wild geese

the fabulous erin at rag and stone sent this poem to me a while back when i was really struggling. (funny, i just went to her blog to link it and she has a post about mary oliver there now.) the idea for this necklace has been brewing for a while now, and the with the arrival of all of those tinies, it became a reality.

wild geese

you do not have to be good.

you do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

you only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

tell me about despair, yours, and i will tell you mine.

meanwhile the world goes on.

meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

~ mary oliver ~

this poem speaks directly to my soul, on so many levels. it is such a perfect piece, such a fabulous expression of pain and hopefulness and connection, puts things into excellent perspective.

the sweetest wild goose, in flight, with tourmaline, iolite, kyanite, london blue topaz, and apatite stones set on top and apatite, kyanite, amazonite, austrian crystal, chalcedony, and iolite beads wire-wrapped into the chain.

my favorite part of the poem is this:

you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

(hazel took this photo.)

and you know what? i have been working so hard on that. the past couple of years of my life i have been really honing in on the things that bring me joy and embracing them and loving them and experiencing them whenever i can... quality time with my girls, the touch of my man, playing music and singing with him too, skiing and hiking and biking and moving my body, enriched time in my shop, live music (especially the felice brothers), traveling, long drives by myself, walking with olive and my ipod, getting into bed early with a good book, (or better yet, the bathtub), sleeping under the stars, hanging out at the local brewery with family and friends, MUSIC...

what does the soft animal of your body love?

are you loving it?

without darkness, chrysoprase

with the girls both sick last week and june home this week with pneumonia (so scary!) , i have not been out in the shop at all. june is doing much better now and today glenn came home early so i could work a bit. i finished this:

without darkness...

with chrysoprase, london blue topaz, peridot, kyanite, apatite, and turquoise

this beautiful trillion cut faceted chrysoprase is the last of my amazing chrysoprase pieces that patty brought back for me from tucson last year. and a teeny little faceted london blue topaz sits in the center of the flower.

as you know, one of my favorite quotes

i took a few photos of the process for you today.

also, i got an amazing new stone shipment in. all tinies:

...garnet, emerald, chrysoprase, prehnite, smoky quartz, rhodochrosite, tourmaline, peridot, rainbow moonstone, iolite, sapphire, kyanite, london blue topaz, apatite, aquamarine, amethyst, onyx, amber, carnelian, labradorite... my goodness...

new pieces

here's what i've been working on:

because i sold the three wishes ring to a magnificent lady, i made this ring for myself and i am NOT selling it.

LOVE it.

some stones i buy and i love them so much i can't part with them. then, after a while something happens that inspires me to finally make something with them and let them go. this is an absolutely gorgeous graveyard point plume agate, purchased from lost sierra about 2 years ago.

the other day i was listening to a.a. bondy out in the shop. i heard him say "the ash is just ashes; the dust is just dust" as i was looking at this stone and there it was. ashes and dust, that's just what i see in this beautiful stone. the depth is amazing.

i love this line. to me, it means who knows where we came from or where we are going, but let's live this life the best we can while we're here...

i know you've already seen these earrings, but i love how these three pieces look together. what i love about these is their imperfection and organic feel. when i first started making these i tried to make them perfect. i would do pieces over and over trying to get them just right. but then it occurred to me that flowers are not perfect. and now i embrace the "offness" of these blooms. each one is crafted one layer at a time and is totally one-of-a-kind and unique.

a finger fleur

with garnet

and a neck fleur

with a juicy green faceted prehnite

junebug is home sick today and olive is recovering from getting spayed yesterday (both are fast asleep in bed with me right now) but i will get these pieces listed in the etsy shop soon.

hope you are all well!

phoenix

i haven't gotten a chance to share our phoenix trip with you...

the girls love staying in a hotel.

the zoo was great!

and we spent most of our time in the pool.

olive even got to hang out there

we went for a nice city hike.

and when we got home my parents were here!

i needed some photos of me creating my jewelry for a show application, so my friend shannon took these. thought i'd share them with you.

how i love what i do...