The "Heart" of the matter is...

Remember how exciting Valentines day was when you were in Elementary School? A few days before this legendary mini holiday the classroom would smell of fresh cut construction paper and paste as the children excitedly assembled their shoebox which would be receiving tiny little envelopes of sweetness. (The best ones of course included the candy!)

For me the "sweetness" of Valentines day dissipated over the years. I began feeling the social pressures of finding the "one" as more and more friends of mine were married or in serious relationships combined with my general loathing of a "holiday" that at the time I felt was essentially promoted by the capitalistic retail companies. Yes indeed over the years I kept finding the concept of valentines day to be less and less appealing. I heard one radio DJ coin it as "Single Awareness Day" (SAD) that actually made me laugh.

Lately the artist in me decided to revisit the concept of "the heart". For so many years my inner motto was "I just don't DO heart jewelry". Yet at some point during my sales season I would be asked if I would do something with hearts. So for the first time I decided to give it a whirl.

A heart, is a simplistic symbol. It's one of the first things a child learns to draw, it's symmetrical and is easily cut from paper by folding it in half. It's message is equally as simple that being "love". So why had I such disdain for it? I mean my own last name has a "Hart" in it. Perhaps I should give it a second chance.

Valentines day a simple day that does drive consumerism. But really what is wrong with that? It sets aside a day to remind someone just how dear they are to you. It provides a reason to decorate a home or a class room, to create fun little crafts, to indulge in delicious chocolates and it gives an opportunity for artists (like myself) to gain a bit of business during what would normally be a slow time of year. It's fun to think that a piece of jewelry that I spent time hand crafting may become a special trinket expressing love for someone.

I decided that I wanted to design some heart jewelry but needed to express it in a unique way. First I spent time looking up ideas for "abstract hearts". However a heart can only be manipulated a couple of ways. My first design became my "eclipsed hearts" necklaces. They are two over lapping sterling silver hearts with a faceted stone.

My second design became a simple heart ring...but I wanted mine to be different. So I decided that my hearts were going to be oxidized sterling silver making them black, with a contrasting sterling silver shiny "button" soldered on to it which gives an asymmetrical look that I like.

Each heart is shaped by hand and no two will look exactly a like. Which makes the piece extra special. A unique gift for a unique person.

After making some creations that I swore I'd NEVER do I decided that I shouldn't loath Valentines day. I may not have found a special "valentine" in my life yet but that's ok. One should just focus on the positive meaning, remember how it makes a child smile, or simply enjoy a piece of chocolate and pamper your self with a little love.

"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead." Oscar Wilde