catch the trade winds. complete.

“So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover.”   - Mark Twain

Today, I endured my last Jewellery: Structure critique, which happened to go quite well.  Through the exploration of naval architecture in relation to Mark Twain, I have designed and fabricated a sterling silver ring that visually communicates, both literally and metaphorically, the key components of a sailing ship.   I have etched the interior of the band ring with catch the trade winds, in hope of highlighting the significance of wholeheartedly letting down one's bow lines and choosing to let the wind carry and guide one's direction in life.  

jewellery as a matter of faith

A couple of days ago one of my professors shared a lecture on contemporary jewellers and jewellery practices.  I often find myself uncertain about what I would like to personally do with my own jewellery practices, but this lecture sort of reaffirmed my decision to continue studying jewellery and metalsmithing, embracing the whole contemporary culture of jewellery.  My professor shared several segments of writing by contemporary jewellers, the following of which I found rather intriguing...

Another thing I have learned about jewellery is that jewelers are not very communicative.  Their work is not created to tempt their buyers.  And also in that sense jewellery cannot be compared with design, which is overtly designed to seduce the buyer by its use of colour, form and market strategies.  That is why everybody wants the newest ipod and iphone – they are designed to overrule all rational decision making, they are bought on an impulse.  Jewellery on the other hand, tries to convince.  Jewellery is a matter of faith.  You have to believe in it before you purchase it. But you can stir this faith by clever communication strategies.  ["The Power of Jewellery," Liesbeth den Besten] 

Another thing I found particularly interesting about contemporary jewellery and the direction with which it is heading is that it has really opened up the doors to what is jewellery? and what are the barriers or guidelines that classify an article of body adornment as jewellery?  We talked about the idea of a tattoo being an article of jewellery...I am not too sure how I feel about this particular idea, but I am interested in labelling a tattoo as an article of body adornment.  I'd absolutely love to have the following tattoo as a piece of jewellery.

 

catch the trade winds.

a quick glimpse at how my final Jewellery-Structure project is coming along.

busy busy busy

I've always been a person of lists; lists for groceries, school work, time management, laundry, wants/needs, thrift store finds etc... My experiences as a third year jewellery and metalsmithing student have definitely encouraged my list making processes and entitled me to a new nickname, "jo-jo busy" based on the fact that I spend hours on end in the jewellery studio. I've been super tired lately and haven't 'had much time to think through everything....so let's make a list!

1. Finish fabricating "catch the trade winds" ring in sterling silver.  Due Wednesday.

2. Write and compile a research paper that explains my ideas and processes behind the above.
3. Study for stone setting exam this Monday.
4. Prepare for final stone setting critique this Tuesday.
5. Design a narrative button collection based on the children's story "Are you my mother?" by P.D. Eastman. 
6. Make buttons in wax and bring to the casting house by this Thursday morning.
7. Write and compile a research paper that explains the ideas and processes behind the button collection.
8. Bake a batch of peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
9. Clean my room.
10. Count down to December 5.  My last critique.
11. Go to Paul Chin Spins: Season's Beat-ings at Starving Artist with Meghan tonight.
12. Spend time with friends before everyone goes home to spend Christmas with their families. 
13. Make Christmas gifts

the art of change

Today I am feeling tired, weary and exhausted.  I have approximately ten days left of school before the term is up, and I have an abundance of projects to accomplish before then.  I'd just like to share a post I read today written by Lauren Lankford, the writer of Lauren Nicole Love, a blog that I have been following for the past few months now.  I find much encouragement in her writing and her approach to art and design.  I hope you can be encouraged and inspired by what she has to say.

to fight the stagnant.

there is an art to change.
and the secret is not in the pursuit of it. or in it's accomplishment.
but rather in the art of perceiving it.

* * *

you have moved. you have grown. you have changed.
you have improved. you have become strengthened. you have learned.
you have seen. you have been. you have said.
you have created. you have chosen life. you have ended death.
you have become more beautiful. you have grown into yourself. you are more.
there is an art to observing the change you have made.

there is an art to knowing your growth, and ending the lie in your bones that says you are right where you always have been.

it is worth your time to document your movement forward. it is worth the hour of your day to know what you have done with your time.

sometimes we must move into our past, in order to accurately see our present.

create a place on the page, in the journal, on the blog, in the portfolio, on the table, in your soul. create a place to document your change.

* * *

look at your first month of blog entries.
look at your journal from three years ago.
look at your first photos.

do you see the movement?

write down the lies you used to believe.
write down the truth you know now.
write down the part of your heart you hadn't met 5 years ago.

do you see the growth?

find your first pieces of art.
find your first songs.
find your first designs.

do you see your progress?

think about the mistakes you've made that will not be made again.
think about the depth of character that was lacking 10 years ago.
think about the hidden places of the old depression.

do you see the new life?

sift through your albums, your archives, your chapters.

sift through your resumes, your childhood, your classes.

sift through your failures, your accomplishes, your proofs of action.

know the growth reflected in the dissonance between the past and present - know that your present will always be your past, and soon.

* * *

he says he is faithful. to move, to carry, to nurture, to redeem, to assign purpose. he is faithful to carry onto completion the good work he began in you.
you cannot help but grow. he has not forsaken us. like a tree beside still waters, you could not cease to grow even if you so desired.
because he is the great i am.

and in him we live, we move, we have our being.

* * *

refuse the lie of stagnancy. refuse the lie of stillness. refuse the lie of hopelessness.

document your change. be encouraged. and continue to move.

tangled thoughts in my lack of motivation.

As I expressed in my first post, this blog does not really have any definitive goals, but rather is going to be a place where I will share my heart and my love for art, design and all things beautiful.  I am currently studying jewellery and metalsmithing at the Ontario College of Art and Design University where I have come to enjoy the time consuming processes of the studio - a place by which I spend at least 12-15hrs of my day. I could probably write novels about the adventurous happenings of the jewellery studio, but right now I just need to exhaust my thoughts in writing, as they have become tangled trains of information that often distract me from finding rest and peace in the things that matter most.

Basically.  My motivation is lacking - more specifically in school.  As we're nearing the end of November, all I really want to do is spend time with my family, invest my time in relationships, drink hot chocolate with peppermint tea, make snow angels, bake peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, make arts and crafts, reupholster an antique chair I purchased in the summer, learn how to work my camera better, sing Christmas carols, go ice skating and this list could go on. 

But instead, I sit here trying to work through the last chapter of my sociology text in preparation for my final exam this coming Thursday. And yet while I try to focus on studying my mind is filled with the countless studio projects that still need to be completed over the next 13 days.  And then my brain is flooded with thoughts of fear and doubt in my ability to make it through the final studio projects and exams that must be completed.

Oh dear, just so many things going through my mind.  But it'll be okay.  Amongst being overwhelmed in so many ways today, I was encouraged by a kind friend that introduced me to the Rue Royale, an Indie Folk band from the UK that I had the pleasure of listening to while I endured the joys of studying late into the evening. 

I've created this blog to share my heart.  As a creative outlet.  To be open, honest, and real.