Hint Jewelry on Vacation

I'm taking off on an autumn adventure and have closed my shop for a couple weeks. I will reopen Hint Jewelry on October 24th. Hope you are enjoying the fall leaves and slight nip in the air!

Trickster Spider Weaving a Journey

Create New Beginnings, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry): sterling silver butterfly, spider, and lotus bud charms

This past month I've been living with a spider woman. She appears every so often to say "hi" and walks across my wall or ceiling, past my computer work station and off into her secret hideaway. Alas, I found spider woman burrowed in a pink, silk blouse, laying eggs and decided she needed to be relocated to the hallway.

Nevertheless, when I happened upon spider woman's daily routine, she always made me smile and think, "Hello, trickster spider, how are you weaving me into your web today?"

The creative force of life plays tricks on us and we never know how certain experiences are intricately connected to future moments. The journey is for certain and our destination is known, but the points along the path are unclear.

I created this necklace to celebrate life's journey with a butterfly, the many new beginnings that are part of this journey with a lotus bud, and the creativity that makes each one of them unique with spider woman at the center weaving all things together.

Here she is...my spider woman and trickster, creator of every next step on my journey. Many thanks for the force of your creative spirit, leading me along my path!

Wordless Prayer

Wordless Prayer, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry): sterling silver bluebird and shell charms

We have been singing the most gorgeous song in choir over the last couple weeks, and I decided to make a necklace to remember it. Here is the section of the song My Wordless Prayer that is so touching.

My Wordless Prayer 
Craig Courtney

Spirit, come and rest your ear upon my heart,
O come and hear my wordless prayer,
My silent plea and take them far away from me.
Take them from this heart mine, to the Father's heart divine.
Speak in tones unknown to man
That God my hear and understand.

I love this image of the spirit's ear next to your heart. The words are beautiful but set to music they are even more meaningful. To hear the song in its entirety be sure to check out this Youtube recording.

Whole & Part

If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial.

- Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching

translated by Stephen Mitchell

I've been intrigued by this quote from the Tao Te Ching for quite some time. When I first read it, my mind equated it with Aristotle's notion that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," leading to the idea that working together as a group obtains results that could not be done individually. I was happy believing in this for awhile.

Then last year, while thinking about this quote in the context of intimate relationship, I hit upon the idea that it could mean stepping back once and a while to let your partner shine brighter then you. My thought was that to become partial within relationship can produce a momentary connectedness, leading to wholeness. Here is what I wrote:

Eclipse

Relationship is a fragile union between dark and light, 

allowing one to momentarily eclipse the other in a celestial dance. 

Let obscurity become the perfect offering as you 

surrender to the burning light of another.

However, lately I've read and reread this quote from the Tao over and over, and decided that I still don't understand its true meaning. The Tao is elusive, and if you continuously read it you'll notice that your understandings of the words change as you grow and develop into a different person.

Yesterday reading through my journal, I found a quote written down from Dorothy May's Archetypal Reiki: Spiritual, Emotional & Physical Healing that seems to explain the meaning of the Tao quote in terms of my life experience today:

When our dreams have been shattered, when we feel fragmented, we must hold on to one thing that is stable in our lives and know that unconscious forces are working to create yet another wholeness.

The shattering in our lives (inner or outer suffering) is the result of new information and learning taking place. This conflict invites God, All that is, The Divine, The Great Spirit, The Beloved, etc., into our lives to heal and help us form a new wholeness.

From this context, to act within whole consciousness, you must allow yourself to shatter into little pieces over and over again so as to continually build yourself anew as a living image of creation. Just as a caterpillar dissolves into liquid to make a butterfly, if you find yourself shattering into parts or feeling only partially yourself, know that eventually a new wholeness will emerge as beautiful as before.

The Blind Cafe Returns to Portland

The Blind Cafe returns to Portland, Oregon on October 13 - 15, 2011. If you live in the area, and haven't experienced The Blind Cafe, I urge you to check it out. An evening at The Blind Cafe was incredibly transforming and encouraged me to move my life in new direction. Read about my own experience at The Portland Blind Cafe last June by clicking here.

This quote from The Blind Cafe Web site says it all:

 Chaos should be regarded as fantastic news.

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Laurie Gale Designs

Lampworking Bench, Laurie Gale Designs

Are you already making lampworked beads or have an interest in starting? Are you a fanatic collector of jewelry with handmade glass beads? If so, be sure to check out Laurie Gale Designs for some delicious bangles.

Laurie Gale has a great page on her Web site that explains the whole process of creating a lampwork bead from start to finish. I was surprised by the complexity of thought that goes into these miniature works of art.

Jamboree Roses, Laurie Gale Designs

I love this big chunky purplish bead featured in one of her bracelet designs.

World Market, Laurie Gale Designs

This one looks perfect for an upcoming fiesta!

Tender Rains, Laurie Gale Designs

I'm not often attracted to pink, but this one drew me in like a delicate rose garden.

Blogging?

Last weekend I received a comment on my blog, "Why do people blog? Nobody cares anyway lol." The timing was so funny, because just the other day I had heard a nagging inner voice say, "blogging is difficult right now, because I don't have anything interesting to report."

Haha! This person wasn't far off from how I was 

truly feeling and that in itself is a valuable message :)

Does this happen to you? Sometimes there is just nothing to say. No conversation to make with friends. Your brain is a blank. It could be frightening or it could just be your mind is at complete peace. No need to talk or express anything outwardly.

So I know my blog has become a little threadbare over the summer. Lots of transitions are happening in my life that I haven't felt comfortable sharing, and instead of blogging I've actually been spending more time outside experiencing life's pleasures, taking up painting again, trying to finish editing a book, and enjoying my silence.

Things like buying a huge tub of blueberries for smoothies and delighting in these yellow squashes that are so scrumptious seem more accessible then blogging right now.

I hope your summer has been a delightful one filled with sunlight and simple pleasures! I look forward to finding my way back to blogging this fall :)

Flexi-Carve Pure Silicone Carving Plates for Metal Clay

Check out these silicone carving plates that you can purchase at Cool Tools. The description at Cool Tools mentions this silicone plates are firmer then traditional carving blocks so you need sharp tools. I've never used printmaking blocks with precious metal clay, so I wonder what the comparison would be. Does anyone else have experience to share on this medium?

Hope you enjoy this new product for making precious metal clay jewelry!

Thomas Kenneth Conway

Still Life with Honey Jar and Red Block, Thomas Kenneth Conway: oil on panel

I happened to be looking for paintings of jars on the Internet and stumbled upon the artist Thomas Kenneth Conway. I was particularly attracted to his use of light in his paintings and the stillness that he evokes through composition and color. Coincidentally, Thomas Kenneth Conway is also an artist living and working in Portland, Oregon.

Be sure to check out Thomas Kenneth Conway's Web site for more paintings.

Minneola, Thomas Kenneth Conway: oil on panel

Homerun No. 4 (Still Life with Little League Baseball), Thomas Kenneth Cole: oil on panel

Shards No. 2 (Still Life with Linseed Oil), Thomas Kenneth Conway: oil on panel

[Orange] Pieces, Thomas Kenneth Conway: oil on panel

Still Life with Venetian Red, Thomas Kenneth Conway: oil on panel