transformations

'when we quit thinking primarily about ourselves

and our own self-preservation,

we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.'

~ joseph campbell 

change is in the air, confidence is growing and excitement is overwhelming at times... i decided it was time to stop wanting to try etching metal & to just do it after reading a blog the other day... these are small 18 ga. copper blanks... i used the book 'semi-precious salvage: creating found art jewelry' by stephanie lee as a guide... here i have used a rubber stamp & permanent ink to mark the blanks... they were allowed to completely dry... 

the book recommended leaving the metal in the etchant for a couple of hours... so i left them in for 2.5... i had a vintaj blank - that got eaten up, disintegrated... & a larger blank that didn't etch as much... but i didn't put it back in because i wasn't sure what it was supposed to look like... then i took the little guys out...  i really love the molten look they took on... very cool... but also very sharp in areas...

these are post oxidizing... i only had steel wool to work with and some small files... but i love the contrast... i do believe that i will need to get a dremel tool for brightening the raised areas and some sandpaper to help out with the smoothing...

when you want to grow, when you want to become 'more', it's a feeling that pulls at you... it can come into conflict with what you 'have' to do... but somehow it works out... and anytime you grow in one way, it seems to spill over into other ways... i thank lisa at lucid moon studio for so openly sharing her information and experimentation with this... it's always funny to me how the universe works... this was my next step, and as i was looking through the new posts this weekend, there it was! 

ooh - just remembered i have a buffing and sanding sponge... going to try that...

how and what are you transforming?

rebirth

firebird by beth hemmila

on june 8th, cindy pack shared this quote...

'we are here, it seems, to be transformed, and transformed again, and again and again.'

-michael cunningham

for harry potter fans, fawkes the phoenix is a literal example of rebirth... he is dumbledore's loyal friend who also happens to help harry out of some very serious situations... the brilliant j.k.rowling looked back to greek mythology for this amazing creature... known to have scarlet and golden tailfeathers and able to live 500-1000 years... when it 'dies' it bursts into flames, only to be reborn into a young phoenix or an egg which arises from the ashes...

this is my interpretation of the phoenix... deep red and yellow vintage german glass is hung on antiqued hoops from rocki... the red & yellow beads are symbolic of both the phoenix's tailfeathers and the fire... the oxidized finish of the metal is like the deep grey of ash... a bali bead hangs from the center like a small egg... i love how deep, rich colors look against oxidized silver...

'it is our choices, harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.'

- albus dumbledore, cos p.333

we are faced with situations where choices must be made - either with care or quick thinking... but if we choose well, the ones that scare us or push us further than we thought we could go reward us the most...

and we are transformed...