It's funny, after two and a half years of all clear, we had actually begun to relax and develop a 'normal' lifestyle. (whatever that is when one of you is a visual artist, the other is a musician and you're both certifiably crazy!) Cancer is a big toothed bug that takes momentous delight in creeping up behind you and biting you hard on your tenderest parts! Suffice to say, we've had a long and arduous few months of racing back and forth to St. James Hospital ( a good 40 mile round trip every day), grueling chemo (or 'Juice' as the doctors like to call it - trust me, there are NO healthy vitamins and minerals in this stuff!)
But more of that later, bite size is best with this subject. The jewellery I make was my escape throughout all of this - turning a situation that was potentially gut wrenchingly awful into something positive and creative. Here's a taster of some of the pieces I made in the middle of this mayhem.
This is my triangular magpie locket: I have an obsession with lockets, before I made jewellery I used to collect lockets, boxes and poison rings. I'm fascinated by clasps and locks, and compartments within compartments. I think I may have been a jewel thief in a past life:)
Continuing with the bird theme, I was working hard on my stone setting: it's an area I've always struggled with, so consequently obsess over until I get it right - these are pretty big rings, by the way! Maybe the shield form is a metaphor for how I deal with difficult situations: whether that's the case or just hypothetical bunkum, these are still very special pieces to me: I overcame a major difficulty with these on a technical level, and they most probably represented the bright light of success in a very dark place, secreted in a thicket of distress.
