Addict

I'm out of control with the mug situation.  Someone should stop me (but no, really, don't stop me).  The collection of handmade and vintage mugs, cups and tea service has outgrown the cupboards and now a rotating collection resides on a massive plater on the counter.  I won't admit the number but I will say it's well over twenty.

But this one had a jackalope.

You know I can't say no to a jackalope.

Is it any wonder my work is somehow always greenish-blueish-violetish?
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The world here is saturated and dewy and everywhere smells of cedar and fennel.
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The river runs deep - our normal running trails are under four feet of rushing current.
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I'm infatuated with rain-light.
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I've thirty minutes to shower and doll up for dinner out and live jazz at the wine bar to follow, so here's to the weekend friends!  May they treat you well!
~ Umber ~

Listings

~ one ~
I salut you with a kefir smoothie!  There is no shortage of beverages in this household (just five minutes ago I heard BC groan "so. much. liquid." from his office).  On an average day there is coffee, almond milk, herbal tea, freshly juiced greens, kefir, wine (or gin) and of course, 10-12 glasses of water.  Ridiculous!

~ two ~
I've become obsessed with moths.  Again.  Furry little lion men, focused on the light, weaving their way through atmospheric scentings in the night.

This one is my new favorite.  But aren't they all?  Isn't that what I say each time?  But something in my heartstrings tugs and gets swept up in the orbit of those tiny dotted halos and I feel my solar plexus sprout wings and flap towards the moon.

Le sigh.

Moth Love
(Sterling silver, turquoise, size US 9.5)
{If she calls your name, she can be reserved by sending me a convo here Reserved!}

~ three ~
We've been staying up too late.  Do you ever get stuck in one of those rotations where work carries into the evening, dinner happens a little later every night, and finally it's after midnight and you're settling in with a book and a cup of tea (see?  I told you: the beverages are out of control).  The thing is, I love to tinker in the dead of night, and at the same time I love to watch the sun rise.  Really there are just too many interesting things to do to lay around in bed!  I've never been good at it.

~ four ~
I'm reading a book about Frida Kahlo and fighting some very strong urges to paint the walls royal blue and all the furniture like fushias and lemondrops.  Maybe I should just pile on even more jewelry and start pinning my curls up into a traditional crown and take a deep breath.  That woman was such a spitfire in ruffles!

~ five ~
I just received a letter from a friend which included a DRAWING.  I love this.  She reminded me of just how much I love it, of the silly self-portraits I've done by the dozens to amuse their intended recipients.  How do we forget about these things?  I intend to bring them back, to sit myself down with a 2H pencil and a sheet of white and document some frivolity.

 Alright all you moths and mothettes!
Signing off and sketching up,
~ Umber ~

Of Light and Moths and a Weekend Well Scrubbed

Last night I was fussing around in the studio and came across this behemoth of a stone; I carried it for miles hiking along the Eel River some months ago.  As I turned it in my hands, the image was nearly staring back at me and I thought "it's truly been too long since I painted a rock."

So I sat myself down and did the good work.

Afterwards the rains lashed the windows and the neighbor dogs howled but I slept warmly.  Now this morning, the whole world feels pinked and fresh.  I'm giving my studio a good cleaning, bringing in that bright clean air, sweeping out the cobwebs.  It's a good metaphor, a day well scrubbed, out with the stagnant, in with the vigor.  Another one I could use neatly tattooed along my wrist.

I'm hoping your weekends have felt like a long soak in clawfoot tub!
~ Umber ~

True Center: Unconditional Kindness
100% Sterling Silver

To aid in your personal journey:
To find kindness pumping through your veins,
Grace firing through your spine,
And gentleness in your very marrow.
To strive every day to move a bit closer to who you were ment to be,
I offer this small totem.
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(in the shop now)

Ever Moving Towards True Center

Lately I've been thinking often about this concept, this amorphous idea, of moving towards one's truest center a little more ever day.
I think anyone who is actively engaged in soul work of any kind knows this concept on some level: That we strive to find the most honest part of our soul, the truest level of our core, the place where all the fluff and grit and busyness of life has been striped away and nothing is left but the shining light of our individuality.  This is neither easy nor quick, but it is a thing like whittling away a bit of the world's idea of who you are and what you are about.  It's like removing just one sliver of that a day so that when you wake in the morning, a little more of your brilliant soul is shinning bright.

I find this to be worthy goal in art making.  To sit down in the studio and say to myself, "what is so important to me that I can not bear to go another day without creating it?"  This does not need to equate to heart-wrenching or gut-spilling (although sometimes it does) - not at all! - in fact it can be "pretty" or "plain" or even "silly," it just needs to feel Important to you in your heart of hearts.  If it does, then it must be explored.  If it ignites a flame of hope or passion or joy, then it deserves your attention.  And if we give it its due investigation, then in that, I believe we honor ourselves and find a deeper honesty than what had existed before.

Of course I never expect to fully arrive at my own True Center.  That would be like saying "I've gained quite enough knowledge for one life" and even typing those words felt ridiculous.
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I had a breakthrough this week.  A subtle, quiet breakthrough, the kind where one has to sit very still and turn off all music and wait for the idea to sidle up and nuzzle your ear.  It was really just a whisper, a faint outline, but the flame of my heart burst open none the less.
HERE is where you place your next step on the path.  This idea, this thing is just one inch closer to the truest center of art that resides in you, that gilded glowing flow of inspiration that is yours and yours alone.  It is that thing wherein you can say "yes, yes that is exactly what I want to say."

I'm closer today than I was yesterday.
If I am I very lucky woman, I'll be able to say that every week of my life.
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I have so much faith that you understand this.  This remarkable community, my soul sisters, my tribe members WHO NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME, I have no doubt that you have had your own breakthroughs to YOU.  And if you're comfortable, I'd really love to hear about them.

In the meanwhile, I'm off to nom an artichoke and watch some Star Trek.
~ Umber ~

What Came Next

After The Hail
~ Sterling Silver and the creamiest cut of Laramir ~

It's kind of like cherry blossoms and snow.
Like tulips in an ice storm.
Like hail and the season's first arugula blooms.
A seasonal dichotomy, built from a heart full of both.
In other words, finding the beautiful in betweens.
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(Landing in the shop later this morning...)