It begins with a stone, a reason to build.

Patiently I sit while listening to the internal dialogue of design chatter in my mind.

A spark will strike and I’ll reach for some silver.  

Cutting, Bending.
Drilling, shaping.
Filling, compiling, components that fit together.
Satisfied and ready.
I’ll head to my soldering bench. 

Boom, a low flame ignites on my torch.
Alchemy begins.

Two pieces of silver are now one.
Three, four.

The structure comes together.
Minutes become perhaps an hour.
Sense of time has no place here.

I turn the dial, my torch’s flame ceases to fire.
The hot metal sizzles as it sinks into the pickle pot.

 I sit back now.
Smiling a bit, thinking about what I’ve done, what’s to come. 

I retrieve the now clean piece of metal from the pot and head back to my jewelry bench to evaluate the work.

File, clean, buff.
Shape, saw, finish.
Anticipation gleans excitement. 

Next a dip into the patina,
like wrapping the gift to be opened Christmas Day. 

I’ll begin the two part tumbling process and hours later I can open the gift again.
A new piece appears.
This time with a beautiful finished patina. 

The final stage is upon me. It’s time to set the stone.
Time to give it’s home.
Some deep breathes I’ll enter a centered head space.
Not too much coffee, just enough to eat.
I’ll sit down and clear my space.

 In the zone.
Tucking the stone into its home.
Laser focus, flow state achieved. 

One big deep breathe as I sit back in my chair.  

Wow. 

What I see before me,
This did not exist before today.

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