.finding softness.

I was driving through the vast wheat fields yesterday and the expansiveness felt like a prayer

That some how the limitlessness of  h e r e  was a prayer that all beings may be free

I don’t know how to describe what I feel when I’m in vast spaces. It’s a practice for me to witness the radical openness of nature, to see my own reflection or maybe the stark contrast of my limitedness I burden myself with 

I arrived at deep lake to kayak and there was a softness, a gift of new eyes from the wheat field prayers - 

the glimmering light

the applause of dancing leaves

the chorus of birdsong

the reflection of above on the life below the water 

Asking:

How can I hold more softness?
How can I listen deeper?
How can I afford more grace to myself and world?
How can I say thank you more?
How can I hold my joy + grief with tenderness?
How can I be more free?

.studio flow.

 This weekend I spent time in the jewelry studio for the first time in a long time. The energy just arrived out of nowhere and I listened. I spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning working out two ideas, in a flow. It felt refreshing to feel the familiar flow and transcendence of working with metal where time seems to disappear. Coming back to the studio reminded me that things take the time they need. Don't worry abut another season, just be here and know it always keep moving. Sometimes it comes back and sometimes it take us somewhere else, but the time is always right. 

During my last week using my residency at the Grunewald Guild, I was focused on iterating design ideas inspired by the river. This has been a studio practice in the past, taking an idea in one medium and translating it to another. So that's what I did, I took the fiber ideas around the river, flow, and current into post earrings. I love the movement that came out of the pieces and want to try making a couple of these to see where they land and evolve.

The other piece I made was from a rock found at one of my favorite places, Ancient Lake, an incredible vast coulee formed by the Missoula floods. I wanted to make a piece that mirrored the coulee and the open - expansiveness. 

.driving through the clouds.

We've had such low pressure this last week with heavy fog and cloud cover, the hills were almost hidden this week. I took these pictures yesterday morning and a video. It felt like I was driving through the clouds.

.telling the story in a new way.

I've been in a jet lag haze for several days and I'm finally coming out of it. I'm excited/anxious to get back in the studio and create, start to process this time. I sat down yesterday morning with all my amazing beach stones from Lagos and started to sketch some ideas. I liked the ideas but it wasn't much different than what I had been designing before Portugal. I realized that I am ready to challenge myself more. I started to think about movement/flow of ideas. I started imagining creating a special collection of pieces incorporating the hand-selected stones from Lagos. It felt like a lot. I was hesitant to even start sketch ideas - it didn't feel right. 

Friends have asked what Portugal has done for my jewelry - has(will) it changed my jewelry? Portugal changed the way I view/interact with the process of making and designing jewelry. It reminded me of the lost element of storytelling in each piece. 

Portugal made me fall in love with with light + shadows. The story of elements: the sun + time of day + building (canvas). To me light + shadows are a reminder that all is I see is coming from within me. We are constantly reflecting ourselves onto the world, that's perspective. 

My jewelry is a story. I have to learn how to tell that story in a brand new way, that's mine to figure out how. Portugal just gave me the light + shadows to see it.

.winter forging.

 

 I went on a walk last week and found this amazing willow tree. The yellow branches are my favorite color - so I collected some. I love watching art unfolding itself in its own time. I am finishing up my first wood project, a table and realized that these willow branches will make for a perfect natural fiber to include in the weaving. I went back today to collect more. I'm excited to share it with you, soon.

.morning walk.

I've been staying outside of the city for a few days. There was this magical nature trail just 2 minutes from the house - I woke up yesterday morning and went for a slow walk. It was so grounding to start the day out - observing - with no one around. I took the path to a big grassy field - I was engulfed in the sweet silence only broken by the birds calling across the field to each other. I haven't been wrapped up in silence in a long time, I need it. There's so much inspiration in the silence - in feeling overcome by a space. 

"All we need is the morning. As long as there is sunrise, then there is the possibility that we can face all of our misfortunes, celebrate all our blessings, and live all our endeavors as human beings."

Deng Ming-Dao