Wings

Hard to believe we're only a month away from one of the biggest and most celebrated holidays on the calendar..it hardly seems possible that it was almost a year ago that we moved out of the big city.  Since hosting our wedding here this past fall, I feel the property is finally our own..the trees have quieted their curious whispering and I no longer feel their gaze as we hike through the meandering trails.  The once dense woodland have dropped their leaves and the landscape beyond the green curtain that surrounded our home this spring and summer have revealed itself once again.  Majestic maples and oaks that stood tall and proud just a month ago seem to have shrunk a little, no longer waving limbs of lush green, gold and crimson, their bare branches now without their armor.

It's this lull before the festive season that usually finds me a little melancholy, before the Christmas celebrations get into full swing, the calendar jam-packed with seasonal events and hosting duties call.  I am grateful for these small windows of quiet and reflection every morning before the house awakens and time is dictated by domestic schedules and a pressing urge to make everyday as productive as possible.  

Time in the studio has been a little frustrating lately, my mind feels cluttered and I'm easily distracted by everything else but the one task at hand.  It's been a crazy year..a year of burning the wick from both ends but the tasks seem never ending and my expectations of myself climbing higher and higher.  

I usually thrive under stress.  

Give me a month to complete a task and I'll take a month.  Give me a few days and I'll get that work done in two..and then some.  But as I near the end of this year I'm feeling a little burnt out. My caffeine intake has increased in the last few month to no avail..dinner time finds me exhausted and spent emotionally and mentally, fighting the urge to snap at my family with little or no provocation.  

I need to let some things go.

Although my mother would be the first to say that my silver work should take a back seat at times like this, it's actually the contrary.  The more hectic my life becomes, the more I crave and need that time creating.  

It's what kept me sane and barely above the flood waters of motherhood almost 6 years ago when my son was born, the buoy that I clung to as not to completely lose sight of who I was when my body and time suddenly belonged to a tiny person who suddenly appeared and owned me overnight.  

I love what I do in that little studio..when I hunker down to work at my bench the walls of that room disappear 

and I slowly and stiffly unfold..

then spread wide my creative wings.  

And that's where the inspiration for my most recent winged and feathered pieces have come from.  To some they represent the wings of an angel, the ultimate symbol of a safe haven and protection.  To me they represent a brief moment when my heart beats not to the rhythm of everyone else's drum but my very own.  

A healing time when I can feel and hear the sound of my heart beating without the clutter of life.  

A savior of a different form..as angels come in all shapes, sizes and forms.

Look for some of these pieces in the shop in the coming weeks.

xo