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Growing Stronger

Yesterday I made a new piece called “Angel Sean Is Strong”.  It was created around the words of Kahil Gibran  “Out of Suffering Grows The Strongest Souls”.   Powerful eh?  I can already see a few of you feeling a bit uncomfortable.  Suffering?  Who wants to even think about struggle? OK.  It’s not one of my favorite places to be either.  The thing is… I don’t think that one needs to grovel in angst to grow stronger.  I do believe that finding a way through challenge and adversity can definitely temper something deep inside.  I think it’s the process of moving through that makes us stronger.  Maybe it’s how you pull yourself together enough to ask for help.  Or being brave and writing down a plan of who gets what in a divorce.  Every one of us will face struggles throughout our life.  Some will be more painful and challenging than others.  We can choose to curl up and caress that pain or we can get up and start growing through it.  Hopefully along the way we’ll find strength, honesty, empowerment, and maybe even a helping hand.

 

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Getting This Blog Going

This is the beginning of a new adventure for me. I’ve never written a blog before but have wanted to for quite some time. I hope to share bits and pieces of my world. What kind of art I’m creating… what my thoughts are about the painting I’m working on… the process of creating a piece of jewelry.  I’m thinking that with a little time this blog will shape itself into something that pulls you in and makes you want to hang out for a while.  At least this is what I hope for.

So what kind of artist am I you ask…? I don’t see myself as the norm… and I kind of like that about myself. I have always created paintings/jewelry/sculpture from my gut… my heart. Often from the deep caverns inside my in. The need to create is like having another part of me that needs to move, breathe, and have a voice! Sometimes this voice is loud and obnoxious and other times it’s quiet and pensive.

When I paint… I usually find a comfortable space with a watercolor board, thick arches watercolor paper (rough), and my favorite pallet full of color. Sculpting takes place most anywhere. I love to have fresh clay in my hands. LOVE IT! Creating jewelry is done in my art studio on a jewelry bench that makes me feel good all under. Usually jewelers have a very “clean” work space. They might plan out a project and then gather the exact materials needed to create the piece. My workbench would not be considered the norm. I have containers of rocks, typewriter keys, bottle caps, broken jewelry, measuring sticks, and on. I also have an area for Sterling and PMC faces, wings, bodies, and misc pieces. Most people probably don’t leave their scrap silver laying on the workbench… but it is part of my process. I usually start making a new piece by looking at what’s on my bench.  I rummage through the misc silver choosing a focal piece to work around and then find wings, faces, arms, and legs. Sometimes it comes together quickly and other days I spend more time deciding what the end piece will be. I have several little sketchbook journals that are full of possible designs and ideas and carry one of these with me wherever I go. Here are a couple of photos of the workbench where I create my jewelry.

My Studio Bench
My Creative Chaos

 

These are some of the pieces I created to use in my jewelry.

 

Creativity In Containers