"HEY. That thar's a piece o' wood hangin from yer ear..."Why yes, yes it is. It's a twig of black walnut, to be exact. Cut into small segments, rounded at the ends, drilled through with a hole, and sealed with wax to help preserve the wood.
Sometimes I wonder if I've taken my "back to roots" routine a little bit too far. In this example:
1. I love wood beads.
2. Let's take it back a step to old ratty vintage wood beads.
3. Oh, but wait, what if we went back even further to part of the tree branch itself and just made that into a mini log-bead?
Lunacy? Inspiration? The line between the two is far thinner than we like to think. For this long, swingy pair, I picked out a particularly luscious pair of lampwork glass headpins from dear friend Kim of NuminosityBeads. The swirled moss, sage, delft, and cloudy hues work perfectly to provide a habitat for the natural wood beads. Plump rounded blobs of blackened silver solder cap off the wood, while wee rusty metal bead caps crown each headpin. These are earthy, subtle stunners.
I ended up titling this pair "Life is Change". Because I'm sure this black walnut tree could have never dreamt, even in its wildest imagination, that it would one day end up adorning someone's ears.
Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy
Gorgeous earrings, I need to hire you to describe my listings, girl! What a splendid combination!
ReplyDeleteShe writes poetry in her titles and descriptions and creates the breath of life in which they are mused and ignited.
DeleteI suppose if/when my hands finally give out on me, I can at least start ghost writing for others ;)
DeleteYou never cease to amaze me and inspire me! You are the true artist of this genre, the Queen! I love these twiggies! I am going to nature walk and search twiggies that have Love Root whispering to me :)
ReplyDeleteHumbled and blushing. YOU! :)
Deleteabsolute stunners, nikki. if you were saying that you made the wood beads?? you have surpassed even my expectations of you, which are about as high as they get because i've seen you move up and beyond what i thought was the top, repeatedly. they are not at all ratty; they're fabulous. you could sell those, sweet one. i know that's not your gig, but they are that fab. but why would yo do that, eh? to see what you do with two pieces simply blows my mind. i am so grateful to always have you and your art to enjoy. your imagination is superb!
ReplyDeleteOh Norbel, why oh why won't we be seeing each other in Tucson this year? I'm tired of sending you virtual hugs, I want a real one! Thank you, as ever, my friend :)
Deletei am very disappointed but i just couldn't make it happen. the hotel alone was almost two grand. . . air fare, money to buy stuff, it just got too big. but i'm saving my pennies for next year. ;) find great stuff! kim says you know how to shop there. and i promised you a gift in tucson for noticing the X i use. lol no one in 3 or more years had ever commented on it. it made me so happy! have an awesome trip!! big hugs. :)
DeleteHere I am, stuck for words again! Just magic! I love the way the knobbliness (?!) carries through to the lampwork. (And I adore those vintage wood beads you use; I'd love some for myself but they'd just be so Nikki, it wouldn't be right!)
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, the knobbliness (!!) is a nice mirror for the glass! I wonder if my brain subconsciously saw that when I was designing and that's why these two pieces seemed to just "go" together? Now there's a topic for another post...the artist's subconscious design sense...oh boy. Thank you, as ever, friend! :)
DeleteTrees have always been my touchstone--the forest as cathedral. So wearing them, or bits of them, or totems of them, has never seemed a bit odd. I'd wear these in deepest happiness!
ReplyDeleteThe forest as cathedral---one could spend a lifetime exploring that, alone! Thank you so much, friend :)
DeleteThe wood beads are incredible, they almost don't look real! And in combination with Kim's headpins, just wow!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's the wax and buffing that make them look so unreal, I think. I love what that process does for wood!
DeleteBrilliant! Your earrings and the post! I am always amazed how your brain works when creating art. Yes, your earrings are not just earrings, they are art. And what you did here....brilliant. You just inspired me to look at ordinary things differently...hmmm could I use that for jewelry? Thank you for that!
ReplyDeleteWords that I don't feel worthy of---thank you deeply, friend! :)
DeleteI love what you wrote about the walnut tree dreaming about its eventuality. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteA dreaming tree...a serene thought, for sure. Thank you!
DeleteLunacy or inspiration? I just call it genius. x
ReplyDelete*mwah!*
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