Wearable Art Inspired By Great Artists

A Grinch and His Dog, 
Image Source for Derivative Work: Turner Entertainment Company
Original Artist: Theodor Geisel/Dr. Seuss

For years and years, on the day after Thanksgiving, which is my first favorite holiday, my husband and I have trooped off to Kuhns Christmas Tree Farm to pick out a beautiful tree to bring home to the delight of our two pups, Lil Bear and Benjamin, and especially our kitty, Joey Max. 

Christmas is my second first favorite holiday! We spend the day decorating and in the evening enjoy a glass of champagne and the glow of the lights and ornaments on the tree, along with a fire in the hearth and our favorite Christmas movies, which, of course include The GRINCH! We LOVE it!!

I love it so much that I decided to celebrate Dr. Seuss/Theodor Geisel's artistic talents with a very special Christmas cabochon necklace, wearable with lots of different colors throughout the holiday season, and even if you want to feel a little Christmas in July.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Just plain fun!

As I designed this piece, which will be available at the Bellefonte Art Museum throughout December, I listened to the whispers of the Grinch, who said, "I'm an elegant fellow with a wild sense of humor, so choose your colors carefully, and add some fun for goodness sakes!" Hence the fringe includes fun little round blue and red balls reminiscent of the ones we love to hang on our Christmas trees, and loads of fluffy strands dressed up in their holiday best with beautiful sparkly Swarovski crystals.

Slips right over your head and likes to be worn with turtlenecks, dresses, sweaters, and smooth frocks in a rainbow of colors. 

This year's theme for artists creating gifts for the museum's Holiday Show and Sale was "Creating the New: Inspired by Great Artists."

So in keeping with this theme, Peter Rabbit showed up, saying "Pick me! Pick me!" And I did, in honor of the admirable Beatrix Potter. If you haven't seen the movie Miss Potter, it's an excellent choice for a cozy holiday evening, family friendly too.

Scoootching under the fence.
Source: American copyright for Peter Rabbit is in the Public Domain.
Original Artist: Beatrix Potter

Yep, there he is, Peter Rabbit. And I think he might be in the process of making Santa's naughty list, sneaking into Mr. McGregor's vegetable garden and all.... Uh oh. But then, rabbits will be rabbits, and Santa knows this, so perhaps he will understand.

Peter Rabbit

Peter loves all things of the beautiful earth, so he helped me choose some delicate little white flowers, leaves of various colors, and a couple of teardrop shapes for the fringe, because he doesn't feel too great about losing his beautiful blue jacket in Mr. McGregor's garden. Not to worry, mother puts Peter to bed with some camomile tea, so a little bit of love and some sweet dreams restore his energy for new adventures to come.

Sweet fringe

I can picture this necklace on someone who has children or grandchildren, and loves to sit down with them and tell the tales of Peter Rabbit and all the sweet animals Beatrix Potter brought to life with her magical stories. Don't worry if the children want to touch - this necklace can take a lot of handling, as it's strung on 10 lb FireLine, which is good and strong and will last for several generations.

Raphael's Tempi Madonna
Source: Public Domain

Okay, yes, these designs I made during the holiday season, and sometimes you just need something especially Christmasy. That's when Raphael's Tempi Madonna called to me, and said "It's about love." And there are a great many kinds of love, but the love a mother has for her child might just be one of the very greatest.

LOVE

Our children can do no wrong. We love them with all of our hearts and souls, we are Madonnas, we the mothers. I love this necklace because it shows the closeness between mother and child. The protection. The bond. Somehow the Madonna brings me back to Jesus, the son who was wrenched from us all, publicly killed by the fearful powermongers, the son who never lost faith, and rose, living...living, to give us hope, and a glimpse past the veil of forgetfulness. She is most sacred to me. Of all he went through, she went through as much, and she never lost her faith. I love the Madonna in all of the depictions throughout history by the great artists.

Cleansing, healing teardrops.

The image in this cabochon necklace was painted by the master, Raphael. For the fringe, the Madonna let me know that even though she cried and cried (as all mothers do when they're not laughing and laughing), the crying was cleansing, and healing, so together we chose the color of tears in the soft gemstone drops, the healing of green, which is the color of love in the chakra energy system, and copper, which represents the transmission of thought, and healing.

She is peaceful. He is trusting. And trust is a beautiful thing. We can trust in the process of life, and know that it goes on, in realms more loving than we can even imagine here.

This Madonna is for someone who prays, and she brings great comfort. The greatest.

