Mellow Yellow

Textured Sterling Silver Cuff Bracelet with a bezel set Owyhee Sunset Jasper cabochon. $182

I love when I come across interesting gem stones and this one was a real find. The first thing that drew me to it was the unusual coloring...honey beige but with some definite buttery and lemony yellow streaks. There are whispers of steel blue and green throughout as well. I also like how the lapidary cut it- with it's simple lines, this rectangle is the perfect shape to highlight the movement in the stone. When I find something this striking it is best to just do a simple design that let's the beauty of the stone shine.

It was labeled as Owyhee Jasper but it looks nothing like other stones I had ever seen in that material. After a little research, I learned that it is a special variation called Owyhee Sunset Jasper. First discovered in the 1960's, it is a domestic stone mined in the Owyhee Mountains which run along the border of Idaho and Oregon. The word Owyhee is an early spelling of Hawaii and the area was named so to honor two Hawaiian natives who were killed there during a fur trapping expedition in 1819. Legend says that jasper can drive away evil spirits and protect against snake bites.

True yellow is a color that I have rarely seen in opaque stones. I love the look of it's warmth against the cool crisp color of the silver. Yellow and gray just seems so modern and fresh to me.

This stone is 100% natural and absolutely untreated. Mother Nature is definitely the most talented artist...

It's Been Too Long

hand forged sterling silver "Magnolia" necklace on a double strand of

pink keishi pearls and glass seed beads $189

This piece felt like a huge accomplishment. It is not something new or different or even technically challenging for me. It is merely a more petite version of the Magnolia pendant that I have made and sold many times before. However, it is the first piece I have made in almost four months.

2011 was a very difficult year to say the least. It began with my mother being diagnosed with multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer) and it ended with a week of hospice and her passing in December. In addition to a whole bunch of chaos, the time between was filled with months of crises, ups and downs, multiple ICU stays, arduous treatments, surgeries and about 150 days at the hospital. She was only 65 years old so her illness came as a surprise and her decline was shockingly swift. She was also the caregiver for my father who has dementia, an unfortunate side effect of his own cancer battle many years before.

As ugly as the months leading up to it were, my mother's death was actually quite beautiful. In fact, life affirming. She spent her final days in a local inpatient hospice that was homelike. So much so that all of us...me, my sister, our husbands, all our kids and even the dogs basically moved in. As difficult as that week was, we were witness to many miraculous things and I believe that we all left there comforted by the knowledge that there is indeed something wonderful after life in this world. In many ways the experience was a gift.

After everything was settled...the funeral, moving Dad to a wonderful assisted living facility... all I could think of is getting back to the flow of my former life and working at my bench. It proved to be much harder than I ever imagined. Apparently stress dries up creative juices. Just looking at my boxes of stones and pearls annoyed me. I used sit for hours in the hospital making wire wrapped pearl chains and beading strand necklaces for my pendants. For months there was a complete lack of motivation, attention and focus. So I stepped back from a lot of things, directed all of my attention toward my family and took the time to process everything.

Last week, things started to change. New designs popped into my head and a notepad and pencil are back on my nightstand, at the ready when I wake up with a head full of new ideas. So...a corner has been turned and life goes on.

Yesterday, I happily spent the day in my basement studio and enjoyed every minute of it. The result was this hand forged magnolia pendant on a double strand necklace of keishi pearls and glass seed beads. The photo doesn't show the true beauty of these quirky little pearls. They are the most spectacular golden pink color and their size/shape remind me of Fruity Pebbles!

Everything we experience shapes us, changes us, shifts our perspective. I'm curious to see what impact this will have on my creative process. I'm hoping that this is the first of many new pieces to come in the next few weeks... just in time for spring.