Tag: knotting

My Tired Heart

My Heart And I – Poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning 6th and 7th verse

VI.

Tired out we are, my heart and I.
Suppose the world brought diadems
To tempt us, crusted with loose gems
Of powers and pleasures ? Let it try.
We scarcely care to look at even
A pretty child, or God’s blue heaven,
We feel so tired, my heart and I

VII.
Yet who complains ? My heart and I ?
In this abundant earth no doubt
Is little room for things worn out :
Disdain them, break them, throw them by
And if before the days grew rough
We once were loved, used, — well enough,
I think, we’ve fared, my heart and I.

heart
knotted long jasper necklace

 

Winds of Change

spirals
Long jasper necklaces 8mm to 10mm beads, knotted on silk cord and 8 gauge copper spirals

When I make pieces, whether painting, jewelry or collage, the impulse comes from a reaction to the materials at hand…it’s what I see in front of me at the moment. That’s why the studio almost always looks like a bomb went off in it. The scatter of available materials lets me see, all at once, what is available to play with. When everything is tucked away neatly, inhibition sets in and I feel blocked.

Right now the studio is covered in stone beads and knotting cord.  I feel an almost oppressive urge to knot stone beads (cool stone, self soothing, rhythmic movements) into long necklaces, with spiral focal pendants. The movement in the spiral symbolizes change, turbulence and transition which is something that’s pressing on my consciousness relentlessly. These are turbulent times. It’s windy out there.

The colors triggering the impulse are earthy, and subdued as if to counter the wild emotion I am witnessing in the political digital universe.

Bear with me. I suspect new themes will emerge after November 8.