Plug Into Your Creative Process

Exactly what is the “Creative Process” and how do we plug into it?


Much of my work requires that I know how I want the finished product to look or work and then work backwards to achieve that. This works for my jewelry pieces as well as my programming tasks. To me, this is fascinating; working backwards to achieve the goal!

For a program I’m writing I need to know how the user will use the application, with needed input and desired output, then breaking that down into the steps it takes to go from one to the other.

For a jewelry piece I envision how I want the piece to look and then figure out how to put the components together to achieve this.

In either of these endeavors I usually sketch what I want, literally writing down steps of a program, or drawing the finished jewelry piece then figuring out how the wires will work together by drawing the wires as they are bent and woven. Some of my sketches literally look like scribbles because I ‘wrap’ the line I’m drawing on the page around the last one drawn. I imagine that these little sketches wouldn’t make much sense to anyone but me, but even months later I can look at the sketch and see what the wire would be doing in that piece. Often I can see that what is in my head doesn’t work with the wire, so I literally work it out on paper, saving time and effort, not to mention precious silver! Many times one sketch gives me an idea for another piece or a different way to do something, so they help me to come up with new ideas for my jewelry, too.

Sketch of a ring design idea.

These sketches are very important to me and to my creative process. I have sketches for wire wrap ideas going back years, to when I first started making jewelry. These ideas are still useful to me and I do refer to them often, especially when I want to make a piece similar to one I’ve done in the past.

So, for me a large part of the Creative Process involves putting a pencil to paper and actually drawing what I want my jewelry piece to look like. I would recommend that if you get in a rut design-wise try sketching your idea. The sketches don’t have to be frame-worthy, just enough for your ideas to come together in a finished piece.

Sketch and Pendant

Sketch and Pendant

My, how time flies!

It’s been almost exactly a year since I posted and I can’t claim any great endeavor that kept me from it. Just life. A busy life. So much has happened that it can’t really be condensed into a paragraph or two, so I won’t even try. And while it does seem like that might mean great, or life changing, or catastrophic events, it wasn’t. It was just life.


So, here is another attempt at keeping a blog. I have questioned my motives, wondering why bother, but in the end I would just like to share. Some of my insights and techniques and thoughts. It might not be interesting to anyone but me, but who cares? If you want to join me on this venture, please do. If not, have a great day. So here goes.

I started keeping chickens and guineas this past year, and while there is a lot of information on the web about that, there are little things I’ve learned as I went along that I wish I had known. One of our cats had a litter of kittens, which are now almost grown. Even now I’m trying to type with two cats in my lap. Big, purring, male cats. More on all the antics of the animals as the blog progresses.

Dolly

Gretchen

Anne

Guineas enjoying their millet

Also, I would like to share some of my thoughts on the creative process and share how I go about creating, be it a guinea house, a piece of jewelry, a lampwork bead, or another artistic effort.

One of my hand blown Christmas ornaments.

So, come and join me as I sip my coffee and muse about life.

Chill Out!

Cooler weather has arrived and the change is nice. I did enjoy the Indian summer we had in October, with temperatures in the 70s and even an 80 or two, but having cooler weather is so stimulating. Not just the goose bumps but the creative juices, too. It is so much easier for me to torch when the weather is cooler than in the heat of the summer. And most of that is not just a reluctance to fire up the torch and kiln because it’s hot outside, I really do think the cool weather fuels my creativity. Perhaps part of it is the ‘holiday’ feeling that comes with cooler weather, but I’m not convinced that is all it is. Today I made beads but none of them were Christmas beads. I just played, being inspired by the colors outside and a recent beadmaking class with Trey Cornette. I just can hardly wait to see what comes out of the kiln! That’s what creativity is all about!