My Summer Alaska Travels

  
Blue Moon Over Lynn Canal, 1978                                Mt. Harding Under a Full Moon, 1976

I found my artistic voice among these dwarf pines, hundreds of years old yet only a few feet high. Beside massive mountain ranges scraped by glaciers 10,000 years ago, the stunted trees manage life in thin soil covered at their base by thick moss. About 48 years ago I began sawing hundreds of little crooked 14K trees under hanging diamond moons, nestled beside gemstone lakes with gold nugget mountains fashioned into pendants, rings and earrings; tiny beacons of survival against difficult odds.

 At 71, I return to lay upon the thick moss beneath these same trees to rekindle my spirit, to weep in awe and feel my artistic tenor strengthen in the untrammeled terrain surrounding the Canada/Alaska border.  I find these improbable trees unchanged from my youth, and my inspiration is re-ignited. 


During our recent SE Alaska trip I visited my son, Orion who is now 45 and running for Mayor of Skagway, my old town. It was thrilling to observe him speak as a seasoned City Assembly member. And seeing jewelry from my days at the bench as a young goldsmith being worn by old friends like Anni Stokes was validating for this aging artist. It made me ask myself, “How much does one’s inspiration change one’s art form over a lifetime?” I can only speak from my own view, but I’d say, a lot. And sometimes, not that much.
“Once in a Blue Moon…”, 2022
Montana Agate, Moonstone, Akoya Pearl, Sterling Pendant, $1670. Find online here. 

May each of you tune in to the Super Blue Moon energies pulling on you from within this week.

Love,
Lainey