Other worlds depicted by Warwick Goble in The Fairy Book, 1920.
Source: Public Domain

So as our little earthly physical selves deal with things doled out such as the killing of the Christ Child, where does that take us? Why to the ethereal worlds of the magical fairy kingdoms of course. So to complement the rest of this collection for my holiday offering, the fairies came in all their beautiful astral glory, saying "Hey, what about us?!"

And we danced and worked together under the full moon, choosing the soft colors of ethereal Nature.

Flora and Fauna

We picked pale pink and green and iridescenty Czech floral beads, along with leaf-shaped leaf beads in a rainbow of colors, plus crystals, representing the light of the worlds we have yet to remember, worlds in which we belong and are welcomed. Worlds in which we can play with harm to none.

Fairy worlds.

Funtimes.

The fairies love to party and they believe in fun. Necessary for our well-being, no matter what. It's good to make time for imagination, fun, play, laughter, and innocence. It's good to celebrate life in all its forms. This necklace is for someone who knows how to do that. And still does.

Each of these necklaces comes with a velveteen pouch for softkeeping. 

Length of the image when you have the necklace on is about mid-chest, with fringe about 4-5 inches long. Each one slips right over your head with no fussy clasps. They take between 20 and 30 hours to make, pure joy. 

What do you earn for that amount of your time? 

I try to make my prices reasonable, wish I could make them "cheap," but they're not. I strive for the highest quality possible in materials and craftsmanship, can't help it. I'm a quality girl. These won't fall apart. They're irresistible conversation starters and just plain pure treasures. Come to the museum to touch and try them on. They won't break, and you'll feel the good energies behind them, both from me and their original creators.  

Gifts for and from the heart. Happy holidays! May we celebrate them with such love, and such appreciation for our Lovies, those who are close to us now, those who've gone before us and created such beauty to keep our hearts warm and our souls inspired while we're here. Theodor Geisel, Beatrix Potter, Raphael, Warwick Goble, and all the artists who are contributing to the Holiday Show and Sale, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the beauty you spent time creating to share with us, and for inspiring us to carry on.

Carry on, with celebration and joy.

Namaste,
Jen

Black Cat Cabochon Long Necklace #2 is Done!

MeOoOoOowlllll!

Ah, another black cat cabochon has called to me. He senses his forever home just beyond the horizon, so he's jumped up very high so he can see far and away. He likes to be out and about in the night, and stretches his back into an arch, readying himself to leap from his way up high place and gambol under the moonlight with you. According to ancient Scottish and Celtic tradition, he brings good luck and prosperity.

In the studio - becoming....

Late at night he helps me choose sparkly soft purple, inky black, and shiny bronze seed beads for the peyote stitch border around him. Inky black and transparent purple Swarovski crystals twinkle among the seed beads creating the fringe, tipped with dark purple and shiny black Czech dagger beads.

Yes, he likes it!

He's ready to set off on adventures with you, and likes to be taken to museums and gallery shows, parties, and places where he will be noticed and talked about. He also has a cuddly, domestic side, and is happy going shopping with you, or just hanging around the house. He really loves a nice, long walk in the woods, too.

He's not fussy about what you wear. He likes blue jeans and a t-shirt just as much as a long, slinky dress with heels. He's not too particular about color either, and will purr nicely against blues, purples, shades of black, gray, white, cream, and even a hot, bright orange. 

He's got moxy.

He loves to play.

And he loves being the center of attention, right in the middle of your chest, like a little protective shield.

* * *

Diameter of cabochon with bordering beads - 2 inches

Length of pendant with fringe - 5 and 5/8 inches

Necklace strap is 24 inches - slips right over your head and pendant hangs at mid-chest 

Comes in a black velveteen pouch for softkeeping.

Sewn with 10 lb FireLine, he's a great conversation piece and a joy that'll last for generations.

He'll be available at the Green Drake Gallery throughout October, 2016 and through the holiday season. After that, he may be found at Dreamkeeper Creations online.

Black Cat Cabochon Necklace is done! Meooooowzers!

Mysterious black kitty sits under the full moon

Many superstitions surround the black cat in all areas of the world. Having Celtic and Scottish roots, my family loves them greatly, and as long as I can remember one of us has always had one or more. We believe they bring good luck and prosperity, along with lots of cuddly love.

So to celebrate my love of the black cat, I made this glass cabochon necklace using a gorgeous image of a fluffy black cat silhouetted against the beautiful full moon. He is especially fitting to acknowledge the holiday time of Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve, in late October.

What could be more fun than dressing up in witchy costumes, carving pumpkins, bobbing for apples, eating and drinking everything pumpkin-spiced, watching favorite holiday movies (Witches of Eastwick, Sleepy Hollow, Hocus Pocus, Fairy Tale: A True Story) and gathering with friends and family to toast the harvest and welcome the sweet storytime of winter's long, dark evenings and freezing winds?

