Crawing Out Of The Mud

It's been another challenging Winter for me. Most of the trouble has been because of my fibromyalgia, but I wont bother you with the gory details. Suffice to say, as the sun slowly shifts toward it's Summer Solstice zenith, my body and spirit are rising with it.

And, as my spirit rises, so does my muse... finally! I have felt, at times, like a hibernating reptile... so, in celebration of those anti-freeze-blooded creatures, I've made a new bangle I'm calling Two Sides Of The Same Lizard.

Not really sure what kind of lizard I'm paying homage to... I kind of think it's more of a Winter vs. Summer kind of thing going on here, with some nice glowy gold and green inside.

Now, when I first started to climb out of my shell (another analogy to reptiles... did ya notice?) this spring, I found I had totally lost touch with my muse. So, in order to shake things up a bit (imagine lots of dust being shaken from my poor muse), I went back to a technique I haven't played with for a loooong time...

... Mokume Gane! Initially, started with beads... LOTS of beads (you'll get to see some of them in a future post), and played with a method of MG that made my beads look suspiciously like Cicadidae (you will have to use your imagination... for now). But, as I was messing about with the zillions of sheets of MG I had made, I became inspired to try a new look for my bangles. The result is above. Granted, I did use a cane for the inside of the bangle, and I'm still using the ol' "spots & dots", but it's definitely MG.

For those few souls who haven't (yet) given up on me and my blog, thank you for hanging in there. I have made a promise to myself that I will increase my "web presence" this Spring, and I think I should be able to keep that promise... baring any unforeseen complications *coughfibrocough*. Heh.

And, as a little thank you to you die-hards, I shall leave you with "Six Terrifying Ways Crows Are Way Smarter Than You Think". Note: A couple of the photos look suspiciously like Ravens, but it's such a fun article that I can let that pass. Enjoy!