It's been a long hiatus for me from my jewelry bench - I've been working in my "other" music world since January. Oh, how much fun do my husband and I have doing all the things that we do in that world - promoting arts education throughout the midwest for the summer camp where we work, and adjudicating large group, small group and soloist performances all around the state. We have visited Ohio, Illinois and Indiana as well as seen all of Michigan ~ from the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula to the Michigan & Indiana Border and we have seen 4 of the 5 Great Lakes in our travels!! What fun!
During that time, I didn't really abandon my "maker" mindset, however. I had the opportunity to observe and imagine. I think those are some of the things that are the most important. Sketches were drawn on the backs of napkins, and on scraps of paper. Something would make me say "oooh..... that's a good idea" and I would sketch it down, write it down, or voice memo it to myself.
All of those little drawings, ideas and notes have started to take shape. I have been back in the studio for a little over a week now, and it does feel good. Makers really need to make. I have included here just a small sample of some of the pieces that were born out of ideas along the way. There's more coming!!! In fact, some of my largest pieces to date!