DORSALE ● Not Even The Mountains
Posted on Instagram on April 24, 2019
I am happy to finally show you this ring.
The result of two months of inner turmoil and pushing through self imposed limits.
The struggle with pressure, old ideas, dysfunctional beliefs.
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The whole work culminated with the Notre Dame fire, which happened on the same day I finally envisioned this ring.
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To me, it is a backbone (spina dorsale in Italian).
But it is also a mountain crest.
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I found myself struggling with resistance. Especially resistance to change.
Usually the way to address it is...keep struggling and freak out 😅
But I have found myself repeating this mantra in my mind.
Not even the mountains, Alice. Not even the mountains.
Because for how much change scares me, not even the majestic mountains can escape it. So why should I get such privilege?
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Not even the mountains.
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Notre Dame on fire confirmed the message loud and clear.
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I made this and a sister ring before getting sick, and one today with a special piece of quartz 💗
It's made from copper that I cut, hammered, formed, hammered, filed and carved. A layer of silver dust has been melted on it.
It's once again the metal teaching me how to be soft, in a way.
Hope
Posted on Instagram on March 22, 2019
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all 💙
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Lately I have been able to overcome some of my fears and eat a little more - and some of the foods I was afraid of (pizza!!).
To get past the anxiety and resistance that would catch me, I started to make fun of it, saying "I am going to eat all the things. I'm gonna be all pretty chubby!"
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See, my beloved Grandma Luisa used to look at the sparrows (and small animals and kids in general) and say: "Oh, how pretty chubby they are!". She used to say it with such satisfaction. She had survived World War Two and the hunger it came with, so for her and for her generation, to be fat was a good thing. .
I wanted to create a small talisman. Something dedicated to the birds that, as usual, have lifted me up while I was down.
I also wanted to put some tenderness, joy, "pretty chubby" in it. The memory of the joyful, sweet, warm person that was my Grandma.
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I also wanted it to be a very small delicate thing, something to wear every day.
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I designed and cut this chubby little sparrow, then I carved the word Hope on his wing.
And on his body, a delicate pattern of decorations, all hand drawn with a very tiny point.
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I love how it feels.
I love what it evokes.
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And I want to make more of these. Because I think we can all use some "pretty chubby!" sweetness in our lives.
WITH MY DARKNESS
Posted on Instagram on March 21, 2019
The last of the round of Owl pieces.
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The journey that brought me face to face with my darkness once again.
The chance to have a different relationship with it, even if in the smallest of details.
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The necessity to sit with my own darkness.
Which doesn't mean to dabble in it or to let my mind go even more downward in a spiral of self destruction.
Actually, allowing myself to stay with my darkness "as if it was ok" gave me the chance to experience how I can feel both sadness, fear and unpleasant emotions...while also accessing what is good in life.
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Which is big.
Until now, I just let it gobble me up.
Until now, every blow of depression (anxiety panic fear) would feel like the end of the world.
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Maybe, in a way, I felt less of a victim.
Yes, there are bad things.
Yes, I feel unpleasant emotions and sensations.
But it is not all there is.
But it is not forever.
But I can chose to let what I love lift me up.
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So I made this owlet, with a star diopside - blackest black, with a shiny star when the light hits it.
And inside the band I carved, in my handwriting - shaky as it was these days - the words "With my darkness".
A reminder to not to try and run away from it.
A reminder that I can - should - let it be in my life. That it can exist with the other parts of me and bring me its gifts.
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All sterling silver, handmade, cui and carved.
LIFT AND THRUST II
Posted on Instagram on March 19, 2019
The companion piece to the Owl rings.
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On the mechanic of flight.
Lift - pursue what elevates you, your mood, your spirit.
Thrust - keep pushing, keep going forward, even if the strength of your wings seems almost nothing.
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For silent flight during your own night. For befriending your darkness, and finding your night vision.
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With a body of flashy blue labradorite and the words LIFT and THRUST carved on the back in my handwriting.