Shiny!

Back in the 70's when I was in high school, I had a very good-paying part time job - checker at the Jewel grocery store. I loved that job. It was a chance to get proficient at the cash register and challenge myself to beat my 'best time' in ringing up orders. It was always busy which made the time fly by. It was a chance to talk with customers... many of whom I knew. We had to wear uniforms but I was able to accessorize with extras from the Salvation Army store - beaded shrug sweaters, funky socks, whatever I could find to be artsy and unique. I wore jewelry. Always.

The best part of working was I had no obligations for the money I made. I got to save it and spend it as I pleased. I loved finding jewelry that caught my eye. Back in the 70's it seemed difficult to find highly-polished sterling silver pieces that had reflective edges and planes. It was my goal to find these pieces. I remember finding Italian chains and baubles that were shiny - a true 'find'. Around that time, Native American jewelry came into favor with the 'liquid silver' chains. Those chains were amazing to me. Those were the days when I thought of shiny silver as a beautiful accent in the hot summer sun, worn with blue denim and white linen shirts.

Times have changed and tastes have changed. I still love shiny sterling silver, but mostly love it when it's creases and recesses are patinaed with age. Jewelry that has been worn and worn and passed from one person to another...with it's dings and shine from life's buffing.

As I move into new work, I will make decisions to 'patina or not patina', but first my head will need to get out of my '70's.

Sentimental Jewelry

Whether I'm in my tent at an art fair, behind the counter at Veberod, or selling out of my studio, when dealing with a father looking for a gift for his daughter, I am in the selling groove.

My Dad knew how much I loved jewelry. When traveling, he listened and watched me, often purchasing things for me along the way. Some purchases were surprises, opened up after returning home.

While the jewelry is a 'thing', it represents how thought-full and interested my Dad was in me... interested in my interests. Jewelry is a really great father-daughter connection. We both shared a love of beautiful things and I am sure that's where I got my love and respect for the decorative arts. He was a detail, precision and craftsmanship man.

 Here is a gold rope chain I opened up one Christmas morning. When I burst into tears, he knew he made a fine choice!

Resonance Here... Art and Life

Well, I couldn't have said this more clearly.

"It is human nature to want to exchange ideas, and I believe that, at bottom, every artist wants no more than to tell the world what he has to say. I have sometimes heard painters say that they paint "for themselves": but I think they would soon have painted their fill if they lived on a desert island. The primary purpose of all art forms, whether it’s music, literature, or the visual arts, is to say something to the outside world; in other words, to make a personal thought, a striking idea, an inner emotion perceptible to other people’s senses in such a way that there is no uncertainty about the maker's intentions" - M. C. Escher

 
I believe that we (humans) yearn to connect on a 'soul-ful' level, to reconnect and re-establish our relationships on this Earth. Traveling along on the continuum, we share threads of common experiences that make us feel less alone.

(M. C. Escher at 15
1913)

Blast From the Past

I had an interesting time at Veberod tonight.

 Mark Lindblom came in to buy some burs. I shook his hand and told him I met him 36 years ago! After graduating from college I moved to Southeast Minneapolis and frequented the shops in Dinkytown. I remember the jewelry I had Mark make (he did ALL the work in his shop back then), and remembered his modest beginnings, "Lindblom's Jewelry". He said I would be amazed at what that has grown into, and that I should visit his new location in Wayzata. I will definately do that soon!

About 35 years ago, Jen Herro gave me a gift of a beautiful pear-shaped garnet, so I had it set into a ring. Here is the ring Mark made for me in 1977 or so, when the price of gold was about $140.35 an ounce. That was back when I wasn't making much money. Jewelry was always a priority evidently!

Dock Sitting

I am fortunate to have many quiet places to listen to my inner voice and process ideas and information. Summer offers nature as a help with this, and the dock on Slim is truly the best for me.

As I read or write or just sit quietly, my Dad is often sitting right there with me. He has been a guiding force over the years - during his life and afterward. He was a perfectionist, a task master, a lover of detail and realism in art, and a caretaker of antiques and artifacts. He loved the artist as technician and master of technique and skill. He was a fan of things that were right and fair. His generosity was contagious.

Many good memories with my Dad bubble up... standing with him at his work bench, having me form a ring out of a quarter as a break from his work, watching him re-lead an old stained glass window, carve a piece of wood to fit into the broken corner of an old frame...many quiet times with him. I appreciate those times.

Potentiality

Inherent capacity for growth and development. It's in every moment, every greeting... mistake, sketch, thought, session at the bench. Sometimes there is conscious recognition of this, but not always. It's imperative to be wide open, ready for possibilities. Today I am wide open!

Full Circles...even though I'm all about the square.

Now that I'm writing my three pages every morning (well, almost every morning), ideas are springing all over the place. Ideas about life stuff, about jewelry, about drawing...nature, family, dog. Ideas keep coming. My excuse for not writing some mornings is that I already have too many ideas and not enough time to act on them. However since they are written down, there is no harm in storing them up - like nuts for the winter.

Today I thought about full circles. Full circles are the amazing tying up of strands - strands that end up where they began. In terms of people/relationships/life continuum, I thought of so many instances. Lessons learned for all of us moving through our lives. There are reasons why we have the mothers we do, why we meet the friends we do, and these reasons end up being tied up at the end. Perhaps at the end of life, if not sooner.

Silver, leaves, botanicals. When I was in grade school, I used to draw special, shaded flowers with stems and leaves on peoples arms and backs of hands. If you asked me and if there was time, I would plant one on you. I called them "metallic flowers" because of the dramatic dark-to-light shading. I had a grasp of composing and shading. If you asked me now, I'd plant one on you!

I'm working with metal now, designing botanical and other jewelry compositions. And even though circles are complete and amazing, I'm sticking with the square.