All The Faux-Hawk Action I Can Muster

Today is no ordinary Wednesday.

No, ladies and gentlemen,
today marked the very first day of using
PRODUCT
on this fuzzy head of mine.  I have a feeling this is just the beginning of a long and lasting love (with plenty of cussing no doubt) relationship with Mr. Extra-Strength-Waxy-Pomade.
Hello my new lover!  Muah!  Let's make magic up there!


(And for you ladies out in the blogosphere who have been rocking the shortie short hair for a while, give me your product recommendations!  I'm climbing the everest of beauty products, literally starting from ground zero and planning on having some fun with the shortness)

In other news, I purchased a chaise lounge yesterday.  I've been struggling with finding the perfect reading and writing nook in my house; the lighting is either too dim or seating not loungy enough or it's right in the middle of the chaos that ensues with four men running rampant through the house (three of those men wear furry coats.  Just to be clear).  She's lovely and squishy and ALL girl and ALL mine.  I plan on fighting the good fight against muddy paws and anything that resembles tortilla chips because SHE is a lady.  And all I want to do is park my cords right there below the windows, reading and sipping tea (this tea, pictured below, a triple sensory delight) by the drizzly afternoon light.

OH!

and p.s.
I made these for you:
The newest of the new in my Soulful Armor series.





cheers!
~ Umber

Soulful Armor and a Cuff of Hareish Proportions

A broad slice of soulful armor.
A supple weight against the chest.
A reminder of balance between that which we put on and that which we shed.

I've been a bit obsessed lately with this idea.  The thought that sometimes, letting go is the only way to move forward.  That our bodies are so wise, that the release of what is no longer necessary doubles as our best line of defense.  And perhaps most importantly, that we may gift the dust of our bodies back to the earth, not in death but in life.  That the soil of our hearts will grow richer through the detritus of our experience.  That when we open our clenched fingers and let the wind roll over our palms we do not lose anything at all.  Suddenly our breath comes freer and our hearts beat stronger.
* * * * *

A Jackrabbit Totem Cameo Cuff.

For one who has looked deep into the eyes of the wild things and found something that resonates right to their core.
A reminder to leap with faith when the time is now, to trust our own hearing, that clear voice of intuition, to understand both stillness and speed as virtue.

Happy Friday all you rockers and rockettes!
I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I really love my work.  It seems every time I swipe the last stroke of paint, I'm hit with a sudden desire to keep it ALL for myself.  I think it is a mark of good work, of steady intent, of honest belief in what one does.

I wrote for an hour this morning over strawberries and granola, filling pages in my sketchbook (side note: I write in pencil in my sketchbook/journals.  Almost exclusively.  The slight smear of graphite from my left hand and markings on aged pages delight me to no end).  But I don't think I'm done, because words keep pouring from my chest today.
So here's the plan:
Bundle up.
Pull on the Wellies.
Run pup in the park while getting soaked because I do not own an umbrella.
Head to Ramone's coffee shop.
Order a café au lait (and just perhaps an almond croissant).
Write, then write some more.

What are you up to?


~ P.S. Both pieces available in the shop momentarily ~

An Owlish Sort of Day

In the name of silent flight, winged messengers, moonlit feathers, hearing without sound and viewing without sight, I offer the third cuff in the Totem Cameo series: The Barn Owl.  Cut, tooled, painted in a slow rhythm, like the flap of an owl over midnight fields, knowing that the woman who wears this piece will know exactly what it means.

(for the original post on the Totem Cameo Cuffs, please click here)

In the shoperoo momentarily...
screech screech croak! (since barn owls do not hoot)
- Umber

Yes My Deers, This One is For You

May I tell you a story of leather and intentions?

What if there is a Totem Cameo Cuff for you at the end?

Well then, let's begin.

* * * * *

I'm fairly certain I began accessorizing while still in the womb and, like many creative types, began making my own jewelry when "recess" was still a part of my daily vocabulary.  I loved it big and bold, I loved it piled high, I loved wearing the pieces that others said "I could never get away with wearing that."

In short, I amassed a great jewelry collection and just kept adding to it.

Then, several years back something clicked.

I opened my jewelry box one day and was struck by the sad lack of soul, the mass marketing, the cheaply fabricated pieces, the void of feeling I experienced when I laid them against my skin.

I tell you true:

I purged that box like wildfire.

Because I suddenly realized how important it was to ME that if I was to place art on my body, well then it better be ART and not some knock-off (no matter how cheaply or expensively it came).  I'm no Tiffany's girl, you can keep your produced-by-the-thousands tennis bracelets and diamond solitaires.  I'm no plastic bangles or stamped-out imports either, I want to follow my pieces back to the two hands that created.  I'm the girl who wants to feel some soul, who wants to wear a story, who wants to walk into her closet each day and decide what truth she will wear and accessorize from there.

Fast forward just a little bit in time.

Something stirred in the farthest reaches of my overactive mind, building speed and mass until the drawings began pouring forth from my fingertips.  What if, just if, I could take the emotion and meaning of my paintings and wear them on my own body?  What if these lessons I learn, these truths and beauties I discover could wrap themselves on my skin in the most intimate understanding, nearly art through osmosis?  The funny thing is that I'm almost more interested in finding ways to physically connect with art than to beautify my body, however if the two can become one, well, now we're onto something.

So I bring you to today, and the first of my offerings in leather.  A Totem Cameo Cuff, Doe Edition, absolutely, positively, one of a kind.  A painting for your wrist.  A reminder for the woman who intrinsically understands what it is to move like wind on delicate feet, to know the power of gentleness in her cellular makeup, to feel the push of love radiating from within her.  A slice of art to wear in the freshness of this new year and for many years to come.

In the painting shop momentarily...

Cheers my does and deers!