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My Musings

Down the Rabbit Hole

6/7/2023

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Down the Rabbit Hole 

I recently had the opportunity to work with world-class underwater photographer Brett Stanley to bring this pictorial story to life. I hope you enjoy the enchantment. 

Once Upon a Time...

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...there was a girl who was lost. 'Isn't this how it always starts?' She couldn't seem to understand the way the world worked. She thought if she could figure it out she would be happier and more successful. One day, she left her flat on the East side and set out on a mission. She passed the bakery, the barber shop, and two more bakeries. She wondered why anyone in their right mind would open three bakeries on the same road. Let it be such a short road at that. Who ate all those pastries? Did people go to one bakery over another? Did the bakeries get enough business? Did one supplier bring all three flour and eggs? Her thoughts were interrupted when it began to rain. It began to rain so hard she thought her umbrella was going to collapse from the weight of the water. The umbrella did not collapse but the weight of the water was so great it knocked her tumbling down the street until she fell into the great Thames River. The water was surprisingly warm in the Thames for May and crystal clear. The current caught the umbrella and carried her rapidly around rocks until she had the thought "I need to breath". But, just then she saw something quite amazing...

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...The river seemed to come upon a dead end of sorts. She could see her reflection, but it was distorted. She could see her torn dress from the fall down the hill, her matted down hair from all the water and  the worry lines on her face from wondering if the bakers were making a living. She also saw a glimmering light. She couldn't quite make out where or why the light was coming from this reflection, but it put her at ease...

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...At just this moment a water nymph reached through the portal of light and grabbed onto the girl's hand to pull her through. The girl was startled, it took quite some time for her to come to her senses. The first things she noticed was that she didn't need to breathe anymore. The second was that she no longer felt the weight of the umbrella overhead, it had disappeared. The nymph said in a gentle voice. "Sweet, sweet girl, what are you doing in this place?" The girl explained she had no idea where she was or how she got there. The nymph explained that she was where the river meets the sea, and the sea meets the stars." ...

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..After more conversation the girl realized this nymph was old and wise. Wiser than any human the girl had ever met. She thought maybe the Nymph could help her understand the world. When asked the nymph laughed and laughed and gave a sly smile before responding. "Girl, you are courageous and curious. You traveled all the way here for an answer I cannot give you. But I can guide you"... ​

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.."drink this elixir and soon all shall be releveled". The girl took the teacup and quickly gulped the entire cup and  paused ... nothing happened. She asked "Is this just  Earl Grey tea?" The nymph laughed and said "Your answer is in the way you drank the tea. Did you enjoy it?" Utterly confused the girl said "well sort of. I mean I drank it so quickly, I don't know". Just then a light flashed above the surface...

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..."Do you see that girl, a shooting star. Do you know what that means?" No said the girl. "Well, it means you can have one thing your heart truly desires. but it must be just and right. Quickly girl make your wish before the magic of the stars leaves us." The girl thought about her mission, about the bakers, her reflection, the weight of the umbrella and the tea. She closed her eyes and made her wish...

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..When she opened her eyes the nymph was gone, but so were her expectations.

Did you enjoy this content? If so, please consider making a donation to fund further projects. 
VENMO
CREDITS:
Photography- Brett Stanley 
​Model, Styling and Author- Jessie Jewels
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Building a Fire Trident

9/13/2020

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Building a Fire Trident


The Inspiration

I recently began learning how to weld and grind metal. I became facinated with metal as an artistic medium when I was visiting the DeCordova Sculpture park in Lincoln, MA. Here massive metal sculptures seem to blend into the outdoor landscape as if they grew right out from the soil underneath. I knew instantly I wanted to learn how these were built.
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DeWitt Godfrey's "Lincoln" at DeCordova Sculpture Park

Planning

After a few basic welding lessons on safety and how to create a "bead" (a line of metal to connect two pieces) we decided it was time to build my first real welding project.
I toyed around with making a simple garden spike design but realized it would be much more satisfying to create something I could spin on fire. Ok, I will explain.
When I am not creating visual art I also enjoy many forms of movement art, including fire spinning, or fire dancing. You have probably seen this at a festival or in Hawaiian culture.
I already owned a handful of fire spinning props, but I was missing something a mermaid might spin. As a lover of all things ocean related and mermaids I decided I wanted to create a trident that I could spin on fire. (​In classical mythology the trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, God of the sea. )

The Design

Before I began I researched shapes of tridents online. I liked the styles which the two outer forks belled out toward the tips. This meant that I needed to bend the steel rods. But first, I welded together two 4' hollow steel tubes to become the center support. We chose hollow rod to cut down on the weight of the final prop. I bent the solid steel rod for the outer u shaped forks using a tube bender.
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Jessie grinding the excess metal off the main support rod.

The Build

I welded the "U" shaped rod stock onto the center 8' hallow rod about 1 1/2' from the top. I cut 3 small triangle tips for each fork out of steel plate stock. I flattened the top 2" of the center rod in a vice to create a solid flat surface and then welded the triangles onto the three tips. 
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Jessie with the trident structure complete and one point attached, ready for the other two!
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Jessie welding the points on the ends of the forks

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Forks attached and ready for wicking!

Wicking

For this project I chose to use 1/8" thick, 1" width Kevlar wicking. The smaller width allowed me to wrap the wicking around the curved metal without much gapping between the layers. Now the tricky part was that each end of the wicking needed to be securely attached to the steel so it would not come loose during spinning. For this I chose to drill a small hole in the end of each fork and at the center cross section. This hole allowed me to use Kevlar thread and a mattress needle to sew through the steel and the layer of Kevlar on the opposite side. This created a secure attachment point. 
I continued to wrap the ribbon of wicking around the "U" shape first sewing it together at the opposite end. Then, I wrapped the center support from the tip to the cross section and secured. 

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One of the ends with hole drilled for the wicking
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Kevlar thread being sewn through the wicking
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The fork with wicking completely wrapped and sewn to the ends

Final Touch

 After I finished wrapping the wicking I gave the trident a quick spin and realized that the steel handle was hard on my hands. I ordered some Nimbus Staff Grip Tape and wrapped the two major grip points on the handle. This cushioned the pipe in my hands and gave me some extra control while handling the trident. 
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First Burn

I am so excited that once of my fire spinning students caught this photo of my first burn of the fire trident. It really was everything I hoped for this project. When moving slowly or holding position the three prongs of the trident were fully visible. There definitely was a concern during he design stage that if the forks where too close together you would not see their definition and it would just look like a pole with a big fire at the end, I know still cool, but this is just way cooler!  MORE TO COME!
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Above Jessie weilds the fire trident for it's first burn.

Thank You

Thank you for reading my blog! Want to see more content? Check out my Youtube Channel 
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Break Through

5/5/2020

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Picture
I crossed the ocean of doubt,
to take refuge on the shore of uncertainty,
my mind no longer caged by fear,
shining like diamonds on the wave's crest.
-Jessie Jewels
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Perspective

5/1/2020

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​"Perspective is a beautiful choice we have,
It is one of the ways we get to shape our world."
- Jessie Jewels
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    Author

    Jessie is an artist, dancer and Yogi.

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Address

33 Parsonage Dr
​Warwick, RI 02889

Telephone

401-641-9849

Email

JessieJewelsArt@gmail.com
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