Sunday, July 1, 2012

Deeper Well

My GOD she's bloggin! Yes kids it's me, finally peeking my head out from under the blanket of midwinter. It's been cold and dark and miserable here, not just the weather but my mental state as well. My PTSD has finally arrived (I'm late for everything, even trauma!) and I've been weathering the storm by curling up into my shell and sitting as still as a car under a tarp on a council estate. 


I've had not much to blog about you see, not wanting to have post after post of misery and whining, not wanting to have entries where there aren't any photos. I haven't made much at all since I moved, certainly nothing worth taking pictures of. On top of that I've not been the most talkative egg in the carton, preferring to sit on my bed and do lots of thinking about art and where I want to go with my work (and life, to be a post-traumatic near-death cliche). And playing a shit ton of Mario Kart. 

But now I'm back! Because I've started to thaw in the creativity department, and because I missed you all terribly. For reals! And I shall prove it by showing you some perdy pictures.


Here are some amazing chevron amethyst beads from the local crystal shop- I though they were just your average new age shop, but it turns out the walls were covered with strings of gorgeous crystal beads, many of them in stones and cuts I'd not seen before. Serious A-grade stuff. I bought them about 3 weeks ago, and since then the shop has been gutted by fire which broke out in the shop next door. In a strange way I am more attracted to them because of this, they narrowly survived fatality- I guess I can relate. 


This is a necklace I bought from the thrift, then I wore it for a bit before I decided that wasn't my thing. Then I had a go at smashing them cause they're metal. The top one is smashed with the hole facing up, the bottom one is smashed with the hole on the side, so the bead splits halfway through and you start swearing and then think 'wait this is good' cause it ends up being this kewl Pac-man roadkill deal. I tried to burn it with my torch but my torch is a pathetic cigarette-lighter fuelled thing and it didn't do much. I plan to get a butane torch soon.


Here are some earrings I made and have since decided I don't like. The rose quartz stones are from the shop up the road. Amazing little inclusion in them, they don't look like pink glass like most rose quartz you get. Want more rock porn? From the same shop:

 astounding ginormous labradorite fatties- these are thumbnail sized- super chunky! Fab inclusions, colour variation and flash too. 

 Double terminated quartz beads, clear and strong.


These are the first earrings I made since I moved- I liked them okay till I got a little trigger-happy with the gold paint and put those stupid crosses on them. Why'd I do that?! Also this was the first time working with 18k gold wire. I don't know...real gold looks so cheap. Think I'll stick with bronze.

 Two focal pieces- both in hammered rusted steel wire I salvaged from a bin outside a thrift shop (I have heaps of it!) - again the stones are from up the road, an agate and a chevron quartz that I wrapped in copper solder tape and then coated in gold leaf in a lame attempt to avoid soldering it. I don't know why I'm so keen to avoid soldering, I have all the stuff and it's a guaranteed way to get a lot of the look I want. Weird brain.

 There's those smashed beads again- the middle thing is just random tinkering. The sticks on the left are facet-cut rings I got from the thrift shop: 

I just cut them open and hammered them. Dunno if you can tell on the photo but the light catches the cuts really well. Sparkly!

Ooh here's something fun- these beads were from the thrift as well- big chunky old macrame things. I carved one down to make it look more pod-shaped; the left bead is what the right bead used to look like.

After I carved it down, I stained it darker then drilled it across and hung it on some 14g wire:


I'm pretty happy with it, but I don't know if I'll use it in something. It might be too mechanical looking as it is. I like the wood part, I think the metal part needs more organic-ness.

Here are some chunky chaps I made up just because I wanted to make something. Picasso once said 'inspiration will come but she has to find you working' so every day I try to knock around with something, even if it's just stacking beads like this.

So that's my world right now. I'm still on the path, still strong, still upright. I don't know when I'll be listing new work again, whenever the Muse wakes. I can sense her stirring but there's still a lot to work out- I have certain ideas I want to explore and new skills to develop. I'm evolving again- and my pieces as a result are coming from a deeper well.


Incidentally enough, this was one of the songs I listened to over and over again in hospital; I found it an excellent counter to the morphine grip of my painkillers. That trip's another tale entirely.

10 comments:

mairedodd said...

wow!
so very much packed in here - life, work, beauty - all in that balanced sort of a way...
i think of you and send positive thoughts your way...
you are incredibly inventive, you know... love how to deconstruct... the beads you smashed so they look like pac men? i can see them with holes at the points and dangles coming off... and i really like the rose quartz earrings that you aren't so fond of - just sayin'!

darlene said...

how cleaver you are. you just taught me to be more inventive and see items in a different light. thanks for that! funny and after just smashing a bottle cap and fashioning a bead cap out of it. 'twas fun. you are grand and all will work when it sees fit. <3

Laura {Gypsea Tree} said...

I'm so happy to see you posting again. I recently came back to the blogging world myself and have been noticing a little "re-awakening" among many of my old friends. Your pictures are so are absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to see more. I think I could just gaze at those chevron amethysts all day...

Flotsam Tide said...

So good to see a blog post from you again, I have missed them, and your gorgeous photography. Love the second photo from the top with the twisted cord and random bits of shells and quartz and metal, these pieces lay so nicely together. The story about your rescued beads from the the crystal shop was deeply poignant. Keep delving in that well.

Beatnheart said...

well lots going on here...of course I had to listen to the music and wow on my favorite list now...never heard of these peeps...Love Them...thanks for turning me on to them....and you my lil lady friend are kicking ass and don’t forget it...Your so inventive...clever...these are not just empty words like “ good Job” your the real deal the world needs you...so take your time to see what’s next...you are working just not fabricating....yet.
cheers, love, peace, happiness and all the very best to the very best....

La Fileuse said...

Welcome back ! ^^ I can't wait to see your new stuff on sale. I'm saving money to buy something from your shop again (no joke ;3). I really believe in your skills !

Sidereal Day said...

It's so nice to see a post, I was just thinking of you the other day wondering how you were doing.
Your photos are so gorgeous, and I love the carved bead with the metal thingy.

Anonymous said...

Very inspirational and I can't wait to see the new shop.

Kathy Van Kleeck said...

I am not alone in celebrating your return! Searching out a new way of being and working in the world ... just can't be rushed, no way around it. Stay out of your head and in your heart and your path will be inspired and true.
Welcome back.
sending light filled blessings.

Kathy Van Kleeck said...

p.s. thanks for the Wailin' Jennys - I'm with you on hittin' replay.