Somehow it is March. Halifax is almost through the toughest part of the year...this winter's been a a heavy hitter. We've seen some sunny days over the last week and it really is a beautiful thing. This city is still mostly blanketed in ice, which makes for a blinding glare, but I'll take it. It's pulling me through.
With winter prompting an inward turn, I've been focusing on reconnecting a bit. After the rush of late 2014, the rather hectic Christmas season, and the turn of the year I've been shifting energy and emphasis towards self, family, the woodstove. I've been hunkered down, healing up, loving, processing. As a working artist/parent, I'd say I'm learning to put less stock in the idea of any sort of solid and lasting balance---I'm thinking fam/art, work/life balance. It just seems a bit impossible and unrealistic these days. Everything is a big old messy mix of it all so instead, I try to consider conditions in a constant state of flux; a series of back-and-forths, adjustments and tweaks. It feels better to roll with what the seasons and circumstances call for, than to resist it in aiming at an improbable state of equilibrium. Sure, sometimes I can hit a bit of a groove with all the balls in the air (read: "Whoa, I'm ON it!"). And often I crash, hard (read: anxiety/depression). But I try to remember that, in either case, it likely wont last too long. If parenting has taught me anything, it's that nothing lasts forever and you have to be fluid on your feet. I consider the ocean inspiration, grateful for its proximity.
This is not to say I have been letting work & making fall completely to the wayside. My studio time over the last couple of months has been spent working on some custom work; wedding rings (re-purposing family jewellery), Valentine's/Pink Triangle Day gifts, a fun commission for a local songstress, and playing with some new pieces. Always scheming and sketching. Here are a few snapshots:
10K gold custom wedding ring.
A very fun pair of commissioned earrings in process.
A sexy Valentines Day/Pink Triangle Day present.
Getting a start on carving some waxes for a pair of wedding rings that are to be cast in gold, melted down from rings that belonged to the client's grandparents.
These new Hexi Rings have emerged over the last month or so...they match nicely with the Hexi studs pictured above in oxidized bronze (also available in polished bronze or silver). Made from a mould of old upholstery studs.