by MoleitauEtsy interviews self-taught metalsmith Sara Westermark:
“My husband quickly learned not to buy me jewelry for Christmas, but instead to buy me tools.
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“I have always worked with my hands. It quiets my racing mind and helps me to connect with my inner self. When I work, I cannot concentrate on anything else but the task at hand – I am completely absorbed.
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“My work graphically represents my life. I have come to see my striving for the, ‘perfect and happy’ life as a clean form, and all the divergent paths and unexpected detours as the cutting away or crumbling of the original form. The acceptance of life as it comes – usually messy, unpredictable, and tragic – can lead to a new kind of beauty with richness and depth that only wisdom of experience can afford.”
Read the rest of the interview here or visit Sara’s etsy shop.
I love how the statement about preferring tools over jewelry underscores a basic truth about creative people: happiness lies not just in acquiring, but in the making.
