Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you’ll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.
This week’s winner is Shaiha. Shaiha has won two revised bead buttons from Tari of Clay Buttons. Please use the suggestion box on the sidebar to send us your address.
If you read my last Studio Saturday, I was working on Modern Folk Bird. I received some great feedback on it – one in particular I liked was Joann’s comment saying it looked “meso-american.” It was a good description of the piece. I still wasn’t satisfied with Modern Folk Bird, though. Something wasn’t quite right.
I went back to the torch. MF Bird needed some tweeking – for the first revision, I decided to stay with the same color palate, black and iridescent bronze. So while the glass was hot and in the “taffy consistency” stage, I heated the wings and pulled them up instead of toward the tail. I added another set of “tail feathers” and an extra punch of color in the center of the wing. Here’s the “revised” version of Modern Folk Bird:
I like this version of MF Bird. I decided to try a different color palate with the revised details. I made this one with a deep coral red color, turquoise and yellow.
Now what do I name them? Oh no! Another detail to obsess over! Time to close the door to my studio and let me obsess on my own – grin! That leads me to today’s question:
When you create – what do you obsess over?
Today’s giveaway will be a revised version of Modern Bird. Good luck and I look forward to reading what YOU obsess over! 🙂
Lorelei
May 10, 2008 at 1:13 pmGreat Post Cindy! I love the new and improved bird! And the second color combination is awesome.
I obsess so much over combinations of colors! I should try to pull out a watercolor color chart that I made in an art class. That will probably help!
Janet
May 10, 2008 at 4:43 pmGreat little bird. That’s what is so much fun about creating. Take a basic idea and tweak it, add to it, change the colors. I would say I obsess over colors too.
LampworkDiva
May 10, 2008 at 5:23 pmLorelei – Thank you! Good idea – a watercolor chart would be an effective way to figure out the details of color. Thanks for sharing!
Janet – Thank you 🙂 I’m always amazed at how the little things can make such a huge difference. Thanks for taking the time to comment! 🙂
Cindy
Joy
May 10, 2008 at 8:30 pmI’m having a day here, and my mind didn’t think Modern Folk when i read MF bird.
I thought maybe you were getting a little frustrated with it. 😉
It used to be, when I created I obsessed over trying to “explain” everything I created to people. Why I made it, what it was supposed to mean, that sort of thin.
I’m over that. Now I obsess over naming pieces and colors. I’ll get obsessed with a color and stick with it for a while.
Donna
May 10, 2008 at 9:49 pmWhat do I obsess over? Getting my work done. When do I create? I create at the end of the day, when the work is done, if it’s done. Then I have more incentive to get the work done the next time. It’s been really busy.
Christina
May 10, 2008 at 11:27 pmLove the bird. I obsess over the color palette. I can drive myself crazy with it.
Fab Fibers
May 10, 2008 at 11:37 pmI obsess over what beads to use in a design. I get attached to some of the art beads I buy and I find it hard to part with them. Silly. A horder of beads…that’s me.
I love your bird beads.
Shaiha
May 11, 2008 at 1:50 amI hate to say it but I don’t tend to obsessess at all. If I can’t figure something out, I put it on the back burner and the answer usually pops out at me.
And thank you so very much for picking my name.
Gaea
May 11, 2008 at 3:33 amWas there a question? Your bird is blindingly beautimas! Love the blue and brown!
abeadlady
May 11, 2008 at 5:43 amLately, I have been obsessing over bead embroidery. Can’t make myself do anything else. I designed and made a two strand necklace for a lady the other day and it felt weird. Back to the needle and thread.
Arline
Melissa J. Lee
May 11, 2008 at 6:06 amI love your revised bird, especially the red, turquoise and yellow version. It reminds me a bit of a Thunder Bird. I obsess over deciding when a piece is actually finished. It’s hard for me to walk away finally from a piece and resist the temptation to continue to fiddle.
