color

Today someone asked me what my favorite colors are. 

Hot pink and orange. 

Favorite nail polish?

Electric blue and purple. 

I may often be cloaked in the black uniform of a New Yorker but my souls resonates with color. Brightness. Tone. Shades. Saturation. 

I would love a job naming paint chips or nail polishes or yarn swatches, finding the words to describe the deepening turquoise at the horizon's edge on a sunny day in the Caribbean. Or the green that's more olive than spring but not even related to khaki. 

The rich coral bordering on red that reflects off skyscrapers at sunrise. 

The darkening purple blue of dusk. 

The not quite white of snow falling in shadows. 

Color feeds my soul. Sparks my imagination. Kick starts creativity in moments it might be challenged. 

Feeling it's time to dive into a new project. Happy sigh. 

creativity

My mom once told me that she wished she was creative. Her mother sewed beautifully - was a costume designer for a Broadway star many years ago - her sister was an art teacher.

She didn't see the things she did, and took for granted, were amazingly creative. She's a baker and took such care and paid such attention to presentation and detail. I remember there was always a rejects pile - cookies and tarts that didn't live up to her high standards - we gratefully were allowed to eat those right away.

My daughter wishes she was more of an artist. She doesn't paint or draw the way her friends, who are in the fine arts programs do. But she has more creativity, more original ideas, more unique projects, more inspiration than just about anyone I've ever met.

People think of creativity within such tightly drawn boundaries at times. If you can't recreate a perfect still life or play the violin like a master what you're doing doesn't count as creative.

Nonsense.

(it took me a long time to realize that)

I was such a creative kid only I thought the things I made, crocheted, sewed, designed weren't worth anything. I couldn't draw or paint realistically. And I didn't know what I was doing might be valued by anyone. Not monetarily but for originality or crafting or even perseverance.

My life as a graphic designer, as a writer, as a knitter, jewelry maker, costumer came after years of being shut down and shut off. In retrospect not having a creative outlet was soul starving.

This new endeavor - imagining projects, shopping for supplies, crafting disparate pieces into a finished whole, photographing my work, writing about it - is pure, joyful flow.

Now that I'm back to making things, I will never stop.

Click here for what I'm making now.

out in the world

Today I had lunch with a friend I hadn't seen since high school. And while we'd passed each other in the halls, we hadn't really been friends since elementary school, maybe junior high.

Our mothers went to kindergarten together, up in the Bronx, so I've known her for a very long time. 

She was very cool. 

It was lovely. 

At one point we were talking about shyness and I said that I used to be painfully so. I was so often the person who wanted to disappear into the crowd, to have no one notice me, to melt into a wall. Especially when I was little I dreaded attention, my heart would race when it was my turn to answer a question or have attention focused on me.  

I've left most of that by the wayside. 

It was one damn slow process.

But now I like talking in front of groups of people. I wear ridiculous things. I love to lead things, to be in charge, to instigate change. 

I think the difference is that I believe in myself. I have confidence. A sense of security. Balance. Gratitude. I'm finally accepting who I am and appreciating what it is about me that makes me different, not wishing I was more like someone else. 

I am so grateful I am putting myself out into the world in new ways, stretching to try things I haven't tried before, letting myself step outside my comfort zone, even if it's only tiny steps right now.

That's what Sparklefant is. Me expressing in a way I haven't before. In a public, shiny, bright glittery way.

making things

I've been making things for as long as I can remember.

Nothing's changed.

I'm using different materials to get to another end result. Instead of poster paint I found beads. Instead of clay I'm using cord. Instead of crochet hooks I stitch with open eye needles.

But still, I'm just making things.

Finding combinations that work. Pulling disparate items together into something cohesive. Spotting colors and shapes that speak to me out of countless options.

Knowing when something is enough or too much.

I'm in the zone, flowing, grooving when I'm making things. Hunting down supplies. Setting up photo shoots. Stitching quietly away as pieces evolve in my fingers.

When I was little making things was my greatest joy. Turns out it's still way high up on my happiness list.

this is the start of something new . . .

And this is the second time I've quoted a High School Musical lyric in the past week.

Hmmm.

But, this legitimately is the start of something new. I've been making jewelry for fun, for me, for years. I love color, texture, mixing materials, spending time in the bead and trim district. I can only wear so many pieces though and, after many compliments, decided to set up shop and see what happens.

So much of this now won't be actual making things as much as marketing things. I haven't worn that hat in a long time. Feels a bit strange to get back in the hype saddle.

My tweeting skills are rusty. My promo tendencies have atrophied.

I'm easing my way back in.

Welcome to Sparklefant. Cool jewelry handmade in NYC. By me. Wear one. Wear many. Splashes of color and muted shades of shadow. Good karma infused into every piece.