Inspiration at the bookstore
Posted by Leah on Jun 29, 2008
One of my favorite things to do to get inspired is spend some time browsing at a good bookstore. There is a pretty good one near my house that has a huge selection of magazines, including a pretty good craft section and a pretty good art/photography section. There is also an aisle full of craft books, so there’s always something new to look at.
I always leave itching to make something. With so many great books and magazines to look at, it’s almost impossible not to feel inspired. Yesterday I flipped through a fun book on making jewelry with found objects (of course I can’t remember the title now), a book of hideously ugly crochet patterns, and a couple books of knitting patterns. Most of the time I don’t want to make the majority of the projects in craft books and magazines, but I have a great time looking at them. The ugly crochet book was amusing, and showed me a lot of things to try to avoid doing! The jewelry book gave me some ideas on how to incorporate certain kinds of elements into a piece, and definitely made a case for the messy-on-purpose look, which the author did really well.
Now the only problem is finding time to try all these things…at the moment, I have so many projects in progress that maybe what I need is less inspiration rather than more. It’s definitely possible to get overstimulated with so many ideas. I have beads to make into something great for the Jewelry on Etsy team summer beading challenge, I have a package of new jewelry that needs to get labeled and boxed and sent off to Exhibit One (including those two rings I was trying to decide what to do with), I’ve been swatching with lace weight and even finer yarns and have some necklace ideas, I have photos to edit of earrings I finished yesterday, and I’ve recently gotten into using my graphics program (PSP) to design banners and stickers and things (the new banner on this blog was a first attempt, which I like but want to refine a bit more). And now I want to do some found object assemblage jewelry, since I have the DVD guts lying around and I got inspired by that book yesterday….
Confessions of a blocked creative
Posted by Leah on May 14, 2008
I’ve been reading The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Did you ever daydream about being a rock star as a child? I did. And I was painfully shy about singing or playing an instrument in front of people. I even tried to practice piano when nobody was home because I didn’t want anyone to hear me. I also wanted to be an author, and I spent countless hours writing fiction and poetry in notebooks that I would later carefully destroy, by burning them or tearing up the pages into tiny pieces. I think one of the reasons I married my husband is that his art is so raw and emotional, like he doesn’t really give a shi* if the whole world can see exactly what he’s thinking and feeling. I wanted to be that, and the next best thing is being with someone like that. It’s almost like you can become the creative person you want to be by being with them.
Well, it doesn’t work that way. To be out there and vulnerable like that is something you just have to do, you don’t get it from someone else. Making jewelry is a wonderful creative outlet, but it doesn’t quite satisfy the part of me that wants to be a musician or a writer. That part of me remains blocked, but I’m working on it.
I highly recommend reading The Artist’s Way, and actually do what it says. I’m attempting to do that, despite the fact that writing every morning probably isn’t realistic with a baby. I’ll do the writing part each day, but when I have time instead of in the morning. Maybe this time I’ll get farther along in the process before I quit….
I don’t want to wake up one day and realize I never went for it. Jewelry is a wonderful creative outlet, and I want to keep coming up with newer, more interesting designs. I’ll probably never be a rock star, but I can become a better musician. And I can work on getting over my fear of people reading my creative writing.
A note about the book: one thing that might put some people off is that she talks about God a lot. If that makes you uncomfortable, just ignore it, because the advice is really good and worth hearing, but I know for some people even the mention of something that sounds like religion brings up so many preconceived ideas that the rest of the message gets lost. So just pretend she doesn’t say God, and substitute “creative energy” or “the universe” or whatever image works for you. When she talks about God, she’s talking about creativity, and whether you believe in any kind of God or not is irrelevant. I think most creative people would agree that sometimes it seems like there’s a force outside of you that works when you are inspired - you can believe whatever you want about that feeling, it doesn’t have to be a religious thing.
Have you done The Artist’s Way
Inspiration
Posted by Leah on May 9, 2008
“Do not follow where the path leads, Rather go where there is no path, and leave a trail.”
-David Perkins (I first saw this quote on problogger)
This is what creative people try to do, despite the wildly popular opinion that “everything has already been done”, which I hear a lot on forums about creativity, jewelry design, and crafts. I disagree that everything has been done, and one thing that inspires me is that I believe the perfect jewelry design hasn’t been made yet, and if I keep trying, I’ll get closer and closer to designing it. I won’t ever get there, because every time I have some kind of breakthrough and make something I love, I realize it’s not the ultimate design, and that the design I really want to make is still waiting for me to discover it.
Crafting and Spirituality
Posted by Leah on Apr 28, 2008
Just yesterday I was blogging about the link between spirituality and creativity….and then today I ran across a podcast on crafting and spirituality.
It was released on I-tunes on April 4th, and is epsiode #72 of Craftypod. You can listen to this episode and others at craftypod.com.
Spirituality and Creativity
Posted by Leah on Apr 27, 2008
It’s Sunday, and I can hear the voice of a TV preacher come on in the other room, where my husband is flipping through the channels. It gets me thinking about religion, spirituality, and the fact that I’ve been in a creative slump lately. In general I don’t feel comfortable sharing my thoughts on religion or spirituality, because I think it’s a very personal thing and I don’t think I have any kind of authority to tell other people what they should believe.
One thing I know, though, is that creativity can be a very spiritual experience. I may not be sure about what I believe in, but there are certain things I do that feed my creativity as well as my spirituality. Writing in a journal, doing breathing exercises or meditation at the end of a yoga workout, being really “in the zone” while working on a new jewelry design, or taking a walk and just letting my mind wander. These things give me a feeling of being grounded, while at the same time let my imagination go. I come up with my best creative ideas at times when I’m feeling something that I would almost describe as religious - some might call it zen. It’s a feeling of being very alert yet very calm at the same time. Things work when I feel that way that don’t work the rest of the time, and everything seems to make sense.