Fluffy fringe!

The fringe on this piece blends the soft, moody blue and purple colors of the cosmos with shiny black and a touch of champagne gold, to bring out kitty's beautiful eyes. The gold of the Swarovski crystals sparkles along with the twinkle of small, inky black faceted crystals. The fringe tips include beautiful Czech black glass, iridescent purply-blue glass, and bright gold.

Fringe tails all spread out

Here he is.

I will try to get better photos - today the sun was really golden and washing out my pics. Need a bit of a cloudy day to do the colors justice. But here he is! Meowzers for all those who loooove black cats!

Diameter of Cabochon with bordering beads - 2 inches

Length of pendant with fringe - 5 and 3/8 inches

Necklace strap is 22 1/2 inches - hangs mid-chest (slips over your head with no pesky clasps)

Wear with blue jeans, solid color shirts and dresses, and definitely a really wonderful costume! He's a conversation piece that will last through several generations.

He will be available at Dreamkeeper Creations til he finds his forever home, unless he finds himself irrevocably attached to me! (In which case I will make another one for you : )

Happy Halloween!

Namaste,
Jen

Knife Stabs and Lemonade at Halloween

My favorite witch

It was late. I'd worked on my beautiful cat cabochon necklace for hours, and then decided sort of spontaneously to get into the holiday spirit by getting out my Halloween decorations. I don't subscribe to the "let's make every holiday Christmas and decorate the hell out of everything attitude," but I do like a couple of things around to acknowledge "All Saint's Day," which has many different types of celebration and commemoration. It is the day we acknowledge the world of Spirit.

I love witches, their history, their mystery, and the good work that they do. My husband and I have favorite Halloween movies and shows that we watch, including The Good Witch, Hocus Pocus, Witches of Eastwick, Fairy Tale: A True Story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and others. It's just what we do.

So I went down into our basement to bring my witches upstairs and my little purple furry bat and my paper pumpkin dangle pull-string doll that I like to hang on the front door, but I forgot that we had a basement flood and everything was moved in a frenzy to get things out of the water several weeks ago.

I stood in the basement next to the Christmas ornament tubs on the shelves, and put my finger to my lips, wondering where my pink tupperware tub of witches was. It used to be right on the floor next to the Christmas ornaments.

I thought maybe I'd forgotten, and they weren't in a pink tub. And I opened the lid of a big plastic tub which held my daughter's cheerleading pompoms and outfits and I spun around, reeling - oh! Oh! That was not my witches.

So I realized they might be in the next basement room and walked through the semi-darkness into the area where we had put all the tubs full of my daughter's sacred things. They had been stacked against the wall in the driest spot, safe from floods, and I discovered they were piled atop with all kinds of other things, one of which flipped my heart right over.

It was something her birth father "created" in 2001 when he'd taken her for a major haircut. It was a stupid box picture frame with her photo in it and a long, long ponytail of her beautiful hair. Jess had said when he gave it to her that she thought it was kind of creepy. And when she sorted out her stuff in the basement one year while visiting, she had put it in a bag for the trash pile. He'd installed a brass plaque with the date, along with her ponytail and I picked it up and flipped it upside down and it made a very satisfying thump. But my heart thumped along with it. What the hell do you do with something like this when your beautiful daughter has passed? It is not right to put it into the trash. And it would kill me to hang it up somewhere, "Oh I have my daughter's hair but I don't have her!" I couldn't do that.

So in the wee hours of the night I brought it upstairs and took it apart. I didn't care about the stupid brass plaques, I kept the beautiful photo, and I took the ponytail out. Oh so beautiful and oh such sparkly suncatching hair so soft. I took off the damn velcro around the ponytail and I made a new ponytail with my soft little tiny rubber bands and I wove two love braids, a big one, and a little one.

Beautiful sparkles, which I'm sure she's still sparkling

I tried hard not to curse my ex-husband for making me do this. I tried to make it a beautiful experience, yet more caretaking of what my daughter no longer needs. Owie. Love braids.

I had some volunteer snapdragons that had grown by the doorway of my studio and I picked some.

Volunteer sunshine happiness

Sonofabitch. So I wrapped her beautiful ponytail in soft paper towels and with my collection of beautiful snapdragons I went, as dawn was rising, into the backyard and walked to our peach tree where we had sat as the sun set in the evenings, on the grass, drinking wine and talking during her last visit home.

The walk was supported by my little yard fauna and fellows.

My beautiful fern and hosta friends encouraged me to keep going.

