Rock Spirit Studio
I spent a number of my childhood years living on my grandparents’ ranch in Idaho. Cocooned within a towering pine forest, my soul fed by a rumbling creek, and loving the huge barn in which I would spend hours taming new kittens and watching the sunlight filter through the hay dust.
Although I would roam to my imagination’s content, hanging around and observing, or helping, my family at their various tasks was something I also cherished. Be it welding, putting up fence, making biscuits, herding cattle, nimble fingers creating magic with embroidery floss, brushing down horses, or harvesting fields; the experience attached itself to me in deep ways that I wouldn’t grasp until much later as I put my feet on the path to making my own way in this world.
My prize possession on that ranch was a coffee can of rocks – rocks that would speak to me of their quiet, their strength, their knowledge of the passing of the world. I find not only beauty in rocks, but a unique kind of wisdom, and peace. I am inspired by rocks, stones, minerals, crystals, gems, whatever they may be, in so many ways! Being able to mix them with metals has been the cherry on top.
I tell this story because the details and symbolism of a thing are meaningful to me, and are very much expressed in my creations. Such as when I’m working on bringing out the highlights of my etched pine tree creations - I hear the wind through those thick, high boughs; I smell that delicious, tangy bark; I am transported back to my soulful, forested place.
To have something in my hands that I made; when that piece finds the person it was made for . . . there aren’t words to describe the feeling. A huge smile, that feeding of the soul, and the expansion in your heart when you see a piece of work that strikes a chord – that is what I want to inspire in collectors of my work.
Nature is perfection, constantly evolving in its seeming chaos, ever becoming more than it was. Metal and stones are a way that I connect with the seeming chaos of Nature’s perfection. Creating not only betters my skill as an artist, but makes me more than what I was.
My heartfelt, euphoric gratitude to every individual that has been a part of my journey -
There is only more to come!
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In 2012, I had the pleasure of being interviewed on Deep Midnight Perfume's Blog:
http://deepmidnightperfumeoils.blogspot.com/2012/11/jupiters-haven-interview-with-jewelry.html
