Delicate Cycle III

Something wonderful this way came last week. After months of working to get my self-nurturance up to speed everything I needed just simply clicked into place.

Isn't that the way it always goes? Trudge trudge trudge trudge --- leap!!!

First we sleep-trained our gorgeous tiny man and got him resting every night from seven pm to seven am with a 5:30 wakeup to come snuggle and have some milk. It's what we always wanted it to be: separate until sunrise and then warm and snoring together for a spell.

First he wakes up Schmilly by tapping him on the shoulder and saying something like, "Uh ohhhhhh...." or "Dadahhhh" and then I open my eyes to that beautiful scene, remembering to thank God every time. How could I forget when I look at them? My boys.

Now that he goes down so early I have a chance to put in a little more studio time

and the feeling of gratitude and peace has been creeping out of my hammer swings

and into the molecules of my work.

I can see it: can you?

Looks a lot like love.

I've also been back at the wheels because that man of mine took me to the Santa Clara Rock Show

and watched with a smile as I bought small and precious slabs of Laguna and Agua Nueva agates

.

When we came home he took the baby and told me to go work with the spoils of my plunder

and so I cabbed two little rainbow Lagunas from the same nodule

but worked each from the opposite sides.

Except for the coloration, they look like completely different rocks!

Their beauty is the best of the earth to me.

I am nerdy for rocks, just simply a geek for them.

My very favorite Agua Nueva had to be worked immediately: I was so drawn to it. While others may prefer their agates pristine, I am a sucker for a good healed fracture. It's symbolic to me - it speaks of our strengths, of the earth's pains and gifts and the miracle of enduring.

As I said last week, sometimes enduring is grace itself.

.

In the evenings after Orion is sleeping and I've put an hour of my heart into stones, hides and metals

I put something simple on for dinner 

and curl up with a book.

I'm a sucker for a one-pot recipe

and with all the amazing organic produce at the Farmer's Markets here we are back to eating what Anthony refers to as a 'veggie trough' for dinner: a giant bowl of greens and a rainbow vegetables simply dressed with mostly balsamic vinegar.

We eat together as just adults

and share the stories of our day

sometimes with whiskey

sometimes with tea

after dinner

.

I've re-discovered the library and all its gifts:

storytime for the little one

books on cd

books

magazines

glorious 

glorious 

books...

RESERVED

and I've also re-discovered the joy of time management.

I am a stickler for a good schedule these days;

a taskmaster who gets things done and rests well.

A longtime lover of lists, the spark has been renewed and proven powerful again.

Just the thought of a good list is enough to coax a smile...how funny!

I may get tired as we all do 

but my soul is doing cartwheels

because it feels lately like everything rushed in to support

what was flagging.

I feel partnered

and held

and

loved

.

The work I share with you today is the result of 

that God's-palm feeling

and carries a very special energy

.

There are two pair of white magic mushrooms

with handmade dewdrop stems

There are jacaranda seed earrings in simple sterling 

a hammer engraved copper maidenhair fern frond and sterling accents

and memories of Hawaii

and a sweet little turquoise (with pyrite inclusions) ring in 6.5

with a delicious hammered band and sterling accents.

These are the fruits of this wonderful week

where I learned to rise earlier for a non-harried shower

while the boys played with blocks

in the living room

applying mascara to the soundtrack of delighted baby squeaks

where I leaned in to Orion's almost-walking and found it worthy of joyous celebration

despite the every-growing distance from tiny him to giant him

where I came home to myself just a bit more

and felt welcome and whole.

I should have everything in the shop by tomorrow evening,

but if something sings your name before then

please feel free to 

convo

me

.

I wish you everything good and then some tonight.

xoxox,

Sunny

Winner!!!

The winner of the custom Bloom ring is:

Oyenohana !!

Please contact me 

HERE

to dream up a beauty together!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered and for your readership and kindness throughout the years.

With Love,

Sunny

Be Still My Joy!!!

LOVE.

More love.

xo,

S

On Mushrooms and Tender Strength

“Love will creep where it cannot go, will accomplish that by imperceptible methods,- being its own lever, fulcrum, and power, – which force could never achieve. Have you not seen the woods, in a late autumn morning, a poor fungus or mushroom, – a plant without any solidity, nay, that seemed nothing but a soft mush or jelly,-by its constant, total, and inconceivably gentle pushing, manage to break its way up through the frosty ground and to actually lift a hard crust on its head? It is the symbol of power of kindness."
                                                   --Ralph Waldo Emerson

                                                    

Indeed, the mighty mushroom

first sign of life in darkness and dankness

complicated and resilient 

.

