The Pebble and The Vine
At long last, here they are - the restock dates for 2020. In truth, I’ve had them picked out since the beginning of December…but I had so much I wanted to say about choosing them that I put off writing the words and making it official until now.
If you’re just looking for the short version, here it is : I’ll be releasing a new collection with the turn of each season this year (with the winter edition arriving a little early, of course, to give me loads of time to ship before the holidays!). Each will take place on a Saturday - pieces will be available at 12 noon Mountain Time if you’re on the email list and 12.30pm Mountain Time if not.
As for the longer version? Here goes…
It all comes down to the friction that has existed between who I think I SHOULD be and who I actually AM.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve believed I should be more free-spirited as an artist. I’ve believed that I should tap into my creativity by going whichever way the wind might blow on a given day. I’ve believed that schedule and routine would stifle me. And the makers out there who embody these traits with ease? I’ve admired them so. But the truth that flows freely from my hands, the gifts I have to give to this world, don’t spring from these places.
I’ve known this for awhile. Or perhaps always. Maybe it’s just part of human nature to fight our nature. That was the case for me - and I fought that fight for a good long time.
The first time I put all of this into words was on a hike with my mom - and the way I described it to her was like wanting to be a wild vine while actually being a river pebble. At the time I did feel a little sad in saying it, because a pebble can never be a vine and those words meant the death of a dream. But I also had an epiphany. By shifting my perspective, away from who I thought I should be and onto who I was, I went from being a weak and struggling vine to a whole and beautiful pebble.
It’s funny - but that simple idea has grown wild within me since then. And that nagging desire to be more vine-like has faded as surely as winter gives way to spring. I am a river pebble. Smooth sided, unassuming - but solid. Undeniably solid. My nature is not shaped by a single season or a bright surge of inspiration, but rather by a hundred seasons all spiraling one into the next. I am not a collection of lines but, instead, a circle.
So.
In knowing all of this about myself, and in embracing it, I’ve had to change the way I think and work and live. And now in times of doubt I just look for a little pebble wisdom, falling back on my currents for guidance and letting things take the time they take.
This is the reason. This is the why. I’m grounding myself within the current that most feels like home (the seasons I love so well!) and giving myself the time and space to create within that cycle. By doing things this way, I feel uncomfortably like I’m the only person standing up in a crowded auditorium, but maybe that’s just the way of it. The world is filled with wild vines and cumulous clouds and great sequoias and we’re all bound to do things a little differently - so perhaps part of being true to ourselves is standing out a little.
And as a river pebble, this feels like my way - so I’m going all in! The first crop of new pieces will be ready on March 21, just in time for spring. Here’s the first glimpse of all that’s to come!
