I am Grasshopper

Mom and Dad, the Creative Duo!

 It's 6am and my Mom and Dad just left to head back down to Florida.  Their leaving marks the end of the holidays for me and it's always a little bittersweet.

Last week, my Mom and I went to Michaels craft store to look at the jewelry section and pick up some tools she thought I needed.  Mom is a jewelry maker - a REAL one who uses enameling and silver and actual gems, not just beads like me.  She is an artist.  I was so inspired by her just walking through the aisles of beads.  She would lean in and pick up a strand of beads and say "these would go perfectly with these pink ones" or "I can see these on a long chain with a pendant".   Now, I consider myself pretty creative but I hadn't imagined any of the pairings she mentioned and the fact that she just went through the aisle talking out loud about what she was thinking was a wonderful tutorial for me.  I felt like David Carradine as Grasshopper learning pearls of wisdom from the Master!

When we arrived back at my house, she took one of my beads and proceeded to do something completely "out of the box" with it.  She didn't have time to finish but, again, what a great tutorial!

Mom told me about one of her professors who once told her "Don't bother making something that someone can buy in a store  Make something that no one has seen before.  Make art!"

Sage words.

So off I go into 2014, ready to make some "art".  It may wind up being the refridgerator kind of art, but hope springs eternal that with every piece I can channel a bit of my Mom's creativity and make it something beautiful and unique - just like her!