My buddy

My little gnome gave me encouragement to keep going.

I kneeled on the ground and felt my knees get wet with dew. I inhaled the beautiful fragrance of the earth, oh so sweet, and dug a hole. And put flowers in. And put her beautiful hair in. And covered it up. And put flowers on top.

Flowers guarding

And I said a prayer.

And I got up with the dawn rising and the mists all around me and I was comforted by beautiful flowers on the way back.

Sweet flowers on the way back

Sweet garden friends on the way back

And I said to myself, "It's okay. It's okay."

Life in all its stages

And it is. Life blossoms, and it makes seeds, and seeds grow to blossom again.

Young witch

Old witch

Flying witch

Peace in the night

So we have put yet some more painful things to rest and tried to create ceremony and beauty around that. Yes I kept a tiny lock of her beautiful sparkly hair and put it in my treasure box. 

And I slept a lot.

And now we turn our attention to other stories of the season - Leprechauns, Fairies, and Dreams.

Movietime

Sweet relief

Thank goodness for all who work in the realms of happiness. Even amidst our sorrows. When we have lemons, we make lemonade.

We can do hard things.

Namaste,
Jen

Letters from Jess - As Above, So Below

Doodle play

Going within

I've been keeping a journal with my daughter who passed into her celestial home January 9th, of 2015. I counted the number of letters I've written since then (16 in 18 months just from me, 6 just from Jess in that timeframe, and 5 "dialogs" that go back and forth between us). I counted to check and make sure I was being healthy about this, not obsessed, not "waiting," but just communicating comfortably. I figure a letter per month is pretty good, though some months I didn't feel the urge to write at all and other months I wrote more depending on circumstances and whether emotions needed attention.

I include our little doodles because dear Desiree taught me that when I'm in the mood to write or to hear from Jess it is good to calm myself by drawing spirals, starting from the outside in. So I do. Sometimes Jess adds her little doodles too xo.

Her latest letter is very interesting, because it shows some maturity in her ability to communicate as well as her activities. It is insightful, and so I share it with love and wonderment for the vastness that is our celestial home. 

It is my understanding that our experience of "heaven" is very individualistic, though research will show some similarities. We don't lose our "personality," or our "individuality," and our experiences are as unlimited as our imaginations. Imagination is something purely divine. We have access to it here on beautiful Earth. And of course, if we were given a gift from heaven how could it be otherwise than something without limitation, something vast and huge with unlimited potential in unlimited universes and levels of vibrational life? Heaven doesn't just give us gifts of matter, though we can play with them. "Matter" is just a drop in the bucket of playtoys from heaven. It morphs. It breathes. It lives.

So I will put the photographs of her letter up and add my comments below. As I've said before, when she writes, there is usually what I call a "zinger," something I wouldn't ordinarily think about, something insightful that encourages me to consider its application in our real world. She was very helpful with the concept of "effect" in her latest letter.

About celestial teachers

The zinger for me on these pages is first, that she has several teachers, and the subjects they cover include learning, growing, having fun, reflection - a bit more about that in a minute. I love that she explains how they come by their positions - "they reach their positions through their hearts and their actions - so they want to be doing what they're doing and they like it. They smile and they laugh and they are very patient." 

So there doesn't seem to be a system of election of any form, rather a soul gets to work "at purpose" according to their own loves and interests, following their hearts so to speak. Cool beans. I like that. I'll go there!

Then when she says "I just think of what I want to do and start doing it. And I can without limitations." My first thought is "Oh no, if I were able to master something very quickly I'd surely be bored, and then what? Bored for eternity?" BUT...

A lovely new zinger to contemplate : )

Then she gives me a new zinger to contemplate. She says that what makes learning interesting (and I have a vision in my head of her playing the harmonica, which she loved to do here) is "watching the effect it has on everything else that it affects. That's something we can't see the 'whole' of when we're in Earth Life form. We only get glimpses there and sometimes they are limited to what others want us to know/see or not know/see. Here we can have awareness of everything."

So when I think of "as above, so below" I think of us in our clunky human bodies cranking out our stuff and the incredible breadth of blindness in ourselves of the effect of anything we do or say on other people, other entities, other systems, etc. And I imagine for a few minutes what it would be like to have an awareness so large and without judgment or ownership that we could "see" the ripples and feel ripples coming back to us. Another pretty vast gift of heaven. Thank goodness it's not as small as we've been taught. I think I might not be bored at all!

