Grubby Muses

Here's a little art project the Short One recently completed at school. I have to admit, I like it quite a bit. It reminds me of a similar project I made when I was his age (although, times being what they were, mine was an ashtray, not a coaster).

But I also really like the colors, the shapes, the spacing. In fact, I think this combination would work very well as a necklace. It's just another reminder to me that most of my inspiration comes from the grubby little muse in my house, the one who's glued too much to his Dad's iPod and enjoys conducting "experiments" (his latest involved sticking gum in his hair and, when it wouldn't come out, taking his safety scissors and cutting it all out - Sandra, the lady who cuts his hair, said that she's seen worse and that it ought to grow out after the next two cuts or so. But I digress...).

Seriously, all of my favorite designs were inspired in some way by time I spent with my son. The dragon in the keyhole pendant photographed in my header, above, came to me after we spent time reading books about dragons and dinosaurs. The maze pendant I designed for the 2010 Bead Dreams competition (there's a great photo of the piece on the Bead & Button website, here) was inspired by my son's love of puzzles.

When the SO was a baby, I used to dream of a time when we would be able to make collaborative artwork, but really, there are already little, metaphorical (sticky) fingerprints all over my pieces.

So, how about you? Who/what are your muses, grubby or otherwise?

Lady Lazarus

Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.

-from "Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath


Well, this post isn't really about jewelry or beading directly, so I suppose I'm cheating a little bit. However, I've been looking for inspiration tonight, and, for me, that often entails reading poetry - and, for once, it's not Shakespeare! I am a fan of Sylvia Plath's work. I read The Bell Jar in high school and started reading her poetry shortly thereafter. Out of all of her work, I have always found "Lady Lazarus" to be the most powerful. It is tactile, graphic, disturbing and even offensive. (Regarding this last, I have been fretting a little that people unfamiliar with the poem and Plath's work may find it offensive, so you have been warned. It is what I have been reading right now, so I decided to go ahead and post this.) Whether you like it or hate it, it tends to linger in the mind after reading. I happen to love the image of the phoenix that appears at the end (see above quote). How this will translate for me into a new jewelry design, I don't know yet, but I know that it eventually will, whether it be in the color or mood of a piece (right off the top of my head, the poem makes me think of stark, sharp pieces in bold colors) or whether I will simply use a quotation from the poem.

The BBC has a wonderful recording of Plath reading the poem herself in their arts section. Please go here to listen to it and/or to read the entire poem (and judge for yourself whether you find it inspiring). If you find that this poem also inspires you to create new work, please do share. If you are also inspired by what you are currently reading, I'd love to hear about it (and learn what you're reading, of course), too.

Thanks for visiting!

The Music of What Happens

There are the mud-flowers of dialect
And the immortelles of perfect pitch
And that moment when the bird sings very close
To the music of what happens.

(from "Song" by Seamus Heaney)

For some reason, my reflection on gardens earlier this week made me think of Seamus Heaney, and I've been spending a little time enjoying his poetry this evening. (One of my favorite poems is "Digging". This is the only possible connection I can come up with, and it's tenable, at best - my subconscious is pretty tricky at times.)

Despite the fact that my mind spends about 70% of its higher brain function these days in Early Modern England, I am a huge, huge Heaney fan. I had the good fortune to hear him read at a small church in New Hampshire when I was a high school student, and I have been hooked on his work since that moment. If you like Heaney's poetry (or even just the stanza above) but have never heard him speak, you must go here. He is one of those poets whose work is at its best when recited by the author himself. The link will take you to a poetry website sponsored by the University of North Carolina Press and North Carolina Arts Council. The full poem "Song" is available there. Click on the button marked "listen" to hear him recite the poem in its entirety. Believe me, it is well worth it. Go now - I'll wait.

See?

I'm not sure exactly, yet, how this will translate into a new design, but I certainly feel inspired by this poem.

I took the photo above on the same evening as the ones for the previous post. Since it didn't fit the "green" theme as well, I didn't use it yesterday. However, I still quite like it, so I thought I'd show it to you, anyway.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great night.