Thursday, March 26, 2009

Theme Thursday : mineral... COPPER

Wealth falls on some men as a copper down a drain.” - Seneca
Last week I was confident of getting my theme post up in a timely manner... Yes, well, that was before all plans for the week fell apart. Instead of painting the outdoor mural next on my schedule, I've been out scrambling to make ends meet. Seems the weather is uncooperative, and I won't be able to paint or get paid for some time yet. And as I had counted on this income for March, I've got to step back and punt.


I hate thinking about money. I'm not gifted with cunning or opportunism when it comes to getting ahead, closing the deal or being self serving. I suppose it's due to my just not caring much about making money. I'd happily life on the smallest of stipends if I could just make art. But this is not my lot in life, and for the first time in twelve years I'll be taking a temporary job.
With that in mind, I felt it apropos to choose as my mineral that of which the smallest of legal tender is made: copper.

Copper has been good to me. As I stated in an earlier post, I'm one to: see a penny and pick it up, all the day to have good luck... I love the idea of finding a "copper." I've often thought that if I could possess all the lost and mislaid pennies of the world, I'd be comfortably well off - and no one would suffer loss. I also hate waste. It is with this in mind, that I've made it through here and there by recycling. No - not pennies - though I've a gallon jar filled with them as well as an additional container of wheat pennies. I keep the pennies. But several years ago when I was still married, my spouse - a welder - began to carry home pockets full of the little welding-rod end caps shown here. The pipeline manufacturer he worked for threw these away! He knew how much I loved bits of metal like this for my assemblages, so he collected them for me. Gradually, several coffee cans were filled and set aside amongst my collections of "stuff."


Things change. The marriage ended and I became sole proprietor and sole supporter of myself and my critters. More recently, free-lance art jobs became scarcer and scarcer as the price of copper soared higher and higher. Those little throw-away "O" rings actually made a couple of mortgage payments possible.

I've never cared much for gold or diamonds, but I love the color of copper. I've copper-coated horses, copper-bottomed pans, and copper plates for etching. I have yard art made of copper and jewelry made from copper wire and some say my hair is the color of copper - but I think it's actually more like "natural" brass. Hopefully, I'll be able to hang on to my yard art, my jewelry - and my hair! (heh) Though soon it may be more silver than copper...






The world is an old woman, and mistakes any gilt farthing for a gold coin; whereby being often cheated, she will thenceforth trust nothing but the common copper
- Thomas Carlyle

12 comments:

  1. Ah, money. Sorry you are having to worry about it. :(

    That sure is a beautiful mane you've got there. Oh, and the horse, too! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another copper fancier here. I also like jewelry made with copper's chief ore - malachite. I have a chunk of malachite in an amulet pouch I sometimes wear around my neck.

    I know all about the money shortage thing; I've been unemployed for over a year. Luckily unemployment compensation benefits keep getting extended every time the unemployment rate goes up. It pays the bills, but that's about it. LOL!!! My software habit has had to go into withdrawal.

    ReplyDelete
  3. worth more than a penny for these thoughts...like copper and have a wrist chain made of copper I pull out once in a while. just different.

    ReplyDelete
  4. loverly hommage to copper.....

    copper rocks!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I too collect pennies, I have a large Sparkletts water bottle with a good amount of change in it. I always give whole bills to pay for things, just so they have to give me change, so I can put in the jar. I also pick up any change I see lying on the ground. I consider it free money, or money I get for the effort of bending over. Some people are too embaressed to do this, but I could care less. Someday I might need that money to live off of.

    Sorry to hear about money woes, but I think so many of us are going through this right now. We live paycheck to paycheck like most other people in the country. And when hubby retires next year I am not sure what we are gonna do. Not looking forward to that. He does get retirement but nothing like we have now. And 67 is a long ways away. So social security will not be an option at all. Maybe I will let him go gold hunting after all. He will probably make me go back to work again. Just hope I can handle the arthritis pain. Maybe working would be good.

    Thank you for sharing so much with us. Love the hair.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What beautiful copper, colors and comments. May some artful jobs walk in your door. I am glad that at least you can find part-time work. So many can't even get that. I feel same about chrome and rusty metal as you do about copper.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I miss copper coins...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love copper, especially when it patinas to the prettiest greens. Like Roy's malachite.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Copper has character. Look at the way it ages. That's class. I've got a pair of copper earrings on right now. They're my favorites.

    Good luck with both the temp job and getting more commissioned work or sales or whichever keeps you afloat best.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fabulous post.
    Best of luck to you with the temp-job thing. I too have no gift for making money and no head (or rather, no heart, or no required LACK of heart) for business.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the horse photo -- especially that it's not the entire animal! A horse "fragment."

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi! Saw you stopped by my blog and left a nice note, so had to come visit! Love the kitty paws, the cabbage, the copper and the dog story...Nice to make your acquaintance...

    ReplyDelete