The Ramblings of a Creative Soul

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Inspiration Series - Part 10


One of my favorite childhood memories is walking the beach with my mom. She was quite the beachcomber. She and I would spend hours with our heads down looking for treasure. A great find would be beach glass, an interesting shell or white "stones" that had a letter L on them. She called those lucky stones. I learned years later they were actually bone from a fish. I have a container on my work table that is filled with those treasures. When I miss my mom, I open up the container and am flooded with the memories of those treasure hunts.

When I discovered the work of Susan Saltzman's SToNZ jewelry, I immediately thought my mother would have loved it. Our beloved treasure was transformed into beautiful jewelry with a wonderful organic look to it. I asked Susan, a fellow member of Cleveland Handmade, the question,

What inspires you?

What inspires me….

a few hours at a great museum
a well written biography
flea markets
art classes
really old family photographs
my honey playing music
anything written by my kids
a day of shopping in a big city
quaint new england towns
trying a new tool
a new box of crayola crayons
leafing through art books
paris
farmers markets
listening to a great joke teller
tv programs about ancient civilizations
putting the top down and taking a drive in my mini cooper on a beautiful day
hearing a great singer for the first time and tracking down their music for my ipod
the last story on the evening news
teachers, nurses, doctors, surgeons, soldiers, firefighters, paramedics
olympic athletes
lebron on a good day
maine
a well written novel
the smell of play doh
the sound of waves crashing on the shore
people who have overcome addictions
a beautiful symphony
sipping a great glass of wine while watching someone else cook
people who keep smiling even when they have been through the wringer (“glass full” people)
the words “thank you”
a really starry night sky away from city lights
making a baby smile
the changing seasons
beachcombing

The bracelet shown is called Summer Memory and can be found at: http://www.etsy.com/listing/40950241/beach-glass-sea-glass-sterling-silver


You can find STōNZ at www.etsy.com/shop/stonz

Thanks so much for sharing, Susan.

3 comments:

Jane Pierce aka zJayne said...

I've reread this twice now...
so very special it is...
all make me smile and so very true...

this one I do I do...too

"hearing a great singer for the first time and tracking down their music for my ipod"

Simple Elements Design said...

I do that, too, Jane.


By the way, I'm still waiting on your answer to the question, What inspires you? :)

michelle said...

I loved reading this, it reminded me of my walks on the beach with my grandpa and finding the simple beauty in things. He taught me to look at things with your heart and find that it is the simple things that really make something special.
Oh and I love Olympic athletes! I always cry when I watch their stories on how they got to where they are! :)