spring
there are only a few blessed days in austin, texas that feel like spring and we're smack-dab in the middle of them right now. the doors and windows are flung open, letting in the cool breezes.
strawberries are ripening in the garden.
the peach tree is blooming.
we go to sleep with the chirping of crickets and wake to the birds' morning songs. koruna got naked and timidly ran with friends through the sprinklers yesterday. but that seems a little like summer already....
cowboys and indians
herndon heald has roots in both austin and santa fe. over the years these towns have carved their names in our heart. our latest collection is a bit of a love note to these towns and their aesthetics– cowboy and indian.
santa fe is a place that in many ways still lives its history and i find it fascinating for many reasons. one of those is the unabashed adornment of both men and women. because of santa fe’s native influence, you see men wearing bright colors with long hair, earrings, and cuffs the size of a purse. you don't see that in many places in this country. and for the most part, it looks good. it’s a town full of folks that brazenly adorn themselves; fringe, silver, and turquoise abound. there is a part of me that finds it calming. it’s not about the latest trend in santa fe - it’s a place where you can actually see history wrapped around someone’s wrist or braided into their hair.
now texans,by and large, aren’t afraid to accessorize either. the women have a reputation of big everything and it’s not hard to find men wearing gargantuan belt buckles and cowboy hats. but in austin, the treasured accessory is a tattoo. glance in any direction and you’d be hard pressed to not find one - on men and women, on the young and the not-so-young. seeded from cowboys and hippies, austin has a rebel streak that the art of tattoo seems to go hand in hand with. it makes sense to me that a town that revels in the art of live music would also appreciate the live art of tattooing with its emphasis on the here and now, the artist and the ‘audience’.
i got my first tattoo this week. or i got it started at least. i felt moved to mark this time and place, to take a bit of the here and now and keep it with me always. my outlaw great uncles had tattoos. my mother in law has tattoos. my husband has a tattoo. my daughter won’t remember me without one. I’ve just carved another little somethin’ into our family tree.
in celebration of adornment of all kinds, we offer this, our latest collection.
water
i remember the moment i fell in love with making jewelry. i had just become a goldsmith’s apprentice and one morning as i sat at my bench filing a gold ring, i looked up towards the open window and saw the santa fe sun illuminating the gold dust that was suspended in the air floating ever...so...slowly.... i felt for one moment like i was suspended also, a little particle of gold dust. the moment passed, but it left me with a greater admiration for the metals I use in all of their forms. i still stare in wonder at gold or silver as it melts into a glowing liquid and then becomes solid again. before making jewelry, i thought of metal as hard but i have now become acquainted with its many manifestations. i know that what is hard is also soft, what is solid can also be fluid. i am reminded that potential is often veiled by appearance.
this is true with water as well – it holds surprising power in its fluidity. i’ve been contemplating water lately, offering daily gratitude for it. it’s summertime in texas already and we're sweatin' it out in the summer sun. i'm thanking my lucky stars that i’m in austin just a hop, skip, and a jump from fresh, clear water.
we have barton springs, an enormous natural pool down the street - she’s a real beaut. she covers 3 acres, is fed from underground springs and is about 68 degrees year round. when we get the chance, we frolic there in the daytime and do laps under the stars at night. our other option is just a few blocks away in the greenbelt – 809 treasured acres of green tucked in the middle of town. limestone cliffs tower all around it and hike and bike trails meander through it, but in my opinion, the swimming holes are the crown jewels – little pleasure havens dotted throughout the greenbelt that beckon on sizzling afternoons. there isn’t always water in the greenbelt so when it’s there, we rejoice.
i carry a heaviness around with me these days as my thoughts frequently return to the oil spill in the gulf - the tainted water, the departed souls, the wounded ocean life. As the oil continues to spill, i am reminded that water is precious - more precious than gold.