Well It's been long enough! Rose Ring and various other materials

Okay, so I know it has been a long time since I posted any of my pieces. This is mainly because I wasn't at school to make any! This week I made and cast my silver rose ring, finished the wire tree, and got lots of goodies. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with them. Maybe you can help me! As you can see it was cast from a wax mold. I've been making this rose in medium or another for three or four years now, and it's nice to have something wearable as a result, though it's about a size 6 3/4, and way too big for me. Sad day.

This is my wire tree, with "pearl" (costume, but I don't know what because they're from some old necklaces my grandmother had) leaves and fruit.

Okay, so the big purple one obviously is amethyst, and the amber one at the bottom is supposedly tiger eye, and the beige one is probably picture jasper, and I don't know what the others are. Anyone know? Also, anyone have any ideas about what to do with these? For juxtaposition purposes, the amethyst is probably about 1.5 inches. I can grind them down into other shapes, and probably will with the amethyst, but I'm not sure about the other ones. I love the blue and white one. The picture jasper is shaped like a piece of pie.

On Easter, Orchestral Displays of Grandeur, and True Tribute

Seeing today a church service and a long-held favorite, Godspell, I am struck with the differences between the two. Something that concernts me about some churches these days is the grand displays people put forth. Full orchestras with accompanying dvd presentations, vocal solos with trite lyrics, monologues the likes of which are unlikely to be heard in real life, big props, the over-emphasis of emotion, sometimes using children to get the desired response. What concerns me is, who are we trying to serve in doing this? Isn't church supposed to be worship of God, not an attempt to ilicit an emotional fervor from the congregation?

At church today, there was a short sermon on the resurrection, not detailed, not involved, and then a long musical tribute. It began with the woman that leads worship at my home church walking out with a young girl and singing a song from the standpoint of a child seeing the crucifixion (and some theological errors, including Christ himself asking why, whereas the Garden of Gethsemane, the way Christ treated Judas at the Last Supper, prophecy, and the great tradition suggest that he knew what was going on), a man singing Don Fransisco's "He's Alive" (again with a full band) and an almost cult-like video of people singing the song "Because He Lives". These were interspersed with a monologue about how we were there, we were in the crowd, etc. The end had the little girl grabbing the robe off of the cross and wrapping up in it like a blanket.
Here's the thing: As much as I love the arts (and I use that term loosely in connection to what I saw today) I think that spectacles like this should be handled very carefully, especially in a service as important as an Easter service. Such a performance should not be designed to incite emotion (no acting should) but to convey emotion. In any setting, that's what it should do. So why, in church, are people trying to cause feelings to happen? This is not the role of humanity and it is not by any means the role of the church. I fear that this, in Christianity's history, has caused much action in the wrong pursuits (Crusades, anyone?).
Besides that, is church not for worship of God? When did it become "let's rile the people up" time?

This afternoon however, I saw Godspell (the movie version with Victor Garber as Jesus). While this is a secular depiction of Christ and many people reject it because he and the followers dress themselves as clowns, I see an evident reason for this. Did Christ not seem foolish or at least stand out from the crowd in his day? Are we not told in the Bible that the word of God is but foolishness to those who do not believe? The dialogue and songs are based on the Gospel of Mark, and are rather accurate in that Jesus for the most part basically quotes scripture. No, the resurrection is not shown, but again, this is a secular portrayal. Why, then, do I feel closer to God and more devoted to him after seeing this movie than after seeing that church service? It is because Godspell is aimed at portraying the events and emotions in a very real sense. They brought the story to present day (well, 1970) New York, giving application of these two thousand year old stories to today. This was not meant to make us feel any way but to tell a story. Simplicity. Not Grand, but paying tribute to someone the writer thinks was a good man, though I believe more than just a good man.

I have a bad taste in my mouth when people try to make me feel a certain way. It seems like such a manipulative gesture to try to pull sadness, brokenness, conviction, devotion from me when I would readily give it by reasoning out the truth through study, listening to well-taught speakers, and prayer. I would almost argue that the true tribute today lay not in the spectacle I saw at church, but in the movie I saw today from a secular standpoint.

Truly, however, this is open to opinion. I know that people don't often agree with me (my mother just made it plain she didn't) and in the past my opinions have been cause for some...unrest, to put it lightly. I just felt the need to put this out there.

Happy Easter, remember the truth, and know that He lives.
Kate

Grad Schools!

I think this week has been somewhat productive, having filled out (and yet to send in the fees and reccomendation letters, and in some situations a portfolio) I think three or four grad school applications. I found an Art Therapy program at the University of Louisville that will also qualify me to take the LPC. Only one of these was in the area, so this will be interesting. Honestly at this point I'm just applying anywhere since deadlines have passed in so many places.
I would really like to be able to do art therapy, but the chances are pretty slim. The application deadline was March 1 and I only just found this program this week. Anyway, the woman I spoke with on the phone gave me hope enough to still apply, so we'll see! If not I can always apply again.

On Knitting with any wire of a guage less than 28

Don't do it.

But seriously, folks..

I've been knitting and crocheting "gold" and "silver" (note the quotation marks) wire for BIG JEWELRY MAKING PROJECT #2. I think I have some promising pieces. The "gold" wire is at 26 gauge and my fingers are totally torn up. Plus, that area on my back between my shoulders hasn't been this sore since I crocheted that huge jute bag. Or maybe since I was paired with someone possessing four times my muscle mass in canoeing class...and he didn't slow down for me. Anyway, no more 26 guage, though it produces a very nice effect. The silver wire is at 32 gauge, and I'm hoping to find a copper-colored one somewhere in-between. I hope no hardcore knitters read this, otherwise I'll be hunted down and burned for a heretic for using my very hard to find size 2, 32 inch addi circular needles on these. They're none the worse for wear, though.

This is my favorite. These two pieces will fit together.... Like this

This one I pretty much gave up on, I made it too wide. If I find wire this color in a finer gauge, I may try it again.

This was a square crocheted and then warped and twisted. There's another crocheted piece but I didn't see the need to put it on here.
After I get the copper wire, finish it, and then get back from Spring Break (thank GOD it's here...), I will finish this rather quickly I think. I just need to find a particularly walnuty looking walnut.

If this all confuses you, read the story Allerleirauh. An online version can be found on Sur La Lune http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/donkeyskin/stories/allerlang.html

Maybe I'll even get to make my ring next week!

Kate

The Rose Window Locket....COMPLETED!!!

That's right, I finished it finally on Thursday. Now I have a few other projects in mind, hopefully they won't take too long because I have very little time to finish all my other projects before classes end! I wish I had a better camera, higher shutter speed and whatnot. I'll get Dad to take good pictures when I go home tomorrow.

Stop writing and start WRITING!

I'm working on my Baptist History paper that's overdue because of sickness. I have one more page and eight more notecards. Why is it that at the last page, I always get stuck? I'm so tired of classes and papers...I want to go somewhere...experience things...write. Oh goodness I want to write my OWN things...not papers or essays or something that required research on a topic over which I care very little (though don't get me wrong, religious liberty and separation of church and state are important). I want to write poetry...I want to FINISH A BOOK FOR ONCE! I start them, get serious about them, write a few pages and a plot outline, and then it fizzles out. I want so much more than to be confined to a desk, a laptop, and a textbook. It makes me so angry that I really do have to do grad school in order to do what I want for a career. I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I get there and into my practicum. Just a little burnt out on school right now. Grarg.