MURMURATION
Posted on Instagram on April 27, 2019
Two nights ago I dreamed of a falcon and a dove.
And then I stumbled on the most beautiful word...murmuration.
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Do you know those giant flocks of thousands of birds twirling about in the air like a cloud of black dust? They are made up of smaller birds such as European starlings.
The flocks are in a tight ball that morph and dance in the sky.
The dance is called a murmuration.
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While it looks like a joyous dance, these thousands of birds are typically scurrying to get out of the path of a single peregrine falcon, giving birth, like if they were a single mind, to the stunning dance.This is the whirlwind in which falcon reaps his prey.
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This ring is for the falcon I dreamed two nights ago.
It is for the whirlwind of the thoughts in my mind, and for the awareness of how much I contribute to it, like a falcon in the center of the murmuration.
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It is for the determination to make my way through the chaotic dance of my thoughts and have the single minded determination to get through it.
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I made it from sterling silver, using only the scraps resulted from breaking and failing projects of the past two months.
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The stones are clear quartz. The biggest one has sentimental value because it comes from the mountains around here, the beloved guardians and teachers that I look at from my window.
Because I will keep pushing so that one day I will be able to go there myself and bathe in their beauty up close.
DORSALE ● Not Even The Mountains
Posted on Instagram on April 24, 2019
I am happy to finally show you this ring.
The result of two months of inner turmoil and pushing through self imposed limits.
The struggle with pressure, old ideas, dysfunctional beliefs.
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The whole work culminated with the Notre Dame fire, which happened on the same day I finally envisioned this ring.
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To me, it is a backbone (spina dorsale in Italian).
But it is also a mountain crest.
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I found myself struggling with resistance. Especially resistance to change.
Usually the way to address it is...keep struggling and freak out 😅
But I have found myself repeating this mantra in my mind.
Not even the mountains, Alice. Not even the mountains.
Because for how much change scares me, not even the majestic mountains can escape it. So why should I get such privilege?
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Not even the mountains.
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Notre Dame on fire confirmed the message loud and clear.
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I made this and a sister ring before getting sick, and one today with a special piece of quartz 💗
It's made from copper that I cut, hammered, formed, hammered, filed and carved. A layer of silver dust has been melted on it.
It's once again the metal teaching me how to be soft, in a way.
Hope
Posted on Instagram on March 22, 2019
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all 💙
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Lately I have been able to overcome some of my fears and eat a little more - and some of the foods I was afraid of (pizza!!).
To get past the anxiety and resistance that would catch me, I started to make fun of it, saying "I am going to eat all the things. I'm gonna be all pretty chubby!"
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See, my beloved Grandma Luisa used to look at the sparrows (and small animals and kids in general) and say: "Oh, how pretty chubby they are!". She used to say it with such satisfaction. She had survived World War Two and the hunger it came with, so for her and for her generation, to be fat was a good thing. .
I wanted to create a small talisman. Something dedicated to the birds that, as usual, have lifted me up while I was down.
I also wanted to put some tenderness, joy, "pretty chubby" in it. The memory of the joyful, sweet, warm person that was my Grandma.
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I also wanted it to be a very small delicate thing, something to wear every day.
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I designed and cut this chubby little sparrow, then I carved the word Hope on his wing.
And on his body, a delicate pattern of decorations, all hand drawn with a very tiny point.
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I love how it feels.
I love what it evokes.
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And I want to make more of these. Because I think we can all use some "pretty chubby!" sweetness in our lives.
WITH MY DARKNESS
Posted on Instagram on March 21, 2019
The last of the round of Owl pieces.
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The journey that brought me face to face with my darkness once again.
The chance to have a different relationship with it, even if in the smallest of details.
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The necessity to sit with my own darkness.
Which doesn't mean to dabble in it or to let my mind go even more downward in a spiral of self destruction.
Actually, allowing myself to stay with my darkness "as if it was ok" gave me the chance to experience how I can feel both sadness, fear and unpleasant emotions...while also accessing what is good in life.
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Which is big.
Until now, I just let it gobble me up.
Until now, every blow of depression (anxiety panic fear) would feel like the end of the world.
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Maybe, in a way, I felt less of a victim.
Yes, there are bad things.
Yes, I feel unpleasant emotions and sensations.
But it is not all there is.
But it is not forever.
But I can chose to let what I love lift me up.
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So I made this owlet, with a star diopside - blackest black, with a shiny star when the light hits it.
And inside the band I carved, in my handwriting - shaky as it was these days - the words "With my darkness".
A reminder to not to try and run away from it.
A reminder that I can - should - let it be in my life. That it can exist with the other parts of me and bring me its gifts.
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All sterling silver, handmade, cui and carved.