Best Pep Talk Ever- Diana Nyad

What is it that you are doing with this one precious life of yours?  -Mary Oliver

Nakashima Woodworker

Craft in America had an episode on Landscape and featured George and his daughter Mira Nakashima's wood work. The look of their pieces are amazing. 

Their website explains their philosophy on how they work with wood,

"We are left in awe by the nobility of a tree, its eternal patience, its suffering caused by man and sometimes nature, its witness to thousands of years of earth's history, its creations of fabulous beauty. It does nothing but good, with its prodigious ability to serve, it gives off its bounty of oxygen while absorbing gases harmful to other living things. The tree and its pith live on. Its fruits feed us. Its branches shade and protect us. And, finally, when time and weather bring it down, its body offers timber for our houses and boards for our furniture. The tree lives on."

Here is the video from Craft in America.




His designs can be found for purchase on Artsy

How to Build Your Creative Confidence- TED talk by David Kelley

Craft in America- Threads

Love this episode from Craft in America- Threads. If you have time to watch all 4 chapters it is about an hour long. Watch and discover these fabric artists and their amazing works.

Paul McCartney - Queenie Eye (Official Video)

New Fall 2013 AMARIA Colllection

We visited the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles last month and witnessed this gorgeous sunset. 

I fell in love with the colors and matched the palettes below and found stones that would match and look great together.

I ended up using a soft pink freshwater pearl, andalusite, labradorite, pyrite and abalone in the new collection.

14k gold fill wire wrapped necklace with abalone cross

Beaded necklace with slice of amethyst pendant

Labradorite necklace

Abalone cross necklace

Abalone cross rosary bracelet and Beaded labradorite bracelet

Still working on ideas for earrings and hope to be adding some to my shop soon. The necklaces all look great layered together. I am very happy with how the colors all came together for this collection! Any gorgeous sunsets that you have witnessed and have inspired you? What have you created from that inspiration?

A different way to think about creative genius: Elizabeth Gilbert on TED.com

Stumbled onto this video about creativity from TED 2009.
 I found this video to be inspirational. It is a bit long but worth it!
Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk. (Recorded February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 19:29.)