Art Therapy Works - Little Phoenix Angel Dichroic Glass Cabochon Necklace is done!

Little Phoenix Angel Glass Cab Necklace

To make beauty and spend my time in the act of creation is very healing and peaceful, whether writing, painting, beading, or working in service for others, so I've done a lot of that in the past several weeks as I come to terms with the passing of my beautiful daughter. With my bead creations, I am grateful for good work to busy my hands, and quiet concentration that allows sweet memories to flow, filling my heart with love.

I have gone to see my therapist for a "tune-up" to make sure I'm on track and to have someone to talk with about the waves of emotion that pass through me - the difficult human ones (sadness, anguish, aloneness, fear, doubt, bewilderment, pain, ugh...) as well as the abiding and loving spiritual ones (peace, beauty, understanding, love, certainty...). She is very supportive of my artwork as a healing activity, and she says she can see the healing of my grief happening in the messages of the work itself. The artwork feels like a connection with something higher than my Earthly human Self, for which I am most grateful.

Little Phoenix is about my daughter Jess's new journeys, her sense of belonging in the place we all return to as our true home, and her "birth," which I celebrate, underneath my selfish longing to see and touch and hear and smell her Earthly beautiful Self. I remind myself that "linear time" does not exist in her world as it does in mine, and that she can connect with me any time I invite or allow. It's really hard, but I'm training myself to go with the flow, like water, as I cannot control the events we've experienced here in this plane of existence. (The lessons of water hold another whole blog post - as I find it an amazing element, one which Nature provides to teach us so many things.)

The Moon and The Sun together

The beautiful hand-carved bone faces of this cabochon necklace are the moon and the sun together. To me they signify the World of Unity to which Jess has gone. The sun - light (white) - represents harmony, (white is the combination of all colors as defined by physics) and the moon, which we see best at night, represents darkness, which, when seen through the lens of Unity, is the birthplace of light, (the "beforeness" of light, or the void, from which all creation springs) making darkness a place of creation and growth, not destruction, or fear, as we're taught.

I love the peace of these faces, and how they snuggle together. For this necklace, I antiqued the shiny white bone a bit with Winsor and Newton blue ink so the borders would show, and the faces would blend with the rest of the piece. I'm still learning how to do this antiquing gently, researching and learning from other bead artists who have gone before me and from whom I can learn. I love the Internet for research, we are very lucky to have it if we can discern what is useful.

Special cabochon and wing design

I bought this beautiful hand-made dichroic glass cabochon many months ago, knowing it would be very special. I loved the colors and the beautiful silvery-white heart, signifying LOVE. As my little angel necklaces started to appear, my sister looked at them, looked through my collection of cabochons, and picked this one out, asking me to make something for her.

I never quite know what will come about, I just listen to the beads, and this cab inspired me to choose colors pulled right from inside of it. So I chose copper, blue, and soft cream colored seed beads, and added the carnelian (red) round beads, bordered by a spiral of blue/green tube beads for the wings. I love the spiral pattern, as it suggests eternity, infinity, and dynamic movement. Carnelian "grounds and anchors you in the present reality" and is a stabilizing stone. "Stimulates creativity and acceptance, restores vitality and motivation, removes fears of death. "(The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall, Walking Stick Press, 2003.)

Wing patterns

I'm certainly chatty tonight with the meanings behind my work - I'll switch back to details for a minute.

Total measurement of this necklace is 24 inches, with the length at 14 inches, so it hangs right in the middle of the chest. My sister is the best walking advertisement for my jewelry as she has a lot of style and anything she puts on looks like a million bucks. I can't wait to see her in this, and it will impart good energies for her : )

Backing is forest green ultrasuede

As with all my cabochon pieces, this one is backed by soft ultrasuede, this time in a shade of lovely forest green (my favorite color).

About 30 hours spent in wonderful creation time.

Isn't she just beautiful? Thank you my beautiful muse.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Thanks for visiting and reading about how art therapy is helping me to work through my grief. As Glennon Melton says, "we can do hard things."

Namaste,
Jen