Sunlit Sea

One year ago yesterday, I sold a necklace called Sunlit Sea. Today, in an odd but happy coincidence, I was commissioned to do something similar. Happily, I still had enough of the beads playing the starring role, as well as a good supply of supporting cast members. The colors on the glass beads that I used remind me of the sun shining on the waves, with hints of the cool depths underneath.

Sadly, this will be the first summer in many years when I won't have the opportunity to see the sun shining on real waves. I lived with my family for several years in Costa Rica, where we would brave the terrible roads as often as possible to go to our favorite beach on the Caribbean side. We saw that beach many different times of year when it had many different moods. The best memory I have was one October when we went there to celebrate our son's birthday. The sea was completely calm, soothingly warm, and one could float to one's heart's content, staring up at the blue sky, or turning one's head to the side to see the long line of the palm-lined coast. The worst memory was being there shortly after the terrible tsunami in Asia. This time, a terrible storm knocked out electricity and washed out the road back home. As my son said in a quavering voice, in the pitch dark of the hotel room, with the sound of the waves roaring loud in the utter stillness: "The air is a little too thick with adventure!"

Last summer, we had the privilege and pleasure of spending an idyllic vacation with wonderful friends on the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. Before the tide would go out and leave miles of sand exposed, the water would calm down and, again, one could float, lifted and caressed and gently rocked by the waves. The bonnet-headed sharks swimming around gave just the right note of danger.

So, this year, my sea memories will have to be created by the colors of the beads and stones in my studio. I have some gorgeous chalcedony the color of a warm, shallow sea that I hope to turn to next. All of you who have access to a beautiful beach, I wish you gentle waves and warm breezes!