Some phenomenal new talismans, each wildly different, each made with a fossil ammonite. More work is waiting in the wings...
:: Desert Light for the New Year ::
Blessings to you all in the New Year...may it be filled with light and joy on your way. I am in the studio as often as possible, always dreaming new talismans out of desert form, texture, hue and light.
:: New Treasures ::
:: Narrows Rim Post Earrings ::
Post earrings! An all-too-rare occurrence!
:: Essence of the Desert ::
This is truly a beauty...first to emerge from my latest round of metal clay work!
:: The Shaman's Bag ::
This one speaks for itself...like one of my medicine bag necklaces, only it's a purse! Includes a detachable offering/fetish pouch. Yum.
:: 25% OFF SALE! ::
I'm having a surprise sale...now through Friday the 13th, everything in this shop is 25% off, and everything in my Etsy shop is 20% off!
...I could have called it "my cat has a dental problem and there are some major vet bills coming up", but that probably wouldn't fly. During his recent checkup at the vet, I received the unhappy news that Jasper (the Basket Cat of Facebook fame) has feline tooth resorption, which means that his teeth are decaying from the inside out. He's only 2 and already needs three extracted...and the prognosis for the rest isn't good. And Jasper HATES going to the vet. Poor guy. So that, along with ongoing home renovation bills, some planned travel, etc., etc. means that I must generate some income ASAP.
Enjoy the sale! I hope you'll find something you love!
:: Shell and Deerhide ::
I am making medicine bags! Here are today's offerings:
:: Shop Policy Changes ::
Hi everyone--I wanted to let you know that I've decided--after thinking it over for several months--that I will no longer take reservations for items. I'm sorry to have to inconvenience you, especially since I have so many established customers. For those of you who are established, I'm willing to make exceptions depending on circumstance, so if you simply MUST have something and cannot make it work financially at the moment, please contact me and we'll talk. If you have any questions about this, please let me know.
On the brighter side, I am working on three new pieces today: a silver weathered juniper wood cuff is cooling in the firing pan, and a very large silver weathered juniper wood pendant is in the kiln right now. And I created a necklace with a very special elestial quartz crystal as a pendant. You can expect to see them appearing here and on Etsy by tomorrow!
:: Two New Torcs! ::
Today's offerings...there's also a new mixed media talisman necklace in my Etsy shop!
:: Walkabout Talisman ::
An amulet of ancient artifacts and shards from distant times and places...
:: Grounding the Light ::
:: Beyond Totality ::
The end of August. What a month, what a summer, what a year it's been! Every time I think we're going to stop and catch our breath it just gets more intense.
I am listing a new set of Spirit Beads after I post this update. Since returning from the eclipse, I am only now beginning to integrate it all and get back to creating. The changes are very deep and are affecting every aspect of my life, and I wanted to let you know what that is looking like so far. Apologies to those who connect with me on Facebook for the repetition of photo and news, but it is playing out a bit further now.
The eclipse experience was phenomenal--life-changing--and I am still integrating the energies as I watch the waves of transformation ripple across the world. I was preparing for it all summer and am glad I did. As the eclipse went into totality I was reclining on a camp cot, watching it from a cattle ranch just south of Riverton, Wyoming. Totality was stunningly beautiful and otherworldly, and the energy I felt...well, it's good I was lying down. As I realized afterward, the subtle energy systems of my body were entirely rewritten. This "rewrite" or reordering of energies was a collective phenomenon of this eclipse and I suspect many others had similar experiences. The feeling of this was the strangest thing. I felt completely different, yet still "me". The purpose of the rewrite was to fully anchor my systems into the energies of the "New Earth", as many are calling it. This new way of being is entirely unplugged from the old systems dynamics of polarity, conflict, competition, and resistance. Words like "quantum" and "ascension" are often used to describe it. It is characterized by a state of deep interconnection with others within it, a state of conscious awareness, unity between dimensions of consciousness, and much, much more. It is very hard to describe, and it can be very subtle, but it has so little to do with the old way of living/thinking/being in the old world that it feels like living on another planet, even as you are coexisting side by side with those who are still wholly invested in the old paradigm. When you live in this state, you are living in a flow, moment to moment, a fluid process of happening and interaction in the moment that is nonlinear and very organic. Reconciling this with time as the old world experiences it is interesting. All I can say is that it is showing itself to be more than I ever imagined life could be. This is real, folks. Right here, right now, if you want it.
So, in the near future I'm going to be redoing my About pages here and in my Etsy shop to better reflect where my work is coming from. At this point, I don't see any radical changes in my work physically since I was always trying to key into that state when creating it anyway, but I am going to be more specific about the energies that are going into each piece. What you see on the physical level is the vehicle for an energy pattern, or program, that is like a key or access point into the energy of the New Earth, or paradigm. I have been working with the vast networks of energy in and around the Earth--Gaia--for years and lately I've been programming pieces to help folks access that energy themselves. Originally I cleared and blessed pieces to carry the highest spiritual and blessing energy to the recipient. In the past couple of years that has shifted into creating pieces to be conduits for the new paradigm energy, to help folks plug in. That is now the intention within each piece. I expect there will be other purposes infused into these pieces in the future as things progress.
That's about all for now. I need to get that piece listed. There's also a drawing in the works that I may be offering soon.
