Posted by Cindy Battisti on 03 02 2018
Have you ever experienced a turning point? Not a phase or transition, but in a moment?
I used to have a business doing decorative painting. I tried to be all things to every one (which you may have heard is no way to run a business).
My joints were already far too old when I blithely began the painting business. As the years went on, I could feel the creaking in my knees and ankles when I climbed up and down ladders.
One Saturday, I was working on a job that was far too large; I had bit off more than I could chew. The work had taken days. I had to wear braces on both wrists and could barely hold the paint brushes.
While I worked, I was listening to the Met’s Madama Butterfly on the weekly radio broadcast on my little Walkman. Yes, to top it all off I was working on a Saturday.
Margaret Juntwait's description of the details of the Minghella production are vivid in my memory. And I suddenly and clearly realized….
This can’t go on.
I’d been mulling around my idea for making “opera bracelets” for a while and in that moment I knew it wasn’t some vague choice anymore, I had to do it because I simply couldn’t go on painting.
That day I began to take the first steps to changing my life completely. It didn’t have that much to do with the plot of that opera but I will always associate Madama Butterfly with that moment, dying to the old and starting something new.
Recently, I read the original book that Madama Butterfly is based on. Spoilers… she doesn’t die, or lose her boy….
I’m really glad about that.
Turns out, that performance of Madama Butterfly was also recorded Live in HD that day that I was teetering on my ladder with hobbled hands. Years later I got to see it! Click to see more on YouTube.
It’s our fifth annual challenge to “Make Opera Your Valentine!” At Opera Bracelets we say our product is for fun loving, passionate opera fans. As such, I encourage you this Valentine’s Day to share a favorite opera aria, moment or duet on your own Facebook page or on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or wherever you like to post things. [...]
This spring, the Met Live in HD and Royal Opera broadcast series are providing us with a lot of opera! Several of these are represented by bracelets in the Opera Bracelets Collection!From the Met Live in HD series: Elixir of Love, La Boheme, Cosi fan tutte and CendrillonFrom the Royal Opera House: Rigoletto, and CarmenFrom Both series: ToscaBelow [...]
This spring, opera fans have been blessed with a lot of opera on offer nationally from the Met Live in HD and Royal Opera House broadcast series. Several of these are represented by bracelets in the Opera Bracelets Collection!From the Met Live in HD series: Elixir of Love, La Boheme and CendrillonFrom the Royal Opera House: Rigoletto, and CarmenFrom [...]
I’d like to give you some insight into the inner workings of Opera Bracelets! Each bracelet is individually handmade in my home studio in Rochester, NY. They aren’t made overseas, nor are designs farmed out to have someone else assemble them. It’s all me. I take the quality of my work seriously, so if you [...]
Taking a trip to visit the Met Opera Shop this fall was an exhilarating and humbling experience.Of course, going to the home of opera (in my mind anyway- I’ve been hearing Met Opera Saturday broadcasts since I was a child) is exciting under any circumstance.The fountains, the arches, the sputnik chandeliers, the little park, the café with cappuccino and opera cake, [...]
It’s National Opera Week (October 27-Novemebr 5, 2017) and I’m asking you to step up and be an opera ambassador!Now this could take any number of creative forms which I hope you will share with me but here are some ideas off the top of my head. Work in an office? Talk it up: Why you love opera Opera [...]
What’s new at Opera bracelets in 2017? Scroll down to see a collection of the newest “Inspired By…” bracelet designs.Click the photo or name of the bracelet to visit the bracelets page on the website.Inspired by… The Elixir of Love- The Una Furtiva Lagrima Bracelet.I chose glass beads in the colors of wine and a bunch [...]
A couple of weeks ago someone asked: Why do you use Chinese Beads? Let’s start with the wider question: Why don’t I use beads that are “Made in USA”. Around 90% of the beads I use are Czech and Austrian; these countries have been leaders in the glass and crystal bead industry for over 200 years. Most “Made [...]
It’s our fifth annual challenge to “Make Opera Your Valentine!”At Opera Bracelets we say our product is for fun loving, passionate opera fans. As such, I encourage you this Valentine’s Day to share a favorite opera aria, moment or duet on your own Facebook page or on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or wherever you like to post things. Maybe you would [...]
All Opera Bracelets are individually handmade in Rochester NY USA
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