What makes an artist?

When I was a little kid, I liked to cut and paste. I also drew pictures of dogs with 3 toes and used a belly button to differentiate a man from a woman. (See below: photos of actual drawings I made when I was little. My dad saved a lot of this stuff.)

Our boxer, Brandle.

Not exactly Botticelli, but my parents loved it.

When I was young, I thought I could draw. I thought I could make anything. Play-Doh, ceramics, paint by numbers; I was all over the creativity.

Then I went to school, and “Art” was a separate thing. A subject like all the others where you could either draw in perspective or you couldn’t. In retrospect, I don’t know if I actually could or not. I just know that my works weren’t hung up in class and “Art” lost the free expression of putting any idea into form with any medium.

Once I got to high school, the separation became even more pronounced. You didn’t even have to take art except for one class that the “unartistic” people took. I’m sure it was nothing malicious on the part of the teachers, but I think we have a societal tendency to try to label ourselves and fit into neat little categories that everyone knows and understands. This is unfortunate because particularly when we are younger, we are so open to the creative forces that naturally flow through all of us.

So I graduated from high school and continued to think of myself as not the “creative type.” This continued for 18 years.

Then, for some reason, last summer I decided to take a beginner jewelry-making class. I felt like a kid again. I had a medium to work with and a way to physically express thoughts and ideas. I wasn’t being judged and more importantly, I wasn’t judging myself. Something inside me unlocked. I felt free. I started noticing colors, shapes and forms. And I started to think of myself differently.

I also think of everyone else differently now. I truly believe that there is an artist in each of us. It’s just a matter of finding what it is that brings out your creativity. Being an artist doesn’t have to mean that’s the way you make your living. It doesn’t even mean that anyone else will ever see your art. But it does mean that you allow yourself the freedom to create something and to recognize the wonderfulness of what you’ve done.

You might surprise yourself :D

What does Ash and Vine mean?

In the Norse creation myth, the first 2 humans were called Askr and Embla. Askr translates as “Ash Tree.” It is the male half of the pair. There is some disagreement about the exact meaning of Embla. Some translate it as meaning “Elm Tree” and some translate it as “vine.” I chose vine because for me, vine is more representative of the female half of the pair.

They were created by Odin, Vili and Ve, the first gods, and given Midgard as their domain. Midgard was one of the 9 worlds that comprised the totality of the Norse universe.

I chose this name because it represents the confluence of body, spirit and earth. My hope is that when you wear this jewelry you feel connected to yourself, to the Earth and to the spirit that binds us together.