Blessings,
Dawn
:: Holding the Light ::
I managed to complete this pouch today ahead of my road trip. I'll be away from Saturday to around Wednesday of next week, first to drive up to Wyoming, where I've never been, to camp out on a cattle ranch in the path of totality to see the eclipse. I have wanted to see a total eclipse all my life, and can't wait. Afterward I'll head down through eastern Utah to some beloved canyon country that I haven't seen in far too many years, and then homeward.
Blessings,
Dawn
:: Prehistoric Southwestern Style Pendants ::
I love these two tab pendants I've been working on over the past week. Classic Anasazi style, made only with stone tools and polished with elk hide and cotton. Many, many hours of grinding and polishing, especially the jet. They are almost identical in shape and size, but have very different treatments for their necklaces.
:: The Sacred Landscape ::
My "time off" has yielded this very beautiful and calming necklace as I have been spending my days creating stone-worked elements. I think there will be more on the way soon...
:: Daybreak on the Dunes ::
I absolutely love this piece!!
:: Desert Primitive Silver Leaves ::
I absolutely love how these turned out. They may be the beginning of a new direction...
:: A Year of Changes ::
You have all probably noticed a distinct slowdown in my work this year, and I am writing this post to share with you some of the reasons why. All of you who support my work are very important to me and a few of you have become good friends. Let me say right up front that I will continue to make and sell my jewelry, crafts and artwork on this website and from my Etsy shop. I would be doing more but many things have pulled me away from the studio. While most of these things are very personal, I feel I owe you an explanation of sorts, and let you know what has been going on.
Last month I made the decision to separate from my husband and partner of over 25 years. It was a decision I had been contemplating for some time. He suffers from clinical depression and has done so all his life. It has been something we have lived with and tried to manage for most of the time we have been together, but it has been difficult, and at times, very difficult. A few years back he became suicidal and I insisted he get treatment, which he did. I resolved to be there for him and did my best to manage. The studio became my sacred space and refuge, but even so I finally reached a point where I, too, was becoming depressed and it was affecting my creativity. I had resisted reading self-help books on the subject, but after doing some research I discovered that people who live with depressed partners or family members are also seriously affected by it, and it helped me understand that my situation was far from unique. (If any of you reading this have a partner or loved one who is depressed, please take it, and your own well being, seriously. The book that helped me most was Depression Fallout by Anne Sheffield, and I recommend it.)
To make a long story short, it became clear that my husband was not interested in any additional help or treatment. Along with other factors it became clear that things were not going to improve and in the meantime I was losing my own health and well being. So we have separated amiably. He has moved out and I am going to stay in the house, our home for 21 years, and continue to work here with his support. We are "taking a break" and are going to take some time before any further decisions are made. I have been grieving the loss of a wonderful person and a long partnership, but we both agree it is for the best. And for the first time in my life I am living alone.
Now my intention is to heal, re-orient and renew my dedication to my soul's path and work, and step more fully into it. This will include more creative work of course, and I am also beginning to teach classes and workshops on metaphysical subjects here in my home, something I have wanted to do for a very long time. And then there is all the spiritual and ceremonial work with the Earth, with the new energies, and evolution.
There are many other things that affecting my ability to be fully present with this, though. The upkeep of the house has been badly neglected, a casualty of the depression, and now there is much work that must be done in a short time. That will take me out of the studio. In addition, every member of my immediate family, including my son, is in a major crisis or powerful change right now, and I feel that stress myself. It takes a fair amount of effort to "stay out of it" and allow them their own journeys, on top of everything else.
Last but not least is the world situation. Everyone is feeling it, and I know many, many people are experiencing anxiety and depression over the changes occurring in the collective human sphere. Some close friends are severely challenged themselves right now and there is a pervasive sense of "no refuge". I won't editorialize here, but will acknowledge that it takes an ongoing level of focus and intention to stay clear of the ambient chaos filtering in from "out there".
So with all of this impacting my energy, mind and heart, it's been challenging to work at times and many times I knew it was not appropriate to try. There have been many days when I just needed to attend to other matters. When I have been working, I have found I am a bit slower than usual and can become confused and forgetful at times. This too shall pass.
I sense that the intense energies affecting us all are not going to let up anytime soon. As I recently said to a friend, it feels like the Universe has called us all onto the carpet and we have been given an ultimatum to get rid of everything that does not serve our higher path in life now. If we don't voluntarily give these things/patterns/situations up, it will be a very tough go for us in the future. The only thing we have control over is ourselves, how we create, and how we respond to the world around us. For myself, I have found that resistance to what I do not like only feeds that person or situation more energy, helping to perpetuate it, and my energy is better used to create. At this time I am severely limiting my exposure to mass media and social media, except for connections that are supportive and reflect the positive change I wish to see...a media detox. I am simplifying my belongings and my diet, and am also carefully attending to my thoughts and feelings. And I am committing to creating the world I wish to see, to unplugging from the toxic, collapsing aspects of the human collective and aligning myself with a higher reality that is coming in now, very strongly. It feels like riding the cyclone, but what a trip it is.
:: Price Reduced on the Talisman Necklace! ::
Hey folks, I just wanted to let you know I've decided to reduce the price of my latest talisman necklace, In The Sun. It priced out at over $400 but much of that was due to the long time it took to finely stitch that leather cord together. So I'm now offering it to you at what is hopefully a more manageable price, $375. More pieces are in the works!