cold water

pure and heavy, like cold water

I recently had the honor of creating an engagement ring for one of my best friends. Over the past few years she has developed a passion for surfing that rivals my own. Her fiance is equally smitten, with her and the sea. Technically this was the most challenging jobs I've faced, and by far the most satisfying.

Before sitting at my bench I would feel anxious and unsure if I would ever finish the ring. It was a process that was completely new to me, and I was finding it very difficult. Though once I picked up my tool and began to meticulously carve the ring from a block of wax, my thoughts would drift to the lovers; images of laughter, surfing, love and their future together would play through my mind like an old silent film. Hours would pass as my fingers learned to work with these new materials.  So many happy thoughts were imbedded into the process. There was a moment at the end when the design just emerged, ta-da! like it had been hiding in there all along and I only needed to uncover it.  I was elated! The design, the love, the story all came together in one magical moment. Seriously, it really was that great.

This project re-invigorated my passion for making jewelry. It reminded me how much I love the challenge, the material, the personal connections.  I like to think that the energy put into something is carried within it,  and passed on to whomever takes ownership of the object.

This design incorporates two waves flowing around the band. Some swells are larger, stronger while others are smaller and gentle. Like love which can be intense and powerful, other times quiet. Good times and bad, always flowing together with the same purpose. They meet in the middle, wrapping up onto to diamond to find the perfect balance.

Using recycled white gold and recycled diamond of impeccable quality I love thinking that this ring will see these lovers through many days of offshore ground swell and small summer wind slop.

solstice

“Summer Solstice is one of the great turning points of the year, when the sun is at its peak and the days abound with the promise of life’s fullness. It is a serenely powerful time in which the beauty of the natural world can infuse our spirit, bring us alive to the present, and perhaps awaken a deeper sense of relatedness to the community of life, to the Earth, and to the cosmos.” – Paul Winter

This wasn't taken today.

Today we went to the beach, played in the surf, and soaked in the sun, spent time with family and went home salty, sandy and tired.

Rather it's a moment two weeks ago that feels like forever. Evenings of long sleeve shirts and dirt in the garden instead of plants. So much changes in such a short amount of time, it's simply a reminder to myself to take more pictures.

Oxygen

It's late May and the waters off the northeast coast of the Atlantic are starting to warm into the 50's. After a winter of infrequent surf sessions in frigid water it's finally time to test the temps and take off the hood. After checking a few spots my friend Heather and I found some waves that looked promising. We paddled out through the warm foggy mist, chatting about her upcoming wedding, climbing etc. It was late morning, soft rolling waist high swells with no one out. The fog was burning off and the smell...oh the smell. It doesn't happen too often but it's pure, fresh air. Blowing in from across the ocean for hundreds of miles. Sweet and thick,  picking up the life and energy of the water. It excites me, like the smell after it rains or before a thunder storm.

I was starting to feel anxious about not being in the studio working when I realized...THIS IS IT. Everything I work, struggle and stress for is happening right now, in this very moment. Duh, you may be thinking. The thing is I am perpetually broke, never feeling secure enough to comfortably allow myself these 'irresponsible' moments. Since I'm self employed I am always on. Work surrounds me every waking moment. There is always something I 'should' (see, that word again) be doing. Once I let this thought percolate for a bit I took a deep sweet breath...looked up at the pale yellow light beginning to peek through the clouds and felt the energy of the glassy green ocean flow through me and let go. Then let in the feeling of being truly thankful for this moment and all the wonderful elements that surround me.

Disclaimer: This happens every time I go surfing after a few weeks or months out of the water. I just forget. It's scary to think how easy it is to forget how healing and absolutely essential our passions are.

These last two images are from Wolfgang Bloch. simple. powerful. beautiful.

Simplify

Wolfgang Bloch

sim·pli·fy  (smpl-f) To reduce to fundamental parts

This week I'm starting to feel it. Like crossing the last item off my to do list that stretched out for months or years.

Simplify.

This word has been my mantra for that past year or so. Everything I've been doing has been in pursuit of this. To live in today rather than always waiting; for something to happen, to finish this or that, acquire a certain goal, making more money, nice weather.  It's becoming more natural rather than a conscious effort, which is nice since that is simple in itself.

I've begun to eliminate the extraneous elements that somehow, over time, creep into our lives to feel necessary. All of the material wants, rather than the needs. All of the obligatory "I should" rather than "I'm going to'" The people that create negative energy that are kept around out of obligation, guilt etc. The more I practice this the easier it becomes. Like eating sugar, the less you have it the less you crave.

By reducing and simplifying my desires I'm finding I reduce my expenses. This in turn allows more free time to create and enjoy, fully immerse myself in the mundane tasks that make up everyday. Today I moved 1450 pounds of manure with my neighbors instead of working on an order for a pair of purple wildflower earrings, and it didn't stress me out. Progress.