I think of our technologies and how we're blindly trying to bring down this ability to gauge the effects of our creations and actions using back end analytics, especially in the educational fields (but this also applies to every single action, word, thought, etc.), and I see clearly how clunky it really is, but I also see that we are making an effort to measure, in Earth terms, with Earth limitations, our effects and then to take that information and enhance our creations and efforts to improve them so that effects are better. (And that's a huge thought with many factors, such as the incentives of those who are creating and for what purpose, unfortunately usually financial gain.)

I love that in these pages she tells me that my plants love music (I play lots of it for them frequently) and they love when I imagine them growing to their full potential. They are my beloved friends.

I love that she advises me to work more with visualizing happy images in my mind. She says it helps my vibration to attract other happy imaginers and thinkers. Well I love that don't I? Let's all do a little more of it. I wonder how many of us let the media dictate our thoughts and imaginings. How many of us sit on the porch for a few minutes each day and fill our minds with happy imaginings - memories, dreams. I agree it is "good to play with," as she says.

Nourishment

I'm fascinated with what she says about nourishment. "It's a form of love. It's something we absorb - it's everywhere, and we choose what to engage with to feel nourished." Well that's just beautiful. How do we fit that into our day? 

Here's where the maturity is starting to show in her growth - it was always there, but she's exploring it and sharing it more now - when she says "we can get nourishment in several different ways, for several different purposes - cleansing - all our 'layers,' creating, relaxing, socializing, resting, exploring, learning, everything imaginable. Nourishment is abundant and free for the choosing. There is no ownership here," (Big one.) "only availability. Everything is freeflowing. Priceless. So there is no fear of scarcity." 

We think nourishment is "food," and we scarf down whatever we pick up in the stores that "isn't" food, or we follow an organic or vegan regime and we forget to remember that nourishment is so many things besides what we know as "food." We are deeply nourished by experiences of the right kind, more than we know. They are powerful. And very personal. Each person knows deep down inside what experiences, things, places, people will give them nourishment. What if we seek that consciously? Do we know to do that? I for one, am giving more time to activities that nourish me, knowing that I'm being fed on levels I was previously unaware of. I don't need anyone's permission. Isn't that lovely?

I am interested in her illustration of the active process of manifestation: thought => action => promotion/marketing => distribution + supplies/time => results. She says the formula works on Earth: desire/love/pursuit/learning/action => results, but it is "affected by Earthlings themselves." I love that she says there is a lot of room for all kinds of creation on Earth. I totally understand when she says it makes a difference to be in a "peaceable community."

Jess doodles

Jess doodles

Jess doodles

Jess doodles

LOVE

Thank you my sweet love for sharing your beautiful insights. May we find peace in our hearts to see the glimpses of your heaven that you share with us, and may we find inspiration in your beautiful words. Thank you for coming to us! I love you forever and a day.

Namaste,
Jen

Crow Cabochon Necklace is done

The beautiful Crow

Whenever I was camping with my children in our beloved California territories under the ancient spreading branches of the oak trees, the first sound we would hear as the sun rose was the call of the crows. Their voices echoed throughout the forest. One at a time they would announce the rising of the sun to each other and all the forest creatures, big and small. A new day has come! And the golden light would dapple through the tiny leaves of the trees, making them sparkle. And sometimes the mists would rise. And we would wake, start a fire, and make the best ever coffee you've ever dreamed of, and hot chocolate for the children. And scrambled eggs and sausage over an open fire, knowing that our day would be "off the clock" and we could follow the forest pathways to our hearts' content, delighting in the nourishment only beautiful Nature offers.

Crow cabochon necklace is becoming.....

So I wanted to celebrate my love of Crow, and I made this beautiful cabochon by attaching the image to the glass, then spent time choosing the colors that Crow might enjoy. They like sparkly things, so I chose some bright whites to complement the clouds in the image as well as what Crow might be drawn to pick up should she come upon it. Her celestial environment also included beautiful shades of purples and blues, so I chose some seed beads to complement these colors. And of course a bit of black for the inky iridescence of her feathers.

Fancy dancer

I sewed and sewed and sewed and Crow danced with me, helping me choose the patterns of her fringe strands, which include beautiful iridescent accent beads reminiscent of the sunrises and sunsets she sings to, and tips reminiscent of the colors sparkling from her feathers in just certain light. Purples, blacks, soft mauves, creamy opalescent whites. She is not shy.

Thick, glorious colorful, dancing fringe!

There she is.

Crow cabochon necklace, mmmm.

Length of Necklace Strap - 23 inches

Width of Crow Cab - 2 inches

Length of Crow Cab with Fringe - 5 and 3/4 inches

Hangs mid-chest. Comes in a velveteen pouch for softkeeping.

She's available in Dreamkeeper Creations on Etsy til she finds her forever home.

Namaste,
Jen