Camp Life

This past year has been a blur. My day job has had me working around the clock most days, and for months on end. I finally got just a sliver of time to myself and I literally jumped off the grid with both feet.

At the beginning of August, I had just arrived home (late) from yet another long flight, and gave myself about a day to unpack it all and then turn around and pack only a few essentials for camp. I stuffed two bags full of beads, threw clothes in a duffel and grabbed some wine. Truly, that is all a girl needs for 2 weeks away. I was home for a day, but itching to get on the road and off the grid.

I walked in to our camp, did a quick 'broom sweep' just in time for my beading friend Christine to arrive. I was looking forward to a few days of beading on the screened in porch, some cheese, some wine and the quiet (with the exception of the birds and lapping water). Of course there was plenty of chatter with Christine, which just feels like home to me. Pure bliss after months on the road.

Christine stayed for only a few short days, and then I was beading solo. I shifted from simple cabochons (like the one above with a pretty little thulite stone) to a series of beaded collars. I have a pile of bead patterns I've been meaning to get to, and I finally had the chunk of time needed to dig in. I started with this sparkly one (left) using antique Turkish beads I got from a friend years ago. They have been sitting around my studio for such a long time that I figured it was time to pull them out. Then I switched to a pattern that would highlight these gold leaves (right). I can't decide if this looks Native American or Egyptian? It just felt good to have the weight of beads working in my hands again. It relaxes me beyond words. The photos aren't great, apologies. They are pictures inside the camp, which is dark. But hey, at least I did a blog post which is more than I've done since the first of the year.

I started one last project while at the camp, but didn't finish until I got home. It is an ultra soft cuff in a creamy off white with just a touch of thin leather. It started out as a choker, but the beads were so irregular that I had to do too much hunting and sorting to find normal sizes that I just couldn't deal with making this any longer than it is. C'est la vie.

Female Voices :: Ruth Bader Ginsberg

I've been absent for some time from the blogosphere, and for no better excuse than simply life taking up my time in other ways. Funny how Instagram has taken over as my typical way to stay in touch with people. It is so easy to snap a quick picture, add a few words (not even a full sentence), post and be on my way. So if you follow me on Instagram you know that there have been travels and the occasional beading project. 

Lately, I've had a lot on my mind about people who seem to be a beacon in the world for good. People who's voice is heard above the divisive rhetoric. During the mid-term election cycle, I heard the push from female voices. In social media, in reporting, through documentaries and in my everyday work environment. It was loud. What I kept thinking was that women are not asking to be in charge; just that they want to be heard and to feel that they are equal. What is it about winning? Does there need to be either a winner or loser? 

I recently saw the Ruth Bader Ginsberg, RBG documentary. If you have not yet seen RBG, then do. It is both inspiring and refreshing to hear the force that is Ruth. "I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask from our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks." Well said, Ruth. A recent speech at Georgetown University, Ruth said she is inspired by the #MeToo movement and that, "women nowadays are not silent about bad behavior." She has such measured responses, and speaks with such strength. People stop and listen when Ruth has something to say. She is absolutely on my list of people I wish I could meet.

So while I was watching the RBG documentary, I was working on a beading project. Lately, I've wanted to feel something substantial in my hands while I bead, and so I've started to bead collars. Not sure exactly why, but I do love the way the beads feel in my hands as I work the project. And then I noticed that Ruth wears these, and that she has quite a collection of collars. I was thinking that I should call these my RBG series. What do you think; would Ruth wear one of mine?