Bubbling Brook

The Cabochon was pretty on the screen but when it arrived and I opened the box it took my breath away….. when it touched my palm I was instantly transported, I felt like I was being sucked into a tunnel backwards.

I'm 12, we summered in the mountains.

I loved it there!

The world was a safer place then. My favorite thing to do was to sneak away and spend the day in the forest. From the moment I stepped under the canopy of the trees I could breathe again, I felt that this was home. Lying on a soft bed of moss the scent of the forest enveloped me. It was a mixture of the clean smell of damp earth, the fern that I had brushed past, leaves, and pine needles, it was an elixir. I melted into the surroundings and became the forest. Lying on my belly I studied the beautiful bright green moss with it's delicate pattern, on a really lucky day a Red-Spotted Newt would stroll by, the contrast of the 2 colors was dazzling. A small ground pine grew creating a miniature forest scene, the microcosm in the macrocosm. When I rolled onto my back and looked up the enormity of the trees took my breath away and I was transfixed by the beauty of them. Sunlight tried to make its way down to the understory where I could hear squirrels running to and fro, somewhere further I could hear deer walking, I was sleepy now and in the distance my lullaby was the bubbling brook.

Bubbling Brook pendant featuring a Cabochon of Indonesian Opalized wood, accent stones of turquoise, chalcedony and London blue topaz set in Argentium silver with fine silver bezels.

November Vine

It is the shortening of the day that signals trees when it is time to lose their leaves and rest. This is also the time when the beauty of natures hard work is revealed. Now the grace of sweeping vines, entwined on branches can be seen. The winter winds begin to blow, the first snowflakes fall while droplets of water freeze and look like pearls. The evening sky takes on a vibrant royal blue, deep and mesmerizing. A large Spectrolite with it's sweeping shape, a white freshwater pearl and the last leaf of November hand fabricate from Argentium silver, fine silver bezel. Another in the

series of Leaf and Vine pendants.

Simplicity

When my sons were little they never ever used a toy the way it was intended. It was completely taken apart ad totally repurposed, used in multiple ways. Their lesson was not lost on me, they taught me well They were very imaginative and very inventiv , it was a quality all 3 still have and that I admire

They are grown now and me, I'm not a 'fancy woman' I chose simplicity over complexity every time. Life is complex enough so why add to that.....I love making jewelry, simple.

I have an array of hammers but I use my favorite 4 dailly.

I don't have the fancy stone setting gadget (though I dream of having one). I use either a multi-positional vise that is about 30 years old, though new to me to set ring stones.

For the other pieces I use my wonderful steel block. It is big, solid and beautiful no bounce back! To set my stones on it I use masking tape to hold down my pieces down, leather scraps if I need to support parts of the piece. I also use this block to level a piece, to flatten a part of the design, to chase a design, to hammer a little element and sometimes for a WIP photo op!

For me to buy a tool it must be quite extraordinary and of course multi-purpose. Most of my favorite new tools are made for me by my friend Keith Keefer; a set of bezel pushers, although I never push a bezel I hammer set the stones, my precious steel block and some of his amazing stamps. Like my other tools these too are multi purpose!

Each tool has several uses they make my work easier, faster and most important they give me the ability to better express myself in metal!

Making a piece of jewelry is not a solitary thing it is a symphony of players each has a vital role. The vision of the lapidarist when they cut a stone, the tool makers vision when he creates his tools and then the metalsmith who is inspired by all these people!

I may sit in my studio alone, but I sit in gratitude of so many.

Thank you to each and everyone of you I couldn't do it without you!