I joined in with Erin over at Treasures Found to tell a story (or, in my case poem) thru jewelry. Erin was kind enough to let me use one of my military poems as inspiration for my piece. I was able to go to Oahu with my family last summer and we went to visit the Arizona at Pearl Harbor. I'm not sure how any American can visit there, go thru the museum and then out to the Arizona, and not be touched by what happened. By what our men gave that day and all the days after. My focal piece was a large lampwork bead that I scoured Esty for only to finally discover over at sky valley beads. The rest are beads from Michael's or Hobby Lobby, but that one focal from sky valley just brought out what I was looking for. When you're on the Arizona Memorial, you can still see oil seeping up from below. A drop at a time every few minutes. Even on days when the water's not calm, it's hard to miss those drops. Those tears. I think, even tho' it wasn't intended, sky valley perfectly captured what looks like that swirl of oil from the Arizona.
So here, once again, is the poem that was inspired by that visit and, in turn, inspired the jewelry:
Tears From The Deep
Tears are still wept, tho' the heart's
made of steel,
For men nigh forgot tho' a Nation should feel.
They died in a war, tho' no battle fought they,
On what became known as an Infamous Day.
Tears from the Deep, tho' the heartbeat is cold,
For valorous men who will never grow old.
Entombed in the dark, by water enshrined,
Stood ready 'gainst all, by Freedom defined.
Tho' many have come, so few shed a tear.
They call to us, now, do the whisper you hear?
They are the reason this Nation stood fast!
The weeping, so soft, do you hear it at last?
Tears are still wept to help us recall,
Tho' few still remember they gave us their all;
From way down below, to the Oceans' safe keep,
Seeping up for reminders are Tears from the Deep.
For men nigh forgot tho' a Nation should feel.
They died in a war, tho' no battle fought they,
On what became known as an Infamous Day.
Tears from the Deep, tho' the heartbeat is cold,
For valorous men who will never grow old.
Entombed in the dark, by water enshrined,
Stood ready 'gainst all, by Freedom defined.
Tho' many have come, so few shed a tear.
They call to us, now, do the whisper you hear?
They are the reason this Nation stood fast!
The weeping, so soft, do you hear it at last?
Tears are still wept to help us recall,
Tho' few still remember they gave us their all;
From way down below, to the Oceans' safe keep,
Seeping up for reminders are Tears from the Deep.
© Copyright
2011 Pam Sears. All rights reserved.
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| Full view |
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| Close up of focal ~ vivid expression of those "tears" |
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| I chose the squares to represent the ocean in all it's colors and the black oil slick swirls to represent... well... the flowing oil |
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| the small rounds actually have an "oil slick" reflection that didn't photograph too well. The red jasper tear shapes are for the blood spilled and the silver wire I hammered are for both the waves and the ships that rode them into battle. |
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| We must never forget |
Here's the rest of the participants. Make sure you scroll all the way down past them to see the second activity I participated in (once you're done looking at what everyone else did, that is!):
Erin Prais-Hintz (story hostess!)
Pam Sears (you are *here!*)
And now, the 2nd quest (I guess is the best way to phrase it... since I'm crazy anyway! haHA!) was an earring swap hosted by Diana at Suburban Girl Studio. We signed up and were paired up with two other ladies for whom we made earrings and mailed them off. A swap! Not only did we have to come up with something for ladies we didn't know, we got something wonderful in return. Their beautiful efforts! I was paired up with Amy over at Copper Diem and Lisa from Whimsy's Wonders. Here's what I sent to the individual ladies (I'm sure they have theirs by now):
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| The ceramic discs were made by Chinook Jewelry for a challenge by Michelle Mach and I loved them so much I went to Chinook and bought a few more. Just LOVE them! |
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| I wanted to have both cool and warm off-setting each other. |
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| I wanted a Moroccan/Middle Eastern slant on this pair. The orange beads at the bottom were made by Sue from Sue Beads and I've been hoarding them for MONTHS! |
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| I used gold, purple & teal to accent the sari silk and bring in the Moroccan/Middle Eastern Vibe. |
...and what did I get, you might ask? Well, from Amy I received these lovely earrings. I just love how delicate they are! Makes me feel so feminine!
Plus, I love red and these add the perfect touch when I want a soft, sweet accent. From Lisa? Well, Lisa got hit hard by Life (don't we all from time to time? Eh?) and is a weeeee bit behind. But she assured me, the last time we "talked" (emailed, whatever ~snerk~) she was mailing them out asap! Since she has family and Life gets in the way no matter how well we plan, I'll just make sure to let you know as soon as they come in (which, know Life and Its sense of humor, will be when I get off work tomorrow evening! ha!) and will post pics of them.
Sorry, this was such a long post, but I didn't realize, when I signed up for both of these, that the reveal dates were the SAME date! Ah, well. Such is Life (haven't we already covered that!?)
