In a college writing class the professor read a poem he had written that began with a complicated sentence many lines long. The next sentence was an emphatic and simple "Begin again." I can't remember anything else about the tone or topic of that poem, but that brief, abrupt command has been in my mind all morning.
No doubt that's because with pained reluctance I've decided to start over and completely remake a crucifix that I already got cast twice in different forms. I wasn't really satisfied with it, but I had cleaned up some problematic asymmetry and decided it was good enough, partly because I had already paid a caster. I just wanted to go to production and try to make that money back. Yesterday, I showed the piece to my daughter Lucy, an artist with a great eye, who used to contribute to this blog years ago, and she didn't notice the issue I was concerned about, but she made another, more troubling observation. "The cross doesn't stand out enough against the leaves. It's not easy to see what's going on." Then someone else told me they thought the background of leaves was an elongated misshapen wreath, not the tree of life concept I had in mind.
Ouch and ouch. I realized that all along this piece has been too much concept and not enough thoughtful design. (I will spare you a list of other design issues.) I've been sketching out some new designs, which I'll share soon.
Here is the crucifix that I am sadly letting go. I'm still kind of attached to it, in spite of everything.
If you want to follow my jewelry making on Instagram, here's a link. @anthemsweet_jewelry
