Do you ever feel like you're in danger of becoming stuck in amber? Like it's sort of comfortable and safe to be surrounded by that warm honey-sap but you know where this is going to lead and it's not pretty. You've got a couple of choices: you can wiggle and fight it and maybe get out, or you can just relax and see what happens. Go deeper. BE the amber. Is it just laziness?? Laziness with a hefty dose of fear thrown in? I prefer (at the moment) to think that I'm not just making the same stuff, I'm making the same stuff a little better. And after all, does any of it really matter? Can any piece of jewelry, even if I'm arrogant enough to consider it ART, really matter?
Luann Udell, whose art and words always resonate deeply with me, just had a post about the artist not remaining silent in the face of grave social injustice. She makes, among many other beautiful things, these powerful and evocative little polymer clay horses inspired by prehistoric carvings and cave paintings. She writes,
“…And I can do this with my hands, by creating my little horse, which symbolizes the power that comes from our choices, our actions, even in the face of despair.”
Read her posts. She is wise and eloquent, where I am just stumbling around in the dark, trying to make some sense of this screwed up society and my part in it. 10 years ago I would have been at a vigil or a protest and that would make me feel better. Today I'm just sitting at my worktable trying to fend off despair. Here are my latest feeble attempts to put a little love and beauty out into the world: Just treading water artistically maybe, but still satisfying on some level. This I can do with MY two hands - my offerings of protection for the darkness.
