Sunday, March 16, 2008
It's interesting to sit back and reflect on what exactly inspires you and causes your ideas take tangible form.
I think some people work very hard at their craft and have a formula that generates creativity (or, at least, creations). Others are inspired by what they see, borrowing from it to create something new. Then there are those moments of inspiration - ideas that come from who-knows-where.
I don't think a single one of these describes what goes on in my head. For me, personally, I feel that it's a combination of the three.
I know my creativity is limited to a certain extent on my likes and dislikes, as well as my abilities, knowledge, as well as my medium. And it definitely has its limitations. In this sense, I'm working within a certain formula.
Inspiration also comes from around me - it may come from nature or from someone else's designs.
And then, sometimes I have a moment of epiphany. An idea, almost completely formulated, comes from seemingly nowhere!
Do you ever doodle, trying to make ideas take form? I know I do. I can't help it, but when I go to meetings at work, my notes end up being covered with all kinds of weird shapes, scribbles, and spirals. Designs that seem to have some promise get transcribed in a notebook that I keep specifically for potential projects.
Oddly, almost none of these doodles ever amount to anything. The ideas may seem promising on paper, but once I transfer them to metal or beads, they're completely hopeless.
For me, sitting down with my medium - beads or wire - and physically manipulating and playing, seems to result in the best designs.
For example, this past week, I wanted to create a new earwire design - perhaps incorporate a spiral to make something unique. So I started playing with some copper. These are exactly the steps that I took:
They didn't seem right. But I kept looking at the patterns I created. The more I looked, the more the patterns reminded me of my Unraveling Earrings. Those earrings are really nothing but swirls that become hoops. Then suddenly an idea came to me: an inside-out swirl incorporated in a hoop!
The first two prototypes were made in copper, as you see above. Essentially, these are backwards Unfurling Earrings. I was so excited with the concept that I couldn't go to bed until I transfered the design into silver:
I can't say whether this design hasn't been created by anyone else. In fact, I'd be surprised if it wasn't. All I know is that I created it independently. And, for me, that's all that matters.(These earrings are now available at my online shop.)
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I dream up jewelry designs, sketch girls and clothes and nature-y things, and sometimes just doodle. Later, it's great to go back and realize I like something I did enough to incorporate into some new thing.
I LOVE those curly earrings of yours! I can easily imagine them on MY ears! ;)
Keep up the great work,
alisa R. :)
I, too, have a notebook. Inspiration typically strikes when I least expect it. I blogged about the same thing last week.
"Inspiration in the Closet"