I know I’m not the only person who feels most spiritual when I’m at my most creative. Lots of artists, musicians, and writers talk about their creative process as a kind of religious experience. For example, Julia Cameron talks about God often in her well known book “The Artist’s Way”, which is a manual for developing creatively.
I realized that since the birth of my baby almost two months ago, I’ve been worried about money. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the business part of being a jewelry designer, but not so much about the creative, artistic part, which is what I love about designing. I need to remember to do things to nurture my creative, spiritual side, and not always be worrying about practical concerns like paying the bills. Of course it’s important to pay the bills, but it’s also important to remember why I got into this business in the first place - being creative fills a basic need that I have, keeps me grounded, and reminds me to think about the bigger questions in life, like what I really believe in.
I don’t normally write anything this personal on my business blog, but I think the connection between spirituality and creativity is worth thinking about, and I hope to make more of an effort to make time for these things in my life.
Another idea for motivation
Posted by Leah on Feb 18, 2008
I learned this week that one way to get even less done than when tired out from pregnancy is to catch a cold on top of it. Yuck! I’m starting to feel better and catch up on housework, but it was a rough week. I haven’t felt creative at all - the only things I’ve “made” this week are tea and soup.
Today I started getting some energy back, and was looking at photos on flickr.com and came up with an idea for quick inspiration. Browse some of the groups on flickr. If you aren’t familiar with flickr, it’s a photo site where members can store and share their images, and there are groups where people contribute photos of just about anything. I found groups of photos of Death Valley, flowers, extreme macro photography, crafts, etc. There is even a group for pictures of fog and rain - something I’m very familiar with, living near San Francisco.
It was pretty cloudy this morning, so I grabbed my camera and took this picture:
I’m still getting used to my new camera, so this kind of mini creative activity is perfect - it only takes a few seconds to snap an image or two, and it gets me thinking creatively again. I plan on browsing more flickr groups to get ideas of things to photograph, just for fun, and to build a collection of images that I can use for jewelry inspiration.
Creative Burnout
Posted by Leah on Feb 8, 2008
I think every creative person suffers from burnout once in a while - days, weeks, or even longer when the urge to create something new just doesn’t strike.
I’ve been feeling burned out the last week or so, I’m sure because I’m 8 1/2 months pregnant and lacking energy, so I thought I’d make a list of things I do to get inspired again. Maybe making the list will get me excited to make some new work before my baby is born!
- Get together with friends who are creative
- Look at art/craft web sites
- Clean the house - this works because I hate cleaning & eventually my mind wanders into things I’d rather be doing. Plus it’s productive, so if it doesn’t work, at least I feel like I accomplished something.
- Read a magazine, or flip through articles and pictures I’ve torn out of magazines
- Sort my stash of beads and other jewelry making supplies. Sometimes seeing something I’ve forgotten about gives me ideas.
- Listen to some good music
- Watch a really good movie
- Go for a walk, or just get out into nature somewhere. The coast is always a good one for me.
- Get some exercise, especially yoga since it helps me feel more focused
- Just start something - sometimes making something simple, like head pins, will get me in the mood to make something more creative
- Take apart a piece that didn’t work
- Take a nap - sometimes being tired is what is blocking me
- Talk to my husband, who is an artist, about where we’d like our creative careers to be in five years
- Fantasize about the perfect studio
- Work on paperwork for the business - my least favorite thing to do - but it makes me feel productive, which sometimes gives me an energy boost once I’ve gotten it over with.
- Write or sketch in a journal
What do you do to get over creative burnout? Leave me a comment, and a link to your art/craft site so I can see what you’re up to.
My feature on Jewelry and Beading
Posted by Leah on Dec 22, 2007
Cyndi at Jewelry and Beading just published an article about me. You can read it here.
We actually did the interview a little while ago so I just want to point out that one of the links is outdated - I’m no longer updating my 365pendants blog, because I decided to focus on making pieces that are a little bit more labor intensive & that means I can’t realistically finish one every day.
I also started selling my work on etsy since the interview was done - you can see my shop here.
Thanks Cyndi for writing up the article!
Fused Pendant - Finished or Not?
Posted by Leah on Sep 7, 2007
I just can’t decide if this fused piece is finished or not. It is scraps of Argentium sterling silver with a freshwater pearl dangle. I actually did the fusing months ago, and wasn’t sure what to do with the resulting piece of metal. Yesterday at my studio, I decided to drill two holes - one to add a bail and one to add a pearl dangle - and this is the result. I can’t decide if I love it or hate it.
What I like about it: the industrial look of the metal in contrast with the pearl, the texture of fused metal, the fact that the sheet was a scrap leftover from a pierced piece I made and the wire bits and granules were also recycled from other projects.
What I’m not sure about: I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I feel that the piece could be a lot stronger with some very minor modifications - if only I could decide what those modifications were.
A Charmed Life Necklace in Belle Armoire
Posted by Leah on Aug 20, 2007
I’m am thrilled to announce that “A Charmed Life”, the necklace I collaborated on with a group of artistic friends, has been published in the latest issue of Belle Armoire. The idea to collaborate on a necklace came from Cyndi Lavin, who thought it would be fun if a bunch of us each made a charm to add to the necklace, and then auctioned the necklace off to benefit a charity.
The group decided that cancer research was an excellent cause, so the necklace will soon be auctioned off with all of the proceeds donated to fund cancer research. I will post more information about the auction in the next couple of weeks - it is happening in September, and is a great opportunity to own a unique piece of art jewelry while benefiting a very good cause!
