The Universe in a thimble

When I am creating a bracelet or any work of jewelry I often think of it as a tiny world in itself. I attribute this gift to my mother. You see, when I was a child she taught me to love doll houses. We would create the little food, the little furniture and yes we would even crochet tiny blankets for our doll house world. The people living there always had Gumby limbs and crazy dresses. When I would start to feel sorry for myself because my mother would make me wear a denim shirt with red and white checked sleeves and a big apple on the front, I would think of the little doll house people with the pink polka dotted dress glued to her with the tiny petticoat peeking out from the bottom. She always had to wear big black Mary Jane shoes and had a constant pleasing expression. Perhaps my mother was wishing she had a daughter that pleasing.

When I am making a bracelet and when I started making theme bracelets I loved the idea that a bracelet full of cookbook images would have little forks and mix master charms and even little mini hamburgers. When I would wear one, people would almost always stop and ask me to show them the little components, kitchy and fun and full of their own energy. I think tiny things do have their own energy. When something is loud and screaming at you it seems as though it has no secrets, but when you are talking about something tiny, something so small you have to stop and check out the details you wonder about it's secrets. I wonder who has carried around this broken earring I have found at the scrap bin at the goodwill. Who loved this earring, was it a birthday present? Did some bride give this to a bridesmaid as a thank you for the months of angst leading up to her wedding? Did a lover leave this on a park bench while she was kissing her latest crush and it was found by yet another hander offer waiting for it to be someone else's treasure?

Objects have their own energy. When I start a piece of jewelry I know in the end who would want to wear it. I know the large Frida Kahlo Day of the dead pieces are going to be worn by frail women who have a fire and energy to carry off a huge piece of jewelry. They re the women who walk with confidence and who are out living in the world and when I am finished and wondering about who will wear one of my pieces of art I often send them a little prayer into the air wishing that they are noticed by someone like them who wants to share themselves with the world and it may open a whole new dialog. I just received a letter from Paris from a woman who purchased a bracelet and she remarked that the people in her book club were fascinated by the images of Plath and many of them haven't even heard of her.

Our lives are full of mystery and a song that is all our own. I would hope that if you have had a desire to take some of yourself and put it out there that you will take the bold step to do so and share some of yourself in a world just waiting for you. If you have an interest in my art you can find it at Etsy.com under the seller name POETSUMMER. You can also find me at Ebay under the same name or my own E Commerce site at Summerpoet.Com.

Carrie