Wild fungi remind me well that one doesn't have to build a fortress around the heart to thrive. All that needs be done is to endure and shine.

to try

and then try again

over and over,

the sum of effort yielding a life worth loving.

In this world of big and shiny city life all it takes is a retreat to the redwoods near the coast to see Emerson's words in fruitbody flesh

and be reminded of how strong softness can be.

It's ok to be full of love

it's wonderful to forgive

.

I don't always do it well, do you?

Sometimes I cling to my hurts and nurse them, building the stories up to be the stuff of legend until I laughingly remember how little that serves

and once again take up the path of remembering gratitude and breath.

I used to indulge long and often in these little tantrums

but now it's sometimes as brief as a walk before I come around

or remembering in my hot anger the grace that comes

in a dear friend telling me about bird calls over a simple lunch by the ocean...

the beautiful things in life that serve as a raft in the swift and deadly current of, "He did what?"

And thus reminded it is not long

before my heart bursts through the loam in beautiful color

peach as my baby's cheek

or deep orange like a yolk...

little kindness fungi everywhere we look friends: pay attention

to the dark places.

*

I celebrate the mighty mushroom with two adornments.

They are watercolor paintings of wild and tiny fungus

on enameled copper.

The earrings are post closure with tiny ferns roll-printed on the reverse side where they hug your ear

crafted of fine silver bezel and sterling.

The lariat necklace is a marriage of two types of fungi

tethered by a graceful and strong sterling chain and copper accents on the smaller piece.

The reverse side is counter-enameled a rich and earthy tan.

Both pieces are available 

HERE

.

I encourage you to enter the giveaway

if you've not already done so

and I hope that you remember the power of tender things this fine day.

xoxo,

Sunny

Bloom Ring and Also a Giveaway for You.

Note: thank you to all who entered!! I will be drawing a winner Friday afternoon so come back and see if I'll be making this Beauty for you!!! xxoxo

It strikes me as a beautiful thing that the flower is a wonder

born of intense and gradual pressure 

that mounts from the inside out

with a workload like a mini Clydesdale horse

It is rightfully a symbol of pure creativity

and so deserving of our sighs and attention.

Right now the back yard (and oh the roses in front!) is a cacophony of outrageous and colorful blooms

that enchant Orion to no end

and busy our sinuses with pollen and sweet scent.

Achoo!!

I made a Bloom ring for the shop with a centerpiece of luminous and subtly ombre Sleeping Beauty turquoise.

The petals are a thick hammer formed copper and they hold as a palm might

twelve sterling wishes for the woman who wears this piece.

The ring will fit a size 7-7.25 finger with great comfort.

In the comment section of this post your words will put you in the running

for a custom made Bloom ring.

Your chances will increase (counted as one each)

with every 'share' of this post on Facebook

with becoming a fan of SunnyRising's Facebook page

with simply following this blog

with tweeting about the giveaway

.

Please make one comment for every action taken:

example-

Comment #1. Hey there, sweet cheeks!!

Comment #2. I 'shared' your contest on my FB wall!

Comment #3. I tweeted about your contest (share the link if you like!!)

Comments are moderated, so don't be worried if it doesn't show up immediately:

I will check and update often enough.

Giveaways are such a wonderful way to spread the word and give actual active thanks for this community.

I appreciate you more than you'll ever know.

In the Metal Shop this evening, you can also find a fresh pair of

Spoiling Yourself Kingman turquoise post earrings.

These small luxuries are so nice as a thank you to your own sweet self or someone who has done you right.

May your weekend be warm and wonderful

and full of whatever feeds you best.

The contest will close on Wednesday evening!

xoxo,

Sunny

Morning, Fedora!

Reading and being all chic!

April 16th, 2013

.

xoxox,

Mama

Chatoyant Tigereye and Jacaranda Saddle Ring

Holy heck, friends.

Today I had the afternoon to spend time in the studio

and make real some sawed and filed ideas that were brewing for some days, weeks or months.

Time is so fast now I don't what's what.

But what I DO know is this: there is love in this beautiful piece

and some serious mojo.

It is lush and spectacularly comfortable on a size 8.75 finger...comfortable in a way that something so sumptuous and dramatic seems like it could not be.

It is meant for a middle finger but would also work on your ring finger, too.

