Wherein my piece goes live over at the IAF auctions:

“I have been fascinated with shape-shifting for a good many years, and ravens even more. Like most writers, I am also fascinated with symbols. Back when my husband and I lived on opposite coasts, his letters and emails were riddled with symbols and it wasn’t long before they began to arrive in the mail: a leather notebook that he made himself, a wishing stone, captain’s bars. “I’m very talismanic,” he said. I took that as a good sign.

So if I’d been the one gifted with a feather and a vision at the top of Inwood Hill (a perfect place for both, by the by, though I must confess that living in Brooklyn, I don’t get here nearly enough), you’d better believe I’d be searching for clues. Not having any raven’s feathers, I wanted to make a piece that evoked their essence. A piece that reminded me of raven’s wings, but left plenty of room for meaning.”

The price is already up to $62, over twice the opening bid. This kind of stuns me.

I love the design, though. As I mention in the Artist’s Statement (the rest of which you can read here), I first made this necklace about 10 years ago and haven’t since then, though I’ve thought about it many times. The knotting is a lot of work, but the end results are really worth it.

I think the next IAF auction should be knitted and crocheted accessories. There must be some fellow knitters in the interstitial crowd.

I’m feeling a little run-down lately. Lots of good stuff going on, but the minute there’s a void, something seems to rush in to fill it. The Newsarama retailer interview is getting linked around, which is nice. People have told me that they got a lot out of it, which was the idea.

What else? Started Barth’s Tarot novel, The Magician And The Fool. Is wicked good, as we say up North. I love the way he’s bringing Tarot’s Renaissance origins and its occult machinations (traditionally the cause for crankypants among purists, perhaps rightfully so) together in a big ‘ol lovefest. Brilliant! Being a huge fan of having my cake and eating it too, I daresay I’m smitten.

Years ago, Leland had a Queensland Bottle Tree. He really enjoyed growing it, so we bought some seeds on eBay. Things are coming along quite nicely; in fact, we now have two bottle trees growing:

Speaking of symbols, they seem to be a fine one for where we’re at right now.

Our anniversary is next week, right after the full moon. Ooo!