Summer Crush

Summer Crush
Pendant
Sterling Silver (Antique Patina)
Orange Carnelian, Prehnite, Green Tourmaline

This pendant was inspired when I was playing with materials in the studio during this last part of summer, moving stones and objects about in combinations on the work table, listening to an R.E.M. station on Pandora as well as listening to the materials for some connection to speak to me measuring. 

The songs Orange Crush and Crush With Eyeliner came on in rather close succession and that ancient mammalian Pattern Recognition skill in the brains of hunter gatherers kicked in spotting this orange carnelian cabochon cut and polished last year.  These song is such a summer song to me, and the greens of Life in summer, the long leaves of the willows or spherical park acacia's swaying in the breeze, the summer grasses
. . . I began to create a piece of art with words first: Orange Crush, Summer Grass . . . and unrequited infatuated summertime love comes in with Orange Crush in the Summer . . . from the Crush With Eyeliner inspiration of hot, cool, hip love interests . . .

Despite the Orange Crush's alleged references to Agent Orange and Michael Stipes fathers service in Viet Nam, and to me it will always be mixed up in my mind with Crush With Eyeliner (R.E.M. just has this Orange Crush connection) an always invoke meanings associated with Summer, Orange Crush soda, lying in the summer grass, bouyant sensations, bubbly-ness, brightness and birds (Emerald Green Swallows) flying over me, and how I loved flying and dreams of flying and these little birds were like flying dreams that I, high on summer in a country just like heaven, could imagine soaring both over me as well as in my expanded wild child heart . . .

"(Over me, not over me)
Comin' in fast, over me"

so then i began creating leaf or feather forms and it all started to come together, shifting the leaves or feathers to "bird" them up a bit and placing the bail in a way that the piece will hang at a swooping angle lending the piece movement or a still-life spirality,  brought about as much of my inspiration and vision to the piece as I felt possible . . . then the small green Tourmaline was added as an element of eye, inner eye of the dreamer, and the shine of the swallows with the darker green bringing the swallows green depth and the deep "green" of the inner creative to create a form both shining and dark and capable of reflecting and channeling light. 

Pendant measures 1&1/4" x 1&3/4" and the necklace or chain in the photos is not included.

"dark earth blossom" featured in Etsy Treasury

Mori Kemen Lokte

This mythical piece is currently included in an Etsy.com Treasury compiled by the Gufobardo shop. The collection holds a variety of wonderful handmade items with a nice theme that one can feel when looking through the items contained there. They would all compliment each other very well.

...dark & mysterious, Elvish but darkly so, Sauronic yet beautiful...there is a touch of everything in this piece, it is very earthen and metallic with touches of underworld subtlety, organic, even floral unfurling in the upper beaten brass portion . . . speaks of power, yet also grace . . . a sense of tremor and trial, but also of flow . . . the iron hold of deaths surety and the ethereal triumph of new life's promise . . .



This ring began as a found bullet casing.

Once beaten into a new form it became the base of a silver bezel with black patina holding a Serpentine cabochon in it's dark embrace.



A gnarly and complimentary wood-grain textured silver band with a matching black patina was affixed giving this piece a very unique character.

"mori kemen lokte" is Tolkienian Elvish for "dark earth blossom"

It is a size 8


The Treasury can be viewed at Etsy.com at the link below:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=94812

"MAKE ME AN OFFER SPRING CLEANING SALE!"

WELCOME TO MY

"MAKE ME AN OFFER SPRING CLEANING/DREAM MANIFESTATION SALE!"

I am in need of some extra cash to fund a few of my dream seeds and I am trying to manifest it in a short amount of time. As a gesture of gratitude to the Universe (that's you) I am asking that if you are interested in any piece of mine (yes, any!) that you please write to me on etsy or on facebook and make me an offer (I'm serious!).

I am in an EXTREMELY generous mood because I am seeking EXTREME generosity from the Universe.

Like they say "It doesn't hurt to ask."

Art Outreach: Humanitarian Help For Haiti

So much of my work involves the beauty of the earth it's colors, textures, the senses which come alive and sing secret songs when particular elements and attributes are composed in a different arrangements.

The beauty of this has never escaped me and has in fact informed much of the work I do with a unifying and connecting sensibility. It adds meaning to the work I do. I see myself as one of those integral and intertwined elements of this one big song, this uni-verse.



In Honor of this, 10% from all purchases from my shop will be donated in the name of the purchaser to a recognized or specified verifiable non-profit dedicated to humanitarian efforts and relief in Haiti's devastated Port Au Prince region.



Your purchase will have manifold levels of satisfaction as the things we do will have a global enhancing effect, an act of positive direct solidarity and an affirmation of humanities highest human values, that of love and care of others.

Thank you,

Dave

Yu: Attuning to Spiritual Inspiration & Positivity through Community

Yu

This pendant emerged spontaneously through some experimentation. After considering it I realized that it reminded me of the hexagrams of the I Ching oracle. This pendant looks like hexagram 16: Yu, with an expanded or magnified fourth line representative of "the minister" who is a spiritual adviser. This is where the turquoise sits.

I Ching Hexagram: 16
Name: Yu.
Keyphrase: Enthusiasm.
Formed By The Trigrams: Thunder over Earth.
General: Revitalize your spirit through celebration.
Love: Give your partner a pleasant surprise. Suggest an outing or trip.
Business: Take time to celebrate your business successes.
Personal: Throw a seasonal party to celebrate the cycles of nature.