This bit of stardust could go from work to the bar to the couch for late night 

and never break a silvery sweat.

It is imprinted with jacaranda leave from my neighborhood here in Northern California

and boasts one of the most beautiful and chatoyant tigereye cabochons I've ever seen.

It glows mustard yellow, blue and a rich hunter green.

Two little sterling granules and a rich warm satin finish round out the beautiful stone

and the forever memory of the leaves in spring...

in the 

Metal Shop

now.

xoxo,

Sunny

The Wheres

The first thing on my Bucket List was to have a child, preferably a girl, a detail which I now chuckle at a lot.

I cannot imagine a girl now, so immersed is my heart in the burgeoning boy-ness of Orion.

His babyhood is partly behind him and now the joys of life are wrestling with Daddy

eating avocado and rice cakes

and making small lakes in which to splash 

from the tear in nipple of his sippy cup.

Right now he is gently patting Janey (with lavish praise from me!) in between 

stacking blocks and practicing new combinations of vowels and consonants

and I observe 

making sure Janey doesn't get stacked upon

and my boy's tender gums are soothed with kisses and coos.

These are the days I anticipated when I thought about having a baby: the days of little to no work

and the occupation of loving.

Memorable days of swinging on the porch in the warm afternoon sun

blowing raspberries on his neck

and sharing lots of giggles and pecks.

These are the days I saved up for in my creative making,

relentlessly pursuing all of my ideas and ideals with the knowledge of impending sacrifice

except

now that those times are here

it doesn't feel like a hardship...

it feels like a privilege.

Knowing I wanted to be a mama

I knew there was a lot to pursue before that happened.

I got in the car at every whim and chased 'it' down, whatever 'it' was

wrote in my journals copiously and visited friends on the fly

free as the wind

and happy as can be

.

Now I am the mother and guide of a little uncivilized beastie

riding out waves of compassionate sleep-training (oy)

and the death rattle of the endless cough and cold that dogged us all winter

.

I am humbled (also more than a little ragged)

gobsmacked by wonder

and satisfied beyond any previous satisfaction I've known

In The Creative Habit Twyla Tharp speaks of finding freedom in our constraint

and tells a story about an artist with no limit in their budget or their timetable, frozen by the possibilities and unhappier by the minute.

I know that in my experience when I had no other place to be I wasted a lot of time 

frivolously. I recall being overwhelmed by the vastness of my days.

Now that Orion is on the move (oh how he can scoot and crawl!!)

creative time is at a premium and when I find myself in the studio I am a woman on fire!

I've done my research!

I've warmed the pickle and carved the hide!

It feels so good, this intentional place, these spare tides.

My work now is akin to those fabulous moments when you first make love after a separation:

desperate and sensuous and deep.

But the joy of my 'constraint' (if it can even fairly be called that) is the time I spend with Orion.

He has such a great sense of humor

and makes a really wonderful dining partner,

charming waiters and waitresses all around the Bay Area.

His good-natured alive-ness is such a joy to behold that

I get overcome with gratitude that I am his. 

.

Orion brings me and my Schmilly to life

in a way we've never been alive before.

His growing has made a family out of a couple

and a cat in a city cottage.

We are whole now

the four of us

.

Sending love this fine spring evening,

Sunny

The Rebirth Series: for Reserve

RESERVED

I cannot even find the words to say how this piece was born, save that it felt like the best of being a conduit for something beyond what my hands could previously do.

Moments like these are the rebirth

.the re-believing.

.the fill-up.

.

The hours that went into this heirloom miracle can barely be counted they were so many...I burned the midnight and the dawnlight oil to create this piece. 

From ring end to ring end it is twenty nine inches, which means that the waist it will grace must be at least thirty  or more in measurement.

On the female body it emphasizes the cinch of the waist and the curve of the breast.

It is organic and va-va-voom all at once, a riotous celebration of all things vernal.

BLACK EYED SUSAN KEY FOB RESERVED

To complement the belt, I made a few other floral pieces that (unlike the belt) can fit easily into a pocket or a budget: little luxuries.

For the Metal Shop there are two pairs of watercolor on enamel pussywillow earrings in ombre rose and ombre amber.

OMBRE AMBER RESERVED

All of this work carries in its little molecules the 

freshness of a Northern California spring

and the promise of complements and admiring glances.

To inquire about the tooled Belt and accessories

please write to me

HERE.

To inquire about the willow earrings, please write to me

HERE.

xoxox.

S