Clean Out the Cobwebs / A Shop Update.

It's funny how it happens.

The cycle of the year.

The end of so many things.

Sometimes the celebration of accomplishment, but all too often the feeling of failure.

Then the fresh start and the newness of being.

Juxtaposed in just a span of a few seconds.

I came back from Holiday renewed, but not ready.

I spent my first week deep cleaning.

Preparing my space and myself for 2016.

I was just mentioning to someone that this year feels so different than the last January.

I feel confident.

My skills honed.

I have a lot to learn.
I'm not trying to sound cocky, but I'm also recognizing how far I've come.

I'm allowed to do that.

I should do that.

I can't wait for this year, but first I had to deal with the past.

Remove the scars from my soul and the stains from my bench.

Store away the lessons I've learned, and organize the unused pieces.

Clean my soul and my studio.

... 

This shop update is the result.

Things I've had around.

Bits and pieces I found in the deep clean.

And ideas I felt I needed to try before moving on.

I hope you enjoy!

Available at 7pm PT until sold here. 

You can see more photographs of this piece here. 

(Please note, this surfite piece does not have the stone set. You'll be able to choose to have it completed in your ring size or as a necklace) 

♥ Carin

Progression // A Shop Update

This past year I've really taken notice of the community around me. 

I played a small part in a the "Cab it Forward" project in which fellow smithies pass on stones to one another as a sign of support, I made a few friends during my first smithing classes, and I've reached out to some fellow artists that I really admire.

All this to say, the community is real. And I'm happy to be a part of it.

I imagine us as a giant robot, my fellow artists and me. Each of us playing a part, but needing to work together as a whole to function properly. And I think of the structure built to hold this art community up. The bones and the frame on which we stand. Built bolt after bolt by those that came before us.

Entrepreneurs, 

boundary pushers,

artists.

And I bow to their bravery and creativity.

This summer, after studying up on some more traditional native american work, I fell in love with silver in a way I hadn't before. A deeper more intense relationship with the metal. I was inspired by the way the silver pieces and forms nestled the stone. Making a sanctuary for it to thrive, and highlighting it's natural beauty.

I, the apprentice, really wanted to pay homage to those master's work. So after tinkering with it a bit, my "In Tradition" series was born. A thank you to all the artists who went before me.  A realization of all their sweat and tears that went into their work.

While making the "In Tradition" series, I felt as though I was embodying the masters, and in ways emulating their moves. The swings of their hammers, the chattering of their saws, the grinding of their files.  But what was born of this process was something more than that, something completely my own.

And so, although this leaf shape was born out of replication, I can't rightfully package it the same. It no longer belongs in the "In  Tradition" series, where my heart was looking to the past. 

These leaves, might take the same shape, but they were born out of individuality and progression. They look to the future. 

They are a mark, my mark, my bolt in the art community robot.

Until someone else builds upon this work, and together we move in unison. 

All pieces and more available here: www.jonesingforjewelry.etsy.com

on Thursday October 29th at 5pm PT.

Hope to see you there!

♥ Carin