12/06/2026
song beneath the fig tree
This week I made many pieces, and none of them came easily.
There is misconception that creative life is somehow lighter than others, as though inspiration arrives fully formed and asks nothing of us in return. Making is often an act of persistence rather than ease. Wire resists. Hands ache. Ideas wander away and must be patiently called back. Some days piece seems determined not to exist at all.
While working on this moss agate pendant, I found myself thinking of my grandfather's garden.
As child, I would sit quietly and watch him work. Grapevines hung heavy overhead, filing air with sweetness that seemed richer than any perfume. Fig tree cast its broad shade across yard, and beneath it he would sit repairing nets with deliberate care, his hands moving with confidence of man made of salt and sotne who understood that worthwhile things are rarely rushed. He would sing as he worked. I would listen.
Looking back, I think those moments taught me more about craftsmanship than any book ever could.
This pendant carries some of that memory.
Moss agate reminds me of small fragment of garden held still in stone. Around it I shaped coper by hand, adding leaf and tiny glass flower, allowing design to grow naturally around patterns already present within the gem. Wire is not there to dominate stone, but to accompany it, much as a garden path guides the eye without demanding attention for itself.
What I love most about jewellery is that it becomes part of someone's ordinary life. It catches the morning light while making coffee. It rests against a favourite jumper. It is worn to markets, to dinners, to difficult days and joyful ones alike. Over time it gathers its own history.
Perhaps that is why I continue to make these pieces.
Not because life is easy, but because it isn't.
Garden flourishes because someone tends it. Vine bears fruit because it struggles upward. Artist learns because work asks something of them. Beauty has always seemed to me less a matter of perfection than perseverance.
And so, wire by wire, piece by piece, we continue.
