every once in a while, an idea will come to me and then pretty much make itself come to life. when that happens, i am so excited and frantic to get it out of the realm of my head and into the real world that i almost can’t contain myself. i work in a frenzy, but a very focused, calm, directed frenzy. i am only the hands and the vehicle for the piece to become.
in this case, it started with the cover of the blind pilot cd. after seeing them, i was inspired to do some sort of raincloud piece.
at the same time, i was becoming very fascinated with the properties of laguna agate, particularly in relation to depression. in her book love is in the earth, melody says this about laguna agate:
“… it can be used to increase flexibility in ones life and ones body and mind. in addition, it assists in decreasing the shallowness of ones character. it enhances precision and provides stimulus to intellectual pursuits… laguna agate has been used to help one return from the depths of depression to a state of openness and acceptance of what IS.
in addition to those properties, this particular laguna agate has a “self-healed fracture”, which means that it broke while it was forming and then repaired itself. when i learned that, i had to have it. that is very symbolic to me, as someone who has battled depression my entire life.
when the stone arrived, i looked at it and it all came together. i realized this was what would make the raincloud piece possible. how could i look at that gorgeous stone and see anything but rainclouds? stormy skies? turbulence mixed with calm?
then i had to find the just right words to put on the back. in the end, it was henry wadsworth longfellow who got it just right. (the runner up, also his words, was “the best thing to do when it is raining is to let it rain.”)
i felt compelled to put my sparrow stamp and initials on a raindrop. i worked straight through on this piece, from start to finish. it turned out exactly how i had envisioned it. every last detail happened how i hoped it would. so there it is. “some rain must fall”. i am so very very pleased with how it turned out.
I LOVE IT!! Great story too. You should send a pic to your new bud Israel. I'm sure he'd be flattered to know that their music was an inspiration. Love you!
This is just beautiful Kristie. I so want one.
you are an amazing, creative artist. I love this piece.
Hi
I just wanted to say that I admire your work! Im an artist(photo and sculptor) who have had jewelry as a hobby for a while and recently started to weld in silver – its so much fun! I found you on etsy when I bought some cabochons from tajones1463 and did a search on her name. 
You have great pieces, so wonderful and unique!
My blog is http://www.monome-me.blogspot.com if you are curious
greetings from Norway!
Hilde Iren
This is absolutely beautiful. I need one of your necklaces… darn joblessness.
thank you very much, guys. and hilde, good luck in your silver endeavors! it is such an amazing, wonderful medium!
emma, whenever you're ready, let me know. don't forget the /orate discount! (it was quite tempting to put something about blue raincoats or raincoats bringing more rain, or record year on the back of this piece, but i refrained…)