveness (of self and others)
transformation
hope
belief
faith
grace
and always redemption
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It’s a lot of other things too, but you’re a smart bunch and I don’t think I always need to spell everything out for you, plain as day. Part of the way you receive and comprehend the beauty of this world is rooted in creativity and imagination! That’s what makes pairing art with a human so special. Your bold interpretation welded to my personal experience and voice…your YOU melded with my ME…well…that’s magic and that’s what it is all about.
I had a good and thoughtful time making this piece. It’s been a while since I’ve created one of my large, narrative neckpieces. To return to an avenue of design that has always been a part of my work with metal felt like a little miracle these past few days. I can remember why I stepped away from it. I had my wings torn from my back, again and again. I’ll never forget why I have returned to it now. Never.
It’s all so true. Really.
Each day of my life is laced up tight with tiny failures and small victories. At the end of everything, when it all draws to a close, I hope the scale tips in the direction of victory and grace, for always.
I realize everything I have typed out here is wandering and perhaps even slightly cryptic. It’s not my goal to sound pretentiously mysterious in any way. Some things are so sensitive and delicate that they need sheltering and tenderness or they won’t make it through to the strength and power of full fruition.
Here’s the thing: In this work, there’s always time to start again. And again. I come around in wide arcs, I orbit that steady center, hear the still small voice and kneel down by the burning bush. I lose my way, ask for directions, struggle up hill, coast into valleys…and all the while I get a firmer grip on the very definition of humility.
I know you probably know just what I mean.
Thanks for being here today.
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