Exiting Eden: An Example of Sacred Jewelry

My blog, I've recently figured out, is a lot like my life--all over the place. My Inner Critic (also known as IC) says I am unfocused, but when I feel like annoying him I reply, "I'm just interested in a lot of things and admire lots of people. What's wrong with that?" He harrumphs and retreats for a while. 

But if I weren't a person who is interested in a lot of things and people, my life would not be brimming with ideas, activities and the creativity that it usually is.  For example, I wouldn't know Karla Schmidt Commins. She teaches art at the school where I work and her jewelry often appears in local art shows. I love to hear what Karla and her high school freshman son are up to, what she is creating and teaching her students to create. She dropped by my office the other day wearing a gorgeous pair of her hammered silver earrings and I reminded myself that I wanted to share a photo I took several weeks ago of one of her necklaces. Karla and the school's other art teachers recently closed their annual art show in San Pedro where I took many photos of everyone's work. Here is Karla's necklace she calls "Exiting Eden."

Her description of this piece follows: "Exiting Eden finds Eve upon her exile from Paradise. On her exodus out of the perfection of the garden, Eve's eyes begin to be opened to her own unique gifts. As a co-creator with God, she yearns to affect and transform the world around her. Even the snake gets bitten by her creative ingeunity and can't help but get caught up in the evolution. This necklace is part of a series of wearable art and sculpture exploring my fascination and reverence for the sacred nature and evolution of female creativity; the yearning and ability to give birth to beauty of of threads, out of scraps, out of the mundane. The lace image has become my mepahor for this sacred yet often intangible or inexplicable process or journey...m attempt to exemplify feminine creativity, threading and flourishing through time."

As for what her students are working on, she brought several examples of creatures they had made by cutting tin, hammering and painting it. It was a nice way to end my day on Thursday. Thanks, Karla.