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A Mermaid's  Harvest
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Vermin or Messenger?

12/26/2015

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I live in an old house, built in 1937. So, as with all old houses, at times it can become obvious that there are unwanted visitors of the rodent variety more so than usual. I say unwanted because it is most often associated with uncleanliness when we see them most and they usually are visiting my kitchen in the cold of the winter months. I may be confusing them with the rat, but that's ok. I am not a fan of mice in my home even if they are cute little creatures. But they are a fact of my life. 

This winter I have seen them more often than in years before. You would think with the mild weather we've been having so far this season they would still be out frolicking in the fields and barn outside my home, but no. I have seen them, or evidence of them, in almost every room in my house. That is what is so unusual to me.

Then it dawned on me. I am a believer in animal spirits and their symbolism. Call me a kook if you must, but there always seems to be a connection or a creative influence inside of me when I notice energy sources that seemingly cross my path on purpose. Maybe it's just my creative subconscious that makes these connections but it never fails to either start or end in a new piece of art work.

As I said before, in the past the mice just seemed to visit my kitchen where there is an abundance of food for them to find. Yet this year, along with the kitchen, I have either seen them or evidence of them in my sewing room, my studio and my bedroom. Neither of which has any food or remnants of food in them. So this afternoon, when I was contemplating what could be done about their invasion into my space, I had an epiphany...maybe I should look up their believed attributes as an animal spirit and this is what I found:

Mouse: Attention to details and examining closely, fastidious, may be getting too locked into details or may need to see them more closely now, need to focus on where your attention is. Are you too quiet or too loud? Mouse can teach lessons of stealth and invisibility for sometimes great strength lies within quietness. Time to be aware of new discoveries and possibilities. Listen to your introspection and intuition.
 
Regardless of whether I am just a nut case or if there is a message to which I should be attuned, I find their symbolism fitting to my thought process at the moment. I am at a crossroads of where to focus my attention and how to best suit my creative tendencies. I fully believe I am on the right track but there are some details I know I need to adjust. Just how I will do that is to be seen...

...if I'm quiet, I just might hear the little mouse roar.

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Prayer Feathers

12/17/2015

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I've been making prayer feathers the last three days from copper and sterling. I've had orders for 6 of them. Each one has turned out a little bit different as is the appeal of handmade jewelry. As I sat working on them I couldn't help but think about each person they were for, some I know, some I don't. I thought about the reasons for which they are being given. With each feather I had a unique experience in completing it. Each feather seemed to refuse to be exactly like the last by challenging my skill. Maybe not so much my skill but my patience. And so they are.

Prayer Feathers

Native Americans believed prayers and messages were carried to the Great Spirit on the wings of eagles and other fine birds.

Prayer feathers, either single or bundled are used by an individual to offer a prayer to the Great Spirit. The feathers carry your words, thoughts and feelings to the Great Spirit. Each time you look at your prayer feather, your prayers are again sent in your behalf to the Great Spirit in the Heavens.
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Eternal

12/17/2015

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Eternal
This mermaid is named Eternal. She symbolizes the sanctity of marriage in our societal spectrum. The simplicity of a golden ring is enough in itself to symbolize the eternal love we vow to hold for the partner we choose in life. But it is through our love, joy, laughter, simple silence, pain, suffering, sadness, and all of the other emotions of our human condition that intertwine between two people that we find profound and infinite love for one another. A way of loving that cannot be defined by any outside influence; only by those who choose each other.

This is a limited edition of twenty five giclee prints. The image is 9 1/2" by 14 1/2" printed on 10" by 15" Moab Somerseat Museum Rag 300 paper. The original mixed medium art was done in graphite, watercolor and metallic gold acrylic,  with applied glass beads and marbles, ribbon, wire mesh and tulle hand sewn to Arches Cold Press watercolor paper. Sections of the finished image were cut out and backed with paper depicting light reflecting on water.

They are available only in my store on this website and will be available at my upcoming shows in 2016. Contact me if you are interested in a framed and matted print.
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Honoring the Handmade Christmas

12/10/2015

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PictureBeautiful pink cowl gifted to me by Knit Sister Betty McGrane.
​The flood of emotions that I normally feel at this time of year have been replaced with fond memories of the handmade Christmases I was blessed with in my childhood.  I am a member of a small group of women who get together to knit once a week.  I have to admit I don't make it every week but they treat me the same nonetheless and I have somehow, even with my defense shields on full power, become part of their collective warm energy. 

This past week we had a Secret Santa exchange for which each and every one of the participants agonized over pleasing their secret recipient. Whether it was worrying about having enough time to complete a gift, their level of skill being good enough or color preferences; that worrisome energy transformed yarn into labors of love. Each and every hand knit gift was beautiful and a blessing to it's recipient.

As I sat there at the gathering I was taken back, back to a time that the making of gifts was a way of life. A time when making gifts was as much a necessity as it was a labor of love. A time when a young girl's imagination took her beyond the limits of store bought gifts. A time when the wonder of the holiday was wondering what those gifted hands would make. A time when closed doors and the whirring of a sewing machine behind them was too much for a young girl to bear. A time when a curious young girl would secretly find the hiding places of those treasured gifts. Those treasured memories gave way to recollections of the times when it was my turn to be the maker of a gift.

Through the years I have made an uncountable number of handmade gifts to share with my loved ones. Even my handmade gifts that were failures in a young girl's mind because they were met with giggles when unwrapped, hold a very special place in my heart. It was those "not so good" handmade gifts that gave me the determination to do better the next time, to please the people I loved in the same way they had pleased me. To make them feel the way I felt. I wanted them to feel the same magic I felt when I received their handmade gifts...a warm and energized aura that enveloped my heart. There came a point in my life when I met my goal and I knew I had met that goal because I could "feel" the appreciation with which my gifts were greeted.


As I sat there at the gathering I couldn't help but think of my mother, my grandmother and all of the women and men in my family, even those that preceded me in life, with all of the wonderful gifts that were passed from their hands into my hands. From their souls to my soul, into my mind, as it is truly more a way of thinking than it is a way of making. A blessing and a curse. A never ending way of life.  

Hands and mind blessed with the ability to create things. Things made from needles and strings and threads. Things recycled from gathered objects. Things born from fire and metal. Things spread on a canvas with brushes and knives and fingers. Things given to the one so lovingly thought of as it emerged from the fiber or the metal or the paper or the canvas. Things created to honor our own maker...to mimic our natural surroundings with a quiet balance. A balance between our soul and our material existence.

And then my thoughts took me to a place it often comes to rest, why would it be that I can make things and there are others in this world that cannot? I don't know the answer to that question but I have made a promise to myself; a promise to be a good steward of these abilities for they are not my own to keep. I'm sure they will pass through me into someone else...even if that someone else doesn't know it yet or is not yet on this earth.




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Merry Christmas

12/4/2015

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From my heart to yours, Merry Christmas. May you have a peaceful and joyous holiday season.
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    Author's Note

    A look into my artist mind! This compilation of thoughts inspires & produces each unique piece of art & jewelry I create. 

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