Welcome to February - already!
Sometimes, when we reach the middle of January, it feels like the end and by the end, it feels like the 628th!!
I hope January was not too endless for you. I’d intended to tell you more about some of the special pieces I made before Christmas but the month flew by before I got around to it! Probably something to do with having two mini-breaks - how decadent is that?!
So, before we completely forget that Christmas wasn’t that long ago, let me show you some ‘shinies’ I had the honour of making for some of my lovely customers…
Creatures of the deep
I made this for a special someone who spent some time last summer exploring new countries and the seas surrounding them. I know he loves sharks and rays and after many close up encounters with turtles on his travels, there’s also a reminder of those treasured moments too.
The grey wooden beads were hidden in my craft stash - me, a hoarder? Never!
I’d just bought a fancy new jewellers saw when I made this - it made a good job of the dinky shark and ray!
Wrap-around ring
I love the floral textured pattern on this ring. It's made from fine silver with a small peephole heart. I’ve made a few designs like this but this particular flowery pattern is probably my favourite!
It is made using silver clay and I chose to wrap it and size it after firing. Because of the wrap-around design, it was a more accurate way to size it as there is always a certain amount of shrinkage using silver clay, so the size you start with is not the same at the end, which could be disastrous with a ring, right?
The joy of a customer asking for something specific means it forces me to try something I may not have tried before. The brief for this necklace was ‘music themed: music note or treble clef. Not too big as she’s quite petite.’
Persuading the silver wire to behave itself and neatly form a small treble clef was more of a challenge than I had anticipated - and I didn’t have long to get this finished as Christmas was fast approaching!
I now have a bundle of mis-shapes on my bench but that is generally the case when it's a new design project! And so worth it to learn new things!
Faith inspired
I know you’ve seen this before so I hope you don’t mind seeing it again! This is the chunky cross I made for a gentleman who had given me a very clear design brief.
I made a prototype in copper which made me realise that getting accurate 90 degree angles is quite difficult!! Haha! Got there in the end though!
It was working on this which made me determined to develop a variety of cross designs in 2023, so keep a look out for the new ideas I’ll be working on in the coming weeks and months!
The past week has been spent in amongst the forest environment of Center Parcs. It was a quiet and peaceful week interspersed with starlit swimming, a couple of woodland runs (I've made it to week 8 of Couch to 5K, - and hurrah, no recurring injuries yet), a little bit of cycling (not as much as my long suffering husband would have liked!) and even line dancing! (If you’ve never tried it, you really should - it was SOOOoooo much fun!! I mean it, really and truly, you should!)
But the part I love the most are the trees.
The redwoods are especially magnificent.
I loved looking out of the window and seeing nothing but trees. “I just love the trees” may have been said quite often last week!!
It made me wonder about the part of the tree we cannot see - the roots. They feed and support the tree. How far do they need to reach to hold and support the tree through all weathers, year in, year out?
Apparently, it's 2-3 times the radius of the canopy, or more. So, now you know!
That means for a tree with a canopy diameter of 5m, the radius is 2.5m. Therefore the roots will reach 5-7m outwards from the trunk. This gives the full root structure a whopping 10-15m diameter for our 5m wide tree!
In dry spells, they reach out further - up to 5 times the canopy radius. So in dry summers, our tree’s roots can extend to cover 25m in diameter - wow!
And it’s all hidden beneath the surface.
Unseen.
But all the while supporting and nurturing what we can see.
“Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.”
Colossians 2:7
There are many references in the bible to roots, and the nourishment they provide to plants and trees. In a similar way, we are encouraged to feed on the Word of God (invisible) so that what we do (visible) is strong and healthy.
What is unseen and invisible should be, by far, the larger investment of our resource: time, energy, effort…
For myself, it’s a reminder that all the time, energy and effort I invest into nurturing and nourishing my relationship with God will be strengthening my faith. Which is the foundation of my day to day: my work, Poema, my relationships…my everything, really.
And like the trees I find so captivating, I want that part to be captivating too.
Food for thought...
With love,
Pam
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