The Minstrel

Lately the sound of bells has been heard on the streets of Lickety-Split - and not the regular church bells either.

No, it seems that one of the first boarders at The Muddle House is wandering our streets.  Each step produces a slight tinkle of bells.  If you listen closely you might even hear him singing, softly under his breath.

Many of us in the neighborhood are spending more time on our porches these days, listening for his 'joyful noise". 

"A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it, 

A song's not a song 'til you sing it,

Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay,

Love isn't love 'til you give it away." - 

Oscar Hammerstein II

Symbols

In my creative life I find myself drawn to symbols - some of them over and over.


Here are my 'most used' symbols:

Bells, stars, the moon, birds, circles, dots, spirals, letters, music, metal, time.  I'm sure there are many others -- but these are the ones that usually end up in my work no matter whether I'm beading, punching or doll making.  These symbols represent comfort and joy.  They put the world to rights for me.  I never get tired of them and often read multiple meanings into them.

Here's the official definition for the word 'symbol'.

sym·bol - ( n.)

1. Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.

 

2. A printed or written sign used to represent an operation, element, quantity, quality, or relation, as in mathematics or music.

 

How about you -- do you find recurrent symbols appearing in your work?  I know that many of you have some of the same symbols list that I do, because I see these same symbols in the work I love to look at.
 

 

Isn't it wonderful to have a treasure trove of images flitting through your mind -- images that please you, bring you peace and make you want to flaunt them in your handwork?

"We are symbols, and inhabit symbols." - Ralph Waldo Emerson