earth laughs in flowers

mjd - 2015

emerson personified the earth

and told us that it laughs in flowers.

with our eyes and heart open 

we also bear witness to it

dancing in leaves

singing in whistling winds

dreaming in clouds

creating in the webs of spiders

sheltering in oaks

and

soothing in falling rains. 

how fortunate we are to be alive. 

mjd - 2015

the bedrock i stand upon is peace and stillness.
from that place, i can open-mindedly assess whatever comes my way.

while it is oh-so-easy to get pulled off center,

you can always find your way back

by practicing that which you desire to be - 

and so we dance, round and round with ourselves
learning all the while...

mr. sendak

'there must be more to life than having everything.'

- maurice sendak

(10 june 28 - 8 may 12)

story time was sacred time when my kids were small... actually it lasted well past their ability to read on their own and was more like a quiet shared time with treasured stories... 

and i had to read 3 - no, pages didn't matter (unless it was a book of poetry by uncle shelby... i had to take a stand somewhere)... neither did my drifting off as i would be poked awake... 

sendak was a given... 

and to this day, we all have the 'really rosie' soundtrack on our ipods... 

thank you to the man who depicted humans as human - and all of the contradictions contained therein... 

earth day

'when one tugs at a single thing in nature,

he finds it attached to the rest of the world.'

- john muir

wishing you a day filled with connection -

on spring

while winter most certainly provides challenges to flora and fauna


spring is evidence of a tenacity i admire...


delicate flowers pushing up through snow


facing days that alternate between balmy and frigid... 


instead of less of them rising to open


more follow... 


until the world is in bloom -




be the flower 

RAW 16c - earth is...

 

~~~

new additions

to the my mom pattie etsy shop... marsha neal has a special etsy shop set up in honor of her mother pattie... the funds generated from the sales at this shop are used for non-profit donations... 


i gave you a progress report at the love my art jewelry blog yesterday... i have a love of marsha's shards and try to think of special ways to set them off... recently i purchased the book 'wrap, stitch, fold & rivet' by mary hettmansperger and in it i found inspiration galore... 

these earrings have a lot of movement... the shards are the wonderful color that some of the leaves are now turning - a beautiful pink-orange... the torched copper reminds me of old new england barns... they have been sealed properly in two ways to preserve the finish on the copper... 

'when you take a flower into your hands and really look at it,

it's your world for the moment.'

~ georgia o'keeffe

etched copper discs cup beautifully delicate cut out porcelain flowers by marsha... hand dyed silk fibers from lisa jurist...

'if we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly,

our whole life would change.'

~ the buddha

layered pendant - patinated large copper disc... marsha neal porcelain charm with a floral pattern... and a clear resin drop to magnify the wonder... hangs from leather cord wrapped in hand dyed silk and fine copper wire... 

'the winds of change are always blowing

and every time i try to stay

the winds of change continue blowing

and they just carry me away.'

~ willie nelson

the winds of change are filled with surprise and beauty... they may not always be desired, but they are a part of life's inevitability... the pendant made me think of a wind chime of sorts (look for this to be revisited)... so i filled it with different and wonderful things... no matter how much things may shift, we are still rooted... we remain ourselves... with family and friends who love us... the double strand of tied small earthy beads and copper chain represent how we still are grounded even while we evolve... 

a nature save ~

sometimes, having lots of project ideas is a good thing... and sometimes, it is not - like when your brain is in overdrive and you cannot settle it down to begin... 


so i went for a walk by the river... and was gifted big time! 'make way for ducklings' was one of my favorite books as a child.... i look for the babies every spring, so when i saw these little fuzzies i was elated -

mama stared me down hard - but i understood and moved along...


also came upon some lily of the valley -

which inspired me to create these... i did best today trying to keep things simple and use what i already had... like a bag with etched copper pieces... lampwork glass by marie at bleuverre... 

return to happiness

'in nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.

trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways,

and they're still beautiful.'

~ alice walker

then there were the little buds slowly outgrowing their outer shell... lampwork glass by mika at pinocean... 

tiny buds

it's funny, i have a couple of books that i really love... especially the ones on metalworking and smithing... i will carry one around for a while, absorbing what i can but knowing that there are things i am not ready for... it will then get put away... weeks/months later i return to it and find that i understand and can apply things that i couldn't before... it's a nice feeling... not rushing or forcing the learning, but really trying to internalize it all... 


i am having a giveaway if you missed the last post - just leave your name and tell me how your life has changed from blogging... last day to enter is friday - winner will be announced on monday... 


now if only my eyes would stop burning from the oak pollen - it ends up looking like we have  tumbleweeds here in spring!

transitioning into spring

clouds filled with spring rain approaching - their beautiful texture overlaying the bright blue sky behind them...

'earth laughs in flowers.'

e.e.cummings

playful lampwork glass from mika at pinocean contrasted against the pearly sheen and natural look of mica... soft earth and colorful flowers... 

** a note:
my last post received a comment in chinese... 'how cool!' i thought... so em and i ran it through google translator... NOT so cool - it was spam for an adult chat room... i reported the blogger but found the means to be a little lacking... you check off what the 'offense' is - so i had to check spam... there was nowhere for me to mention the adult content... hmmm...