In that book which is
My memory . . .
On the first page
That is the chapter when
I first met you
Appear the words . . .
Here begins a new life

- Dante Alighieri

A paper mache box painted black, rubbed with antique copper, and covered with a little leather garden. The purple rose is my "Victorian Magick" design. Beneath the rose on the right are iris petals shaped by gathering, and an indigo orchid petal shaped with flounces on the left. All the flower petals are garment leather. The spikey leaves and tendrils are tooling leather which were wet-molded into shape. The painting was all done in acrylics, mostly pearls, in my usual favorites like purple, fuchsia, indigo, and copper.

I Held a Jewel
by Emily Dickinson

I held a jewel in my fingers
And went to sleep
The day was warm, and winds were prosy
I said, "Twill keep"

I woke - and chide my honest fingers,
The Gem was gone
And now, an Amethyst remembrance
Is all I own