...among the white storks...

you probably remember the video for "her eyes dart round" by the felice brothers that i posted awhile ago? this piece is to honor that song. (the video's down below in case you'd like to watch it again.)

ooh my love is a light as a dove

and her skin is fair and dark is her hair.

and her eyes dart round and fall on the ground

and her lips move along to an old country song.

well down south you'll find among the high pines

an old liquor store where we danced on the floor

oh the light on the wall, it brightens the hall

but the room in the back is quiet and black.

what keeps me alive is the green in her eyes

and the sweet distant drone of her voice on the phone

can i hear in death your voice and your breath?

can i hear them sounds in life underground?

(prehnite, iolite, aquamarine, and smoky quartz)

lightly she walks among the white storks.

and craning her neck, she steps from the deck.

could i bow in the sand to your lily white hand?

can my head gently rest in your lily white breast?

(yes, i accidentally put "gently"...)

i've made this piece for the upcoming durango arts festival. i am planning to make several more such "statement pieces". what do you think?

also, thank you so much to all of you who left comments or sent e-mails and convos regarding my hazel post. it really truly, sincerely means so much to me to have your lovely feedback. i appreciate you so much!

can it really be?

(this is totally long-winded and rambling and you might not want to read it...)

my dear dear sweet firstborn precious hazel starts kindergarten on monday! it is so cliche', but i am finding myself quite devastated. i cried all morning today. how can it be? it feels as though my time with her is over. (partly why i started crying was from reading my dear friend, rachel's writing about it here.)

and i realized i have a lot of guilt around motherhood. (does every mother?) i feel like i started this business, just over two years ago, so that i could make a living doing what i love and be at home with my girls. and i have done both. but have i been the best mother i could be while running said business? would they have been better off with a mother who worked outside of the home and then gave them her full attention when she was home? has it been harder for them to have me at home, but not 100% available to them? i just don't know...

what i do know is that everyone says that once they start kindergarten, they are graduating from high school. and i know this must be the truth because i simply cannot believe how fast these first five years have gone. so, without going in to too much detail, i am changing things around a bit. (this might be waaaaayyy too much information; feel free to skip or skim.) earlier this summer, against my better judgement, i let hazel convince me that she should go to FULL-DAY kindergarten. five days a week, seven hours a day. (she's just barely five; that seems crazy!) and so we developed a plan where hazel would go five full-days and june would go to her day care two full days and then since glenn has fridays off and could be with june, i would have three solid days a week to work. this would mean that weekends could once again be free for family time. that is how i decided that full-days were okay.

but now that it is here, it seems i need to shift my priorities around a bit. i have spent the last two years working really hard, probably harder than i have ever worked in my life, on silver sparrow designs. perhaps to the detriment of other areas of my life. and i have made the decision now to shift that focus for the next year. it kind of seems like the last year that i really have to be with hazel, and even june; she will start pre-school next year. so, the new plan is that hazel will go five half-days. june will go two full-days. this means that i will have two mornings a week to work, plus fridays. weekends will still be for family time, with the occasional sunday to work. it also means that i will have two mornings a week with just junebug, and two afternoons a week with just hazel. this seems priceless to me. hazel has the next 12 years to go to school full days. i have the rest of my life to work. i have made a vow, both to myself and silently to my girls, that for this school year, i will work less and mother more.

so hazel and i talked (glenn said he supported whatever we decided) and at first she was pretty adamant about full days, because that's what most of the other kids are doing, and they do p.e., art, etc. in the afternoons. but when i told her about the afternoons and promised her that two days a week we would get time together, just the two of us, she immediately changed her mind. so now, for the first time in a while, my mind is a bit at ease about the whole situation. i know i will be a basket case on monday when i drop her off, but at least it will only be for 4 hours instead of 7.

do you have any kindergarten feelings/stories to share? (and do you think i am crazy?)

heaven and earth and a little change too

i had another good long day out in the studio today.

a "be the change" necklace

with a truly stunning labradorite

the flash has yellow, gold, green, blue, pink, and even purple

and i made this "heavenly" ring, with pietersite

this stone is crazy!

pietersite, among other things, is said to contain the "keys to the kingdom of heaven".

i also made some pieces for the gallery

and some wedding bands.

i've made a lovely new on-line acquaintance who has been giving me lots of new music, mostly live shows~ felice brothers, bright eyes, and a lot of new bands too. very exciting! i was telling him how grateful i was and told him that music was one of three things that really satisfies my soul. i would love to know what are the top three things that satisfy yours! please leave a comment and tell me. mine are:

1. honest, true connection with other folks, whoever and whatever form it takes

2. honest, true creation, whatever form it takes

3. honest,true music, whatever form it takes, but especially live

in other news, i had a crazy reaction happen with the chemical i use to oxidize gold today and have taken my gold wedding bands out of the shop until i do some investigating into the matter... also, the durango arts festival is coming up the weekend of september 11th, so i am getting busy making stuff for that. (remember moab?)

moments from the weekend...

i had a beautiful day in the shop today.

i got to make four pieces, from start to finish, today. it was a great feeling, as i have not really had a day like that in a while.

this is the "all growth" bracelet.

it is comprised of silver, prehnite with epidote, rutilated quartz, and turkish dendritic chalcedony. i made every single piece of this bracelet, the chain, the clasp, all 43 solder joints...

each of the stones is light and lovely, with a bit of dark mixed in.

like its sister ring, it has henry miller's "all growth is a leap in the dark" on the back.

(yes, i am continuing with my theme as of late...)

it feels so nice and weighty on my wrist.

and i made a new "flapper" bracelet.

this one has a gorgeous checkerboard moonstone, labradorite, crazy lace agate, and a small beautiful, natural, pale, faceted lavender chalcedony

grace. tranquility. love.

also, another "griffin" necklace

with a lovely chalcedony

and this here is the "contentment" ring.

with a fantastic amethyst

although you cannot see it, sadly, this stone cracked while i was setting it. (it seems to happen to the best of them.) the crack is perfectly harmless, but because it is there, i will be offering this one at a reduced rate.

well, there you have it, i am off to list them in the shop now.