Tuesday, April 30, 2013

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 


me

.

I wish you everything good and then some tonight.

xoxox,
Sunny








Friday, April 26, 2013

Winner!!!

The winner of the custom Bloom ring is:

Oyenohana !!

Please contact me 


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

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

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 


.

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









Friday, April 19, 2013

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

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Sunday, April 14, 2013

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 


now.

xoxo,
Sunny

Friday, April 12, 2013

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

Thursday, April 4, 2013

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


To inquire about the willow earrings, please write to me


xoxox.
S