A Necklace for When You Lose Your Path, Artist Edition

Ah, the dreaded Creative Block: writing, quilting, woodworking, what have you, we all get blocked from time to time and likely everyone always feels like this time it is really really never going to go away....

that we will live out the rest of our art-less days pining for the elusive Muse, who has gone from Goddess to Withholding Harpy in the course of this angst....

Every idea feels like a failure and every initial triumph gets deemed "Mediocre" by the middling internal critic.

A note on my internal critic: His name is Munson, and he is a short man in his seventies with pure snowy white hair and this uncanny knack for standing up in the middle of my vocal performances to deliver a monotone, "Boooooo......."

He wears thick black glasses and a shapeless grey suit.

I am still working on ways to make peace with him, trying to figure out a way of putting him to work that appeases both of us simultaneously.

If you have any ideas, do let me know - he's a DOOZY!!!!

I made this necklace for those times, with a combination of elements meant to ward off despair and stop you from rending your garments and gnashing your teeth.

The first piece in the puzzle is the quiet mind from which ideas can and DO spring.

5-15 minutes of earnest meditation done two times daily (or even one if there's no time) will markedly improve not only outlook, but also gives room for good ideas to see and take root.

Never have I seen a cabochon that embodies these principles before this month: can you believe it? Dendritic Agate with a clear "head" space and a series of gorgeous dendritic inclusions resting on top of the cranium like so many artistic urges bursting out into the world!

Holy Moley.

We are off to a good start!!!!

Secondly we have this clear green luminous gem Chrysoprase to act as a lantern, clearing the way before us, ensuring that we can work no matter if it is day, night or the in-between grey times.

.

Shine on, little piece of Australia!!!!

Lastly we have the most macabre part of the design: a trio of scuffed and worn skulls.

These skull represent the trinity of unHoly muck:

Self-Doubt

Fear of the Judgment of Others

Despair

Together they are a quicksand recipe, once slain they are a trio of bones you wear knowing that your mighty powers mean their demise, over and over again, no matter how powerful they purport to be:

You

will

always

create

again

forever and ever amen.

In the Metal Shop this evening.