These are challenging days. My heart breaks for such loss of life and financial hardship for so many and I send out heartfelt sympathies to those who are struggling. By comparison, as the gallery opening and two juried shows I was looking forward to have been either canceled or postponed, losing the opportunity to share my work in person feels like just a temporary inconvenience. It is absolutely the responsible thing to do. I am, however, an eternal optimist. So I choose to believe that, mindful of the extraordinary personal loss for so many, the world will eventually return to some semblance of normal. And when that time comes, I hope to be back sharing my work in a manner more personal than on this website or on Instagram.
We all need to find some source of light in days that can feel so dark. Personally, pictures and videos of my children and grandchildren are the last things I look at before going to sleep and they give me the happiness and peace to rest. Professionally, I am spending lots of time in the studio. But for the first few weeks of self quarantine, I found that I needed to return to “mindless” knitting – a scarf, a baby sweater – the kind of soothing knitting I have done since I was a child. The urge to get back to my knitted jewelry is slowly returning. Ideas have once again begun to bubble up and it won’t be long before those creative voices will not be denied and I’ll return to “work” knitting.
But for now, I hope no one will take offense at my sharing what was a last bright, professional light for me as we entered into these times of concern and uncertainty. It was this necklace I made as a commission secured for me by my terrific gallery director Bruce Hoffman at Gravers Lane Gallery. A regular client had purchased a fabulous Sarah Nolan silk coat (pictured below, both front and back) and was interested in a necklace to wear with it. She admired my work in the gallery and asked if I’d be willing to design a piece for her to wear with the coat. She had fairly specific parameters but was fondest of another piece of mine that she asked I keep in mind when creating her necklace. I haven’t taken commissions in years because they too often resulted in work more to the client’s taste than mine. But the coat was so fabulous and the client turned out to be really open and excited about my preliminary proposal, so together we forged ahead. I was thrilled (and relieved!) to learn that the buyer is very happy with the result. So is the maker.
Please take good care everyone! We will make it through these times. All together.
