DZI and Delight

Two wonderful things happened today. First of all I had my birthday lunch with Marlene, a fellow November girl. We had a fabulous Parisian style lunch at Sweet Laurette's in uptown Port Townsend. We enjoyed a late morning breakfast followed by a dessert that was a torte for two called " chocolate
oblivion ". Rich, small and dark, the torte was heaven on a fork. I say again, " Damn you, Marlene! "
"  Damn you for introducing me to such sin! "

Marlene and what is left of our dessert.

The second wonderful thing that happened today needs a background story. I have a customer that has been using beads from her lifetime collection and making necklaces. She has been donating the necklaces and brings them to me for advice, pricing help and the names of the beads. Last week she showed me a necklace made of beads that she purchased in Asia in 1970. I told her that I thought she had some real D'ZI beads from Tibet. These are precious beads and can be hundreds of years old. They are inscribed with special markings that have spiritual meanings to Tibetans. I have never been lucky enough to see a real one let alone hold one. I referred my customer to Robert Liu of Ornament magazine, who referred her on to a dealer in Bellevue who viewed her beads and said they were worth
$ 2000.00 each! When my customer came in this afternoon to tell me this, I was so excited for her! I also felt special just to have been able to identify the beads for her and then be correct about them. Is that a bead story come true or what?
All in all as I sit here in my comfy living room leather chair on this snowy, rainy and hailing evening; I can reflect back on the day and say it was good. It was fun. It was companionship and history and chocolate all rolled into one birthday celebration day.
 pronounced Zee) is a Tibetan 
AAl in allword to describe a patterned agate bead of mainly cylindrical or tabular shape called "Heaven's Bead" in Chinese. Such beads were etched black-and-white or brown-and-white, with symbols comprised of circles, ovals, square, waves stripes, lines and various other symbolic patterns. To the Tibetans, each of these symbols represents a specific meaning. They are precious possession to the Tibetan, with so many fascinating stories of its mystical power attributed to it.

It is the stormy evening before my 55th birthday. Time has gone by so fast and even now, with the days being shorter and shorter, time seems to rush by even faster. I still am marveling at the age I have attained. My mother in law was right ( do you hear that mom Morello ? ), my body says 55 and my mind says 20. Every waking day feels new to me, not new as in here is a new day but new as in this life is so dang fun! Seriously, fun. I am full of a tickling energy that is just delighted to be turning 55, to be gathering experiences and wisdom to warm me in my later years. I am filling a basket with memories to treasure on cold dark winter nights. I am lighting a bright fire inside to cheer me on rain soaked evenings like this one. Summer is not so far off that I can not wish for more winter. I love the winter holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. I love that I have a husband and children. I love my friends and the loving loyalty they give to me in return for the loving loyalty I give them. I particularly treasure the customers from my shop that have become friends over the 19 years that I have had Wynwoods. Blessings on this, my near 55th year, blessings to me, to you and yours and as always I am so grateful for this life.

Port Townsend in the Wind

Just soak in the beauty! We are so blessed to be living in this awesome place. Wind and rain forecast tonight for this Veteran's Day evening. I am feeling grateful for friends, family and all the people in my life who have honorably served their country.

11.11.11

So is this a lucky day? Would you get married with numbers like this? Buy a lotto ticket? I have been told that we humans look for patterns in things and that makes us feel like we have some control over the future or our lives. I have always been rather attached to the number eleven and it shows up in my life in numerous ways, from my birth month to the hour I was born to the second half of my birthweight. I look for the number eleven in every thing that I do. I don't NEED the number 11 to be there, I just feel comforted if it IS there. When I head out  ( of the fog my brain is in from painkillers and too much sleep yesterday ) to the studio, I am going to look for the 11s in my work. Eleven beads, findings, crystals, charms. Whatever. I won't need the number 11 but I will see if I can heed it. Whatever that means on this wacky 11.11.11 !

It's my Blogoversary! Another year has passed in the mere blink of an eye. I am older, the blog is older and I am still in love with the things I do. I was at a downtown merchant meeting the other day and the subject being discussed was passion. Do you still have a passion for your business and what you do? Was it a passion that first got you involved in your business? I said out loud with total self confidence at this meeting that I still love what I do, that I opened my shop because I like to make things and sell the things I make, that every single day, I am happy to get up and go to work.  My heart still flutters a beat when someone purchases a piece that I have made and says that they like it. Like it enough to own it, wear it. I have never tired of hearing someone say how much they like my work, my shop, my creativity.

And yesterday, sweet yesterday, a customer told me how much she enjoys reading my blog and seeing the pictures I post and oh, by the way, she likes my drawings. I am thrilled! I am delighted! I could have celebrated all afternoon long.

So as this blogoversary commences, I say THANK YOU! To all who have read or are reading this blog, thank you, from the bottom of my painter's heart to the tips of my bejeweled fingers. A journey of the creative spirit that I am happy, ever so happy to have company on.

Secrets

There is a secret world that lives in my garden. My poor, much neglected garden. Summer was first too wet and cold and then quickly turned to a heated oven and things passed away, faded from life. I had all but given up on my front flower beds. Jacob and his friend Ben did some aggressive weeding and pulled even plants that I liked that they saw no purpose for. Jacob figures, much like my father who he never met or knew, that if you can not eat it; it shouldn't grow. Out went color and ornamental grasses. Tossed to the compost pile were purple vinca, pink heathers, iris bulbs, and carnations. I am left with what I thought was a dead waste land of what once was.

I have made mental plans for next years' garden. The shame of being an artist without a pretty garden is too much to bear but on one recent rainy afternoon, hidden amongst the remains of a few plants, I found this -

a secret world all nestled  safely within. I think there could be fairies or little people living under here. Don't you?

White bronze.

Yellow bronze.

As silver prices rocketed to the stratosphere these last few years ( and really with no end in sight ) I found myself making charm designs bigger and bigger. I wasn't sure where that journey was taking me but I continued on creating large pieces. Finally, I have decided the time has come to cast them in alternative metals and I am making these pieces available for the first time! I am casting them in bronzes, red, yellow or white and I really like the results. They look almost like silver in the white yet at the same time have the patina of much older pieces. Now I can see that maybe the large pieces were not such a bad idea.