Gaela
May 11, 2008 at 11:38 amCindy, I really love the way you moved the wings up, and that you added more. It’s amazing what we can come up with when we just let our inspirations flow. Sometimes when I’m creating, it just all falls into place, other times I obsess over every little detail~when that happens, I know I’m not working with the beads I”m supposed to be using that day. I put those away for another time and go through the stash and something else always speaks to me.
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:10 pmJoy – LOL! I didn’t think what else “MF” could stand for – how funny! No, I wasn’t frustrated, I was lazy and abbreviated Modern Folk. Thanks for commenting – I’ll watch my abbreviations next time 🙂
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:13 pmDonna,
I think I need you to come to my house if you obsess over getting work done – I need a prod or two sometimes to keep me going! 🙂
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:15 pmChristina,
Ah yes, obsessing over the color palatte – you probably understand how long I agonized over the deep coral color for the 3rd incarnation of Modern Folk Bird! 🙂
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:18 pmFabFibers,
You buy an art bead because you love it so it can be very hard to part with it! Just think of it as sharing the joy! 🙂
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:19 pmShaiha,
How very zen like of you! 🙂 I’ll try that approach – it sounds much less stressful 🙂
You’re welcome! Congratulations on winning Tari’s button beads!
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:20 pmGaea – thank you! 🙂 Yes, there was a question – what do you obsess over?
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:21 pmabeadlady,
Oooo – bead embroidery – I love it! What a great thing to be obsessed with 🙂
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:24 pmMelissa,
Ah yes, I call that the “fiddle, fiddle – ah shoot!” phenomenon. Where I fiddle until I’ve gone too far and then “ah shoo!” it’s ruined. The key is to “fiddle, fiddle” and that’s all, right?
From seeing your lovely work, I’d say you have the “fiddle, fiddle” just perfect! 🙂
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 11, 2008 at 1:26 pmGaela,
Thank you! I thought the upswept wings suggested flight better than the aerodynamic version in Modern Folk Bird one.
I agree that the beads tell you what they want to be. I’ll be working at the torch and I have to let the glass be what it wants to be instead of what I want it to be.
Thanks for the comment! 🙂
Cindy
AJ
May 11, 2008 at 8:19 pmWow, the original bird was cool, but the revision is even better!
I obsess over all kinds of things… Sometimes a project that’s in my head and won’t leave me alone until I do it. Sometimes a certain bead or type of bead. Sometimes a theme or style. And always, nice, even, symmetrical work. I forced myself to be asymmetrical once and the result hides in the back of my jewelry box!
Carlene
May 11, 2008 at 10:49 pmThe revised bird is amazing! Love the colors and am already obsessing over how I would put it together! I have this thing about making everything seem like it goes together when in fact it doesn’t need to. I will lay beads out, string, and tear apart several times before I feel like it is “right”. Hummmmmm…so what is really right. And will someone else like it. OK, you get the picture. I’ll stop now. Are you putting these birds on your site? Or Etsy? They are great!
Joy
May 12, 2008 at 4:59 amNo need to apologize Cindy! I have a million and one MF projects in my studio! 😀
The bird is quite cool as well. I love how the colors pop, but not in a candy coated kind of way!
LampworkDiva
May 13, 2008 at 11:33 amAJ,
Thank you! 🙂 Modern Folk Bird was in my head a certain way and it kept bothering me that it wasn’t coming out the way I envisioned. So I certainly understand when you obsess on a design in your head! 🙂
Thanks for commenting,
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 13, 2008 at 11:35 amCarlene,
Thank you and yes, I plan to put MF Bird on my website either today or tomorrow. Once I’m satisfied and I think I am with it now.
Oh yes, I do the same thing when I make beads and jewelry – will someone else like it? I obsess over that question sometimes tooooo much! LOL!
Thanks for commenting,
Cindy
LampworkDiva
May 13, 2008 at 11:36 amJoy,
Thank you 🙂 You made me laugh with the “MF” comment! 🙂 I’m still giggling over it – I have lots of those projects too giggle.
Cindy
Cyndi L
May 16, 2008 at 3:42 pmI love the revised bird!