On the brink of everything

                                     

                                      On the brink of everything finished

The Story of Lovely - On the Brink of Everything

I had a busy April with 2 classes and being with amazing and creative souls always brings me inspiration. I have been conspiring with the muses about a collection of Feminine sculptural jewelry since I started 2 years ago. It started with the Ceour/Kiva Pendants and the different ideas around faces and words and symbols in those pieces. It has been a process of growth in skill and leaning into a weirdness that is a bit uncomfortable for me. Each one sort of grows organically from a word, song, poem or a tree. In this piece it came around as a connection to a song. I have been listening constantly to Carrie Newcomers new album The Point of Arrival. I was out for a jog, ahem, fast walk, with the dogs when On the Brink of Everything came on. I was honestly in tears it was so touching. So picture me, 2 dogs, 50 yo, "jogging" & wiping tears... interesting right!!?? As I was heading back I thought what would that look like? On the brink of everything???

  • A woman

  • wild hair

  • older

  • with a gate

  • gems in her wild hair

  • serene

  • not afraid

  • where would the gate lead? Is she holding access to something? What is she on the brink of????

So, I got in the studio and the face was developed along with some strange hair. I wound up taking it all off after the back plate with deep shapes and hair from behind looked funny. The face was sculpted with a few wrinkles added and a deep penetrating clear eye was created. The hair became thick and curvy. A wildness and beauty that held her ideas (what I believe hair symbolizes ). She had some gems in her ideas/hair for which she had 5 ideas- ideas of peace, resilience, capacity, honesty, wisdom. She holds the gate and that gate is a passage/portal. This is where I wasn't really sure what she would hold there. What's left if she had ideas of peace, resilience, capacity, honesty, wisdom??? PLAY- that's what she held inside- which is what the swing represents. The gate has a gem to represent the wealth behind it and the bail (the part where the pendant hangs from a chain) has a gem just because it's pretty :) There are 7 small gems and 7 is always an auspicious number. The small butterfly above the gate represents transformation and the conversion of hard things into beauty. On the back is a little cursive lovely because isn't it lovely to be on the brink of everything?

Here's my best ideas of what on the brink of everything can look like in a pendant. As Carrie's song says " I never sang because I knew something, I sang because it was a prayer" so this is my little prayer for living fully on the brink of everything and what lies beyond.

PS _ I just discovered her song was inspired by a Parker Palmer book entitled "On the Brink of Everything" this could be my next read.
With Gratitude for your thoughtful presence,

Dawn

Here's that amazing song- in case you are curious :)