See the forest through the trees

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both." —James A. Michener

The cure for the post-travel funk: just get over it and go back to work. It helps that work is so much like play here in the Humblebeads Studio.

I'd thought I'd share my favorite beads with you today. They are my branch disk beads. I always have a little stash of these on hand for my jewelry designs. You'll see them quite a bit in different publications this fall.

I love tree imagery. I think my love for trees started when I was 8 or so. We were walking though the woods on Christmas day with my cousins. Ice was covering the branches in that magical way they do. We came across a small bush covered in ice and snow. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My cousins started hitting it to knock off the icicles, to which I took immediate offense. That was probably the first time I realized that I saw the world differently. They saw an old bush, I saw a work of art.

Most of my childhood was spent among trees in the woods in west Michigan. We would build forts, take long walks, rule imaginary kingdoms. So my branch beads, each one, whispers of those carefree days in forests that were more magic than real. See, play - work, it's all the same here!