Taking the Plunge

Here is my favorite quote;
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain

I first saw this in Moab, Utah. We were there in August, the temperature was 100 degrees plus, and we were going Jeeping. That is we rented a jeep and drove it out into the red rocks. Anyway the quote was emblazoned over the doorway of the outdoor recreation center where we rented the jeep. They also rented all sorts of outdoorsy equipment for the adventurous tourists who came to Moab.

But it stuck in my mind and I have carried it with me now for several years. Because, that is the person I wish to be. Not some safe placid grandma who takes care of everyone and bakes cookies. Not that there is anything wrong with baking cookies! You know what I mean. I want to be adventurous, unafraid, and maybe not shocking, but surprising.

Well what does this have to do with beads, you ask? Indirectly one could chose the wild and extreme beads and baubles to create unconventional jewlery works, but my pieces don't seem to lean that far to the left. For me it is reaching just beyond the conventional, to where one would say "hmmmm, look at that!" or "that's different". Of course that may not be what sells the most, but it isn't always about selling.

So now my reaching has lead to silver and turquoise . The pieces are not, in themselves unconventional, but I am trying to choose stones that are. Not your normal turquoise, but those with character and interest. Set in a frame of plain silver the picture in the stone is the design. Let me know what you think. Thanks