Turquoise is one of the oldest protection amulets, and was also known as a symbol of wealth in many ancient cultures. It usually carries the meanings of strength, protection from harm, psychic sensitivity and connection to the spirit world. If given a turquoise by a loving friend, that stone would protect the wearer from negative energy and bring good fortune. Turquoise is the symbol of friendship. It also brings peace to the home.

Turquoise carries great wisdom of basic truth within it. It is one of the oldest stones known. This is a stone that a person must learn to attune to instead of the stone attuning to the person.

Overview: Yu is related to raising the energy of not only yourself but of those around you. Yu suggests our existence and environment can be suddenly changes through celebration. We should each use our strong leadership to inspire those around us. Don't underestimate the power of shared enthusiasm, it will help increase confidence which will help to withstand any future difficulties.

The thunder that powers new growth is above the earth or beyond the realm of the physical or the material. The energy of innovation is free and storming through the world. For the ancient people, kings, warriors and shamen, this was the inspiration for music that channeled and focused their people's liberated energies.

It speaks to me of the power of attuning with the environment and celebrating or sharing enthusiasm to help the self and others tap into the energy of innovation and inspiration, to realign with our spiritual dimension and thus affect changes in our environment and existence.

The attuning or aligning our selves with our spiritual nature and providing a leadership of ourselves and others which spontaneously manifests in celebration and enthusiasm or positive energy can help us bond together, solve our problems, meet our challenges and bring peace to our home which in the big picture i see as the earth, the universe . . .our existence.

Handmade Holidays

Recently these earrings were presented in an Etsy.com Treasury collection alongside many other fine and beautiful items. The title of the treasury was Lift Your Voice (in praise of handmade).

below is a link to the Etsy Treasury
Lift Your Voice In Praise of Handmade

It was created by Barbe Beaty, an eco-friendly precious metals artisan and Founder and Facilitator of a community based workshop, "Promise Project" (http://www.promiseproject.com), for girls/women from various populations.

"During these sessions, participants engage in the design, hand-sculpting, and hand-finishing of a fine silver token which symbolizes a personal pledge made to themselves reflective of where they‘ve been, where they are, and where they wish to be on their path through life."

Through her art and her community work, she hopes to continue reach out, enlightening others to the thought that "We are all artists in the sense that we each have a story unique to tell, and we each have the ability to "design" (shape and influence) our existence."

More links to Barbe Beaty and her work

jewelry website :: www.njiastudios.com
community workshops website :: www.promiseproject.com
life tidbits :: www.soulyyours.blogspot.com
Follow her on Twitter :: njiastudios
Proud member of Etsy Metal Clay :: www.etsymetalclay.com
Proud juried member of Trunkt :: www.trunkt.org/njiastudios

Mycologia: A Mushroom Hunter's Testament

I was raised on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, a temperate rain coast which provided a rich experience of exploration and discovery. My earliest memories are hardwired with towering and benevolent Western Red Cedars, rich Edenic gardens of mossy nurse logs, shimmering alder groves and verdant glens of tall ferns. It was a warm,fertile and moist environment, ideal for my growth and blossoming. It was also the ideal environment for mushrooms.

I was raised in a mushroom hunting family. At varying points in the cycle of seasons my family would take knives and recycled bread bags and head out into the moist and fertile forests to hunt mushrooms. These forays often found my whole family hiking and then spreading out to comb the woods.

Humans are good at this hunting and gathering, we have the ability to scan a scene with a particular form in mind. Our brains can scan the environment and process the information quickly and recognize the particular pattern of attributes we are searching for . . . if those patterns are present.


Mushrooms have a general season in which they will fruit, but they are particular about if and when. Something I have learned through mushroom hunting as well as growing mushrooms myself is that they fruit when the conditions are right. If the moisture levels are right, and the temperature is within a certain range, and the lighting is just right they will fruit. Without fail. However, if even one of these elements is off, they will not fruit, no matter what time of year it is. This was evident when my family would return to a spot where we found many mushrooms the previous season to find that there were none this year, the conditions having changed slightly.

I have taken this bit of mycological wisdom and often applied it to my life. I have often repeated to myself the mantra of "When the conditions are right, it will fruit." It is simillar to the saying of "If you build it, they will come" from the movie Field of Dreams. Often when we desire change in our lives, we can liken it to the fruition of an intention. We must allow the fruiting to occur by creating conditions which are right for it to blossom. Often all it takes is acts of allowance, removing obstacles to the intended results manifestation.


And so, mushrooms and their process have been great teachers to me throughout my life. Their testament to the way of nature, the science of life, the Tao if you will have enriched my life. Sometimes with a peace of mind at times in knowing that when conditions are right things will fruit, and other times their wisdom has influenced me to shift parts of my life that are in my control, to, in otherwords, create conditions more condusive to the fruition of that which I intend to see blossom in my life.

This Companion Ring "MycoChromatic" is also titled "mycologia" and is a testament to my love of mushrooms and intended to honor and remind one of the wisdom they speak of. The Smaller side of the companion ring which is a rounded form meant to appear like a young mushroom button also has a highly polished top wherein the wearer can see himself reflected.