Wednesday, June 30, 2010

How does your potential grow?

Art expresses life. Jewelry art intimately expresses life. It is intimate because it is worn against the body, it is seen, it is felt, it is experienced. Some jewelry artists draw meticulous designs and hold true to that design. Others, like me, work by intuition. I never know where a piece is going to end up - but it always tells a story. Usually, a very telling story.

I made a series of "copper skeletons"


I posted the pic and received many compliments on the basic copper shapes. The second guessing began; "Hm, maybe I need to just leave these the way most people would expect them." "My designs are very wacky...maybe they are too much for this world..." But I knew I had something in me that wanted out. Ever find yourself thinking, "there is more to me than just this...more than what you see?" Yeah. Still waters run deep.

Reading the bracelet from left to right - it begins with some sense of uniformity. I expected that this design element would stay the same all the way around the band. But it didn't. The uniformity begin to split and get a little crazy. And then "something happened"...a new bead, full of potential hits the scene...and then, all heck breaks loose...

The uniformity is no longer and instead seems to be leaping, landing and then jumping off again. One element ( a bead) seems to be stepping outside of the lines! It is a little chaotic. The brass wire that attaches the beads is NOT uniform and perfectly straight.
Because -

Life is not uniform and perfectly straight. Things happen. Events change things. Thoughts change the self. New paths are tried out. One should be leaping, landing and then jump off again. Some aspects should fall outside of the lines...surprise and chaos IS OK. NOT everything should be controlled and put on the day's agenda.  Potential is powerful. Many fear their own potential. A good way to hide from one's own potential is to live inside the lines, plan everything and act as if he/she is in control.

Ever watch a vine grow? A vine just goes...unchecked it can take over. I believe that is how our lives should be. Full of unchecked growth. Yes, jewelry is intimate. I may have some intimate stories to tell in bead, stone and metal. There is unchecked growth ahead. Potential untethered.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

FOCUS <---highlight in yellow

We are busy. Events in May handed us opportunities that astound us. Josh used a "slight" bit of downtime to move our studio from the dining room to the garage. We did an inventory on ALL our pieces of jewelry. I made list after list of "things to do"..."things I wish I could do"..."things I had better do..."
So MUCH! And it's all GREAT!

And...with everything we must focus on...there are also many tempting distractions. This is how the picture played out in my head. I ended up with realizing that life is one big ritual on focus.