From Mothers to Daughters
Catherine, and her husband Stephen, stay with us each year as they travel to and from getting their daughter settled into university. Catherine’s pride in her daughter comes through in our long conversations over glasses of wine. It was a great honour to be asked to translate the stories Catherine told into a necklace and earring set for her daughter.
Her daughter’s passion is opera. I first looked up contemporary opera singers and discovered that the necklaces these beautiful woman wear are understated and very feminine. I then stalked Catherine’s daughter on Facebook (shhhh) and saw that she sticks to a simple strand of pearls or a chain with a cross. I wanted to pump up the design just a bit for her artistic personality, but still keep it on the lighter side and very feminine.
When Catherine talked about her daughter I was struck by her dichotomy of determination (knowing she wanted to be an opera singer at a very young age and sticking to it) and her moments of artistic scattered energies. The ‘title’ I gave her Touchstone story is Affirmations. Her continued affirmation to pursue her dreams, but also an affirmation that she can face the world with focus and strength.
What I came up with is this charm necklace. A simple strand of pink crystal and lapis lazuli beads that are attached to a centre hammered pewter ring. From that ring are 6 dangles of chain containing more pink crystal, lapis lazuli, smaller pewter rings and three pewter charms: musical note; dream charm; believe charm.
Catherine’s daughter is a Sagittarius so I chose lapis lazuli because it is the healing stone for this zodiac sign. It releases stress and brings harmony and deep inner self-knowledge. The pink crystals provide more soothing energies. The charms speak to her passion for music, her determination to follow her dream, and a reminder to always believe in that dream.