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Here’s a typical scenario in the life of a jewelry designer:
You’ve been asked to design a piece for a class or publication, but when you
finally sit down at your workbench, you find yourself staring at the wall. Oh,
you’ll poke around in your stash of beads and findings to see if anything jumps
out at you, but that doesn’t always work. It’s during these times that I often
a) get up and do some jumping jacks; b) eat something with a high cocoa
content; c) get outside of my studio; or d) all of the above.
The cure for me is usually “d,” but the most important thing
on that list is to get out of my studio. And when I write “get out,” I don’t
necessarily mean that I go outside (although that helps, too). What I mean is
that it’s important to pull myself out of the little studio I have in my head
and look elsewhere for inspiration.
I was just watching the latest DVD set of Beads, Baubles, and Jewels (Episode
1300) and realized the featured artists have done just that in each episode. They’ve gone outside their “studios,”
taken a theme (such as “nature”), and used it as inspiration for their designs.
The themes range from vintage to music, literature to symbolism, travel to art.
It was wonderful to discover the ways these themes inspired the artists
featured in the videos.
Another way to be inspired is to look to other jewelry
artists who inspire you. Sometimes when I’m stuck in a rut, I put myself in
their creative shoes. What would
(fill in your favorite designer's name here) do? Channeling these other artists’
creative energy and thinking about how they might solve a creative problem
(without directly copying them, of course) helps me “get out” of my studio
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So today, since I actually HAVE been staring at the wall too
long, trying to come up with a new class design, I thought it might be a fun to
think about some of the artists who appear on the latest Beads, Baubles, and Jewels DVDs and assign general design words to
their aesthetic. Who knows? The exercise might inspire me to think differently
about my latest design dilemma.
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Katie Hacker: simple, sweet
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Fernando DaSilva: glamour, sparkle
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Jodi Bombardier: super fine, coils, wired
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Lisa Kan: romance, dreams
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Mark Nelson: construction, materials
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Mary Hettsmansperger: woven, hand-touched
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Kristal Wick: quick and easy, bling, glitter
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Candie Cooper: materials, innovation, savvy
Susan Lenart Kazmer: free, found, fringe
Lisa Niven Kelly: metal, wire, handcraft, play
Leslie Rogalski: bold, easy does it
Marlene Blessing: refined, sophisticated, earthy
Kerry Bogart: color, line, contemporary
Lisa Kan: romance, filigreed
Kim St. Jean: rough, wired, steampunk
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Hey, that was actually a pretty good exercise. I think I’ll
channel some of these words that my design vocabulary isn’t used to in order to
make my next design.
Want to be inspired visually by these artists and more?
Check out the latest season of Beads,
Baubles, and Jewels, now on sale!
Happy beading-
