The Practice of Balance

A friend recently asked me about my creative process, if there were bursts and lulls, ebbs and flows.  In thinking this over, I admitted to myself that the highs, the bursts of wild inspiration, are breathtaking and powerful and never do I feel so energized as when the tidal wave of the muse washes over me.  However, as a tidal wave is wont to do, it has the potential and power to knock me off my feet and spin me into a frothy, fizzy mess.  A beautiful and appreciated mess, but a mess all the same.  Sometimes the multitude of creative ideas, all calling out their desire to be realized can feel downright paralyzing.

And the lows are of course, low.  I tend to keep a tidier kitchen, the laundry gets caught up and I spend so much time paging back through sketchbooks, wondering what in the world I was thinking with such and such drawings.  These are the days when I know I need to just keep showing up, to constantly remind myself that what came from my head and heart still resides there, and that I will find it again.  And that maybe, just maybe, I need to rest.

But it is the middle ground that is my favorite.  That honest, sturdy place.  When the frenzy has slowed (I think my muse is a kinetic being - she is ALL or nothing and spazzy to the max), when I've had a chance to hold each idea and look at it from all sides, when I've been able to discern which ones truly must see creation and which need to germinate a while longer.  It's such a practice, such a constant search for balance.  It's like finding a runner's stride, like hearing a perfect harmony, like believing in the rhythm of your own unique heartbeat.  And it doesn't always come naturally.  Hense the practice.

So, as I tend to do, I thought about all this and let my hands work.

The Practice of Balance

(sterling silver and pisco blue chrysocolla)

This ring was quite literally, a practice in balance.  The idea arrived in a flash, so I took a day to marinate over it.  That electric blue stone called out for tiny feathers so I happily obliged.  Each ball of sterling granulation was individually placed, some intuitively, others after careful consideration.  The physical balance of this ring is lovely; it cradles the finger with a rich weight, just enough to remind you of its presence.  There is a quiet breath in this ring and it wears like a token of peace.
(in the shop now)

Wherever you are today, just know I believe in your good heart.
~ Umber ~