Tergiversation!!!

I am still undecided about my photo background.

I really like the one I am using: It's coconut tree bark, I collected it in Ghana and brought it all the way from there!

The problem is that it is too small for necklaces and bracelets.

Anyway, I love the warmth that wood brings to the pieces.

I am trying out this backgroung with a piece of driftwood for a little touch of nature, which I think is okay but my daughter loves it!

I made a simple yet sophisticated pair of earrings with my rustic kyanite soldered head pins with a large lightweight horn,that I have had in my bead stash for a very longtime. I can't believe, I have finally used them. It is time to let them go to find a new home and start a new story!

I enhanced the soldered rustic kyanite head pins, with large flat cylindrical horn beads along with orange czech glass beads and then topped off with blue seed beads.This pair of earrings have a vibe of a warm autumnal day.  

And will certainly brighten someone's life.

A Simple design with a lightweight domed brass circle, on which I dangled my rustic kyanite soldered head pins. Again, I bought the domed brass circle nearly a decade ago, if you can believe it!  It's a simple design with beads that beautifully complement each other. 

They are ready for another Journey

Exquise and Confident!

Like always, thank you so much for stopping by.  

Merci beaucoup 

SanKoFa

I can't remember how often I heard or used this word "SanKoFa". It is just one among others in my native language but I always liked the rhythm of the sound when Grandma used it. 

Then I googled it and wow... I learned a lot about it. How it has become a symbol in traditional Akan Art, in African American and African Diaspora.

SanKoFa mean to reach back and get it.

It comes to this moment in my life that I need to return to my roots!

When I first started my jewelry journey I wanted to make plenty of tribal jewelry, but with a comtempory influence.

I made some of them which were sold very quickly to people like me, who like the jewelry they wear to be noticed. ( In my case, it was not the sole purpose but I feel more comfortable this way!)

Then, we moved to this city where I currently live and I lost my interest in making tribal necklaces.  I was selling more earrings than my tribal necklaces.

Recently however, I felt the huge need to make the necklaces again and the inspiration came to me naturally.

Africa, Africa, Africa...

My beautiful land,

Land of proud warrior,

in our ancestral Savannah.

Don't tell me you are a myth,

because that's the way, I see you.

Beautiful land,

You have so much to give,

So much to forgive,

Africa, my land, Africa the broken heart. I see and feel your pain, but through this pain still I see your beautiful smile. I hear your Heart of a broken land crying. This is my Land and I won't deny it because I love you more than ever before... Africa

I see your hidden beauty, I see you like a very timid beautiful woman.

I see your potential and I love you ever more.

My land, My broken land,

I love you more than ever before,

Forgive us, Africa!

Forgive your children,

Because they didn't teach us, how to show you this love!

I love you more than ever before!

I never really left you Africa, because I carry you in my heart wherever I go!

You made me the strong woman, I am today!
I am so thankful for that!

I know like everywhere else in the world, you are changing. You are making a transition in your own style. Unfortunately these changes are not for the best!

We are losing our culture.
We are losing our native languages.
but still

Africa, I love you evermore

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika

God Bless Africa

In this project, I used handmade vintage recycled vinyl beads from Mali, vintage Bauxite, African trade beads given to me by my Grandma,Yoruba Bell spiral charms, brass from Nigeria, brass cast metal from Ivory Coast, recycled krobo beads I bought in Ghana during my last trip there. The pendant mask was specially made for me at my request a few years ago by a Senegalese Artisan in the Ivory Coast, using the technique of lost wax,
and of course: gemstones, bone, handmade ceramics and polymer clay beads  made by my friend Leah Curtis.
I also, repurposed a Tibetan necklace my sister gave me which her friend bought in Nepal a very long time ago!

What you may think is just a long string of beads, is in fact a lot of: work, research, assemblage and disassembling to make the most perfectly imperfect tribal necklace from recycled objects that I have collected from all over the world over a period of several years.

As always thank you so much / Me daa si  :)

It is Official, I have a new name!!!!

The idea of changing my shop name is something that germinated many years ago. I'll tell you guys, it is not so easy to find a name you like that is not already taken.

                                                YeeLen SpiRiT

YeeLen means bright light in Bambara language. It was a movie made by a famous West African movie maker, Souleymane Cissé from Mali.
Is based on a legend told by the bambara people, a heroic quest narrative featuring magic and precognition. Niankoro, a young African man who possesses magical powers.

The beauty of the theme of movie and the landscapes are imprinted in my mind forever. It reminds me of my childhood in Africa.

During my childhood in my Grandma's village, the internet did not yet exist.   It was just the beginning of when there was a TV in every house.  Just like how people read books to their children before bedtime, my great Aunt would tell us stories every night.  She would tell us magical and mystic stories. Of course, as a child we were always afraid of the tales, but on the other hand we were fascinated to hear them again and again, night by night.. She was a very good storyteller.   I miss her so much.
So when it came to choosing a business name, what could be better than digging deep into my roots to find a name that really meant something to me? YeeLen, to make the light bright - this touches my soul.

 

Therefore after many years of cultivating this idea, I'm changing my shop name to YeeLen SpiRiT and make the light bright!

 

« Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us ; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. »

 Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech, attribute to Maryanne Williamson.

« Notre peur la plus profonde n'est pas que nous ne soyons pas à la hauteur,
Notre peur la plus profonde est que nous sommes puissants au-delà de toutes limites.
C'est notre propre lumière et non notre obscurité qui nous effraie le plus.
Nous nous posons la question... Qui suis-je, moi, pour être brillant, radieux, talentueux et merveilleux ?
En fait, qui êtes-vous pour ne pas l'être ? Vous êtes un enfant de Dieu.
Vous restreindre, vivre petit, ne rend pas service au monde.
L'illumination n'est pas de vous rétrécir pour éviter d'insécuriser les autres.
Nous sommes nés pour rendre manifeste la gloire de Dieu qui est en nous.
Elle ne se trouve pas seulement chez quelques élus, elle est en chacun de nous,
Et, au fur et à mesure que nous laissons briller notre propre lumière, nous donnons inconsciemment aux autres la permission de faire de même.
En nous libérant de notre propre peur, notre puissance libère automatiquement les autres. »

 

 

 

 

“Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.”