Healing through the Arts...
My fascination with crystals and gemstones truly started as a young child. Living in Austin Texas (age 5-6ish) I remember finding pretty little pebbles in our driveway I would clean them and later sit in my mom's guitar case while she was singing and sell them @10¢ a piece. People actually bought them :)
With that saved money I bought my First crystal. I remember twirling it on that tiny string in the sunlight watching the colored sparkles dance around my room for hours at a time, such Joy~!!
Fast forward 30 or so years later to a gift i received from a client of mine with a few kind words about the artistic abilities she thought I had. It was a bag of crystal and gemstone beads. ((I loved to buy Jewelry :) but, until that day my client gifted me those beads, I had never had a desire to create my own.))
That same night after work I poured those beads into a small dish on my desk looking at all the colors and the sparkling faceted beads. I closed my eyes, head in hand thinking about the situations going on in my life. I began to pray and just be Still. Beautiful images of jewelry began to appear in my mind, I thought..."God, how could I Ever learn to do That!!" But, that night the Passion to try and create what I had just seen in my mind was born and a decision about my carer was made.
I have to admit, it was a little scary walking away from 17 years of job security to do something I had never tried before. I didn't even know how to put a clasp on a necklace..! I let each client know that Dec. 31st 2003 would be my last day. They told me, "You cant quit!!"..but, I did, I had to..
Months later while at a bead store, I asked the manager if she thought my designs were good enough to apply for a local craft show, to my surprise she offered me a job teaching! It was only a basic beading class a couple of days a week, but with caring for my mom now, it was perfect!
I sometimes helped out in the other teachers classes, learning while i did. I also stocked up on supplies with each paycheck...because I got 50% off and the best selection!! Who knew how much I'd need those supplies in the coming years.
About a year after venturing in this new direction, home-life imploded and I wondered if I had made the wrong decision...and almost a year after that my child was born.
After moving out of my home into a small apartment, no job, in process of divorce, a new baby, caring for my mother w/special needs and with no other family, life was about them. As it should be. I would not even consider daycare for either one. They were my responsibility. So, in taking care of them, my occasional 'me time' became 'bead time' and when my daughters seizures started @ age 3 &1/2 (they mostly occurred in the night) I was So Glad I had something to do when I sat there unable to sleep, listening for her.... but it was in this time my "Creative Therapy" was born.. Some of the most beautiful work came then...it Shouldn't have, but by the Grace of God it did. I didn't realize it then...but looking back now, He had put within me the tools to allow Beauty from ashes to be made :)
Craft shows and being away from home for hours at a time was Not an option for me.I had some pretty amazing opportunities come along, they were exciting... but again, they would have taken me away from home and that was really just not an option.
I enjoyed the creative process, ("Healing through the Arts", a friend once said about my journey and I have to agree.) The happiness it brought me being able to gift my creations to others along the way, watching their spirits be lifted by something I made with my own hands seemed to renew my Faith and also knowing that 'This' was Still the right path to be on even though times were Extremely tight....yet there was always just enough so I could be there for the ones that needed me :)
I learned of Etsy in 2012, a friend said they thought my work would fit in here. I thought about it...but online selling seemed like a daunting task. Around this same time someone suggested another route and after a few years I realized their vision was more a mass production one and it limited my creative expression.
I look back at everything and see ALL the Blessings along the way that brought me to Now. It is as if I was given a gift of many years to hone my craft, while enjoying every moment of my daughters life and allowing my mother to do the same.
This gift of "Creative Therapy " has Truly been a Blessing to all our lives.
I am not a metal-smith so, many of those Beautiful designs I saw in my mind long ago might never be made, but with the abilities I do have, I make what I can :)
Please take a look around and let me know what you like :)
