Living Water מים חיים

24"x30"

As much as I love making jewelry, one of my other passions is mosaics. The stones and glass have been calling to me lately, so I shifted gears a bit and spent a couple of glorious afternoons making this piece. The title is מים חיים (mayim chaim) which means living water. The inspiration for this mosaic is Psalm 1:1-4 .
¹How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
²But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

The challenge was to represent a concept without words. It is a small version of a bigger one that I did several years ago. This one may eventually have a home in a church that was designed by my friend Michelle. The church has been trying to get its financing together to build the new sanctuary, but haven't quite reached their goal.

4'x4'

In the mean time, it sits in my basement in an area where I frequently pray and it always brings to mind were my focus should ultimately be.

Finally Face to Face

After two years of corresponding by email and trading jewelry by mail, I finally got to meet my friend Steph (aka Vladthebat) face to face. On the Thursday before last I picked her up in Nashville at the airport and with sadness dropped her off this past Friday morning. We spent a week of creating in the studio and exploring Middle Tennessee. The weather was on its best behavior, as we had a whole week of sunshine and warm temperatures.
She brought goodies along with her... a wealth of interesting raw materials for creating, two really cool necklaces (I'll post the necklace pictures next time), and enough Belgian chocolate that should have last me for months. The supply of chocolate is now dwindled to a handful of pieces. I shared a little, but it should be declared a controlled substance. I can't stop eating it. One morning she even made Belgian waffles for us.
In the studio, it was so interesting to see someone take the same materials that I have been looking at for months and take them in a totally different direction. I had a bowl of flat stones that I picked up while kayaking and and she picked one up and immediately started carving a design in it. So then we both started carving stones. That night I got the idea that we should etch some of the copper to match the stones so the next day we spent several hours experimenting with etching. Here is a bracelet in which I combined Steph's stone and my copper etching.
And another piece where I stamped a face and etched it. I have to experiment more with my etching solution recipe to keep from getting it too strong.
Throughout the week my creativity got a much needed boost that hopefully will last a while. I needed it to get ready for Studio Thursday coming up this week. It will actually be 3 days this month for the holiday sale. Check it out at Silo Studio's website.

Our lives are so much richer now that we have a new friend and I am planning a visit to Belgium in the not too distant future.