Thursday, May 19, 2011

i am the ocean. i am the river.

i have been busy working on pieces for my upcoming show, lanterns, spiral earrings, stacking rings, charm necklaces, etc. i took a break from that the last couple of days to make these new pieces.

a new "maven soul" necklace,
with prehnite, rainbow moonstone, labradorite, and green tourmaline

amidst the stones, it has a single leaf, one of my tri-leaf pieces, and a sweet little green tourmaline flower dangling below.

maven means "one who knows". this necklace is to encourage understanding of your own soul. to promote exploration and excavation. to help you to discover what is real for you.



an "i am the ocean" ring,
with a gorgeous faceted labradorite


i am the ocean.
i ebb and i flow.
i give and i receive.
i know and i don't.
i trust and i fear.
i am the ocean.

this flash is amazing!

the ocean has been on my mind lately. living in the landlocked, usually very dry (except right now. it snowed today!) area that i do, i adore the ocean, the beach. i dream of it often. glenn and i just decided to return to this incredible beach for a family trip to celebrate my birthday this year!

and the "i am the river" ring,
with a beautiful crazy lace agate


i am the river.
i let go and i flow.
i gurgle, i ripple, and i roll.
i trust and i trickle.
i release and i believe.
i am the river.


in the absence of the ocean, i desperately appreciate the river that runs through my town, the dolores river. it is a constant soothing presence in my life and i don't know what i would do without it. i love the contrast between the ocean and the river. the ocean is back and forth, give and take, in and out, here and there. it always stabilizes, always equalizes itself, what it gives it takes back, what it lets go, it retrieves, an unending cycle. the river just goes. it blindly flows where it knows it's meant to go. it lets go and it releases and it goes, no looking back, no reservations. which are you right now, the ocean or the river?

these are all on their way to the shop right now.

we had planned to camp this weekend, with some dear friends. but once again, the weather is not cooperating. it is freezing cold and snowy. may is malfunctioning this year. i just want to be warm! we'll see what it does tomorrow and decide. i hope you all have spectacular weekends, whatever your weather and whatever you do...

6 comments:

Sierra Keylin said...

WOW!! the rings are absolutley spectacular, I have been dreaming of creating something with a wave pattern on it since learining to work in silver...I've been living in Hawaii for a few years now, and the ocean is a constant inspiration...however my self taught skills combined with being new to the craft have combined to make it a difficult project. I have tried a few different versions and the layers refused to solder together uniformly...(patience, and practice). These are so beautiful, and the waves really capture the energy of the water! Ok, that was quite a rant, sorry for going off like that...I guess your creations really made an impression on me! Aloha

Anonymous said...

These are lovely. All your work is, but these especially resonate with me, perhaps because of the water theme. Sorry your plans have been canceled--have a good weekend anyhow!

kristi smith said...

thank you so much, ladies!

sierra, i first did the ocean design in this necklace: http://silversparrowdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/some-people-buy-concert-t-shirts.html

and have done it a couple of times since. let me know if there's anything i can do to help your process, m'dear.

and liz, i appreciate it! we have decided to camp only tomorrow night; the weather is supposed to be better...

6512 and growing said...

Oh man, that ocean ring is gorgeous Kristi. I love that you took time away from your work of stacking rings, lanterns etc...to whip out a little masterpiece.

Sierra Keylin said...

Thanks so much for the offer oh assistance, that is really very sweet of you! I just can't seem to get the layers flush so that the solder flows evenly...and not sure if I should place the solder pieces between the layers or at the edges so they flow in toward the seam? (does that make sense?)...I hammer the heck out of the layers to make them as flat as possible, (with the rawhide mallet), but they never seem to be just flat enough to be even :( Happy friday, have a blast camping!

kristi smith said...

sierra, i am so sorry i never responded to this comment again. have you tried "sweat soldering"? that's what i do. you place tiny pieces of solder all over the back of the piece you are soldering on top. then you flow the solder, place it on top of the bottom layer, make sure everything's lined up just right, and flow it again. please e-mail me if you'd like more specifics!