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.
Last weeks winner is
SueBeads, Congratulations! You have won 2 sets of
dot baby buttons from Creative Impressions in Clay. Send us an e-mail with your address and we will get it right out to you.
This week in the Humblebeads studio seasons have been on my mind. I’m in a bit of a limbo, wanting to create Spring and Summer inspired jewelry, but being mindful that so many of my current deadlines are for fall issues of magazines. It’s hard to switch gears when I’m dreaming of flowers blossoming on trees, urchins and starfish in tide pool, to focus on the changing hues of fall, with leaves, darker tones and earthy designs. I’ll get there, just like seasons on the calendar I go through seasons in the creative process.
Some days, it’s like planting seeds at the end of spring. Ideas need time to germinate and grow, beads are needed – gathered and organized or disorganized. I may not know what will come of the gathering or letting the ideas sit, but I trust that the seeds of creativity will blossom again when I’m ready.
During other seasons ideas are ripe for the picking and I need my sketchbook to contain them all before they fade away like a summer sunset.
And there are times when a season comes to a close, when I can feel change approaching like a crisp autumn day. There are times to say goodbye to old ideas and trust that letting go of some things gives way for the next season.
There are seasons of the barren winter, when new ideas are sparse and I have to draw from ideas already picked and in the storehouse. Creating new variations of tried and true designs or working through times of heavy production-mode, when new creations are far and few between.
Unlike the calendar, these creative seasons come and go without an order or predictability. It has taken many years to understand that in my creative life, I can not do all things at all times but I trust and give way to where I am at in the process.
So where are you at in the creative process? Ideas bursting forth like ripe summer fruit? Is it a time of gathering and planting as in the spring? Is there change on the horizon like the autumn chill? Or is it a time of using ideas from the storehouse during a winter in your creative life?
Leave a comment and one lucky winner will receive one of my new
Dogwood pendants.
sharon
March 14, 2009 at 3:14 pmheather, first let me say i am so in awe of your work!! it’s just over the top, and the abs has given me new found creativity !!
thank you all for sharing everthing and being so generous!!
for me it is the time of year for tremendous growth and i can’t keep up with it, so i constantly write down notes and small doodles everywhere so i don’t forget them all! i love it like this , but i think it’s due to the abs and blogging with such talented people that has been so refreshing and inspiring!!
http://livewirejewelry.blogspot.com
Winchell Clayworks
March 14, 2009 at 3:20 pmI’m thankful to put the snowflake molds behind and crack out the pastel and bright glazes. I’ve made tons of new molds and lots of decals in anticipation of spring and summer, but unfortunately can’t act on any of these ideas yet b/c of my day job (tax prep).
The nice thing about ceramics is that as soon as I crack the kiln lid and get a glimpse of the latest load, it inspires me create more.
Anonymous
March 14, 2009 at 3:57 pmThose dogwood pendants are beautiful! As for me, new ideas are bursting forth. However, I am currently working to meet a publication deadline, so all the new ideas are having to take a backseat for the time being.
Hannah B.
Lucie
March 14, 2009 at 4:01 pmHi, I love reading your blog because it is not only super informative, but also beautifully designed. Keep the awesome work!!!
Debra G
March 14, 2009 at 4:13 pmThey are so very pretty! THank You for the giveaway I knoe exactly what I would do if I won one of those pieces.Happy Beading!Are these on your etsy shop? I have to get some !
Karen
March 14, 2009 at 7:56 pmI love these beads, going to vist your Esty Shop. Generous of you to find the time for this give-away. I live in Florida and its Tropical all the time, so I can’t get into the seasons. But the colors are always brillant here.
Karen K.
SummersStudio
March 14, 2009 at 8:24 pmThe dogwood beads are just lovely! Me? I’m in spring time mode creating flower themed button/pendant molds. Spring comes early here in West Texas and the first spring flowers arrived a few weeks ago. I find a real sense of renewal in my creative spirit when those first small signs of spring arrive.
Sharon
March 14, 2009 at 10:18 pmHeather, you are very eloquent and the seasons analogy is right on! Since it’s warmer now, I want to create in bright colors like mandarin orange, aqua blue seas, anything colorful that mimics nature and the need to commune with nature.
Lorelei
March 14, 2009 at 11:37 pmOh I’m also fighting between Fall and Spring/summer designs!!
I wish I had a storehouse of ideas… I should journal a bit more in the winter when daydreaming about Spring.
One of my major hurdles is trying to create Spring jewelry that’s not just all Pastel colors.
You’re dogwood beads are beautiful!
Alice
March 15, 2009 at 1:36 amHeather, it was a pleasure to read your very eloquent post. Right now I am in sort of a slump. Or more that I am ready to try a new medium (such as etching on metal) but don’t have the time or money to invest. So stringing beads does not appeal to me right now. Sort of like when you want shrimp alfredo for supper but only have tuna on hand, which does not appeal at all. Soon, though, the smooth stones and sparkly crystals will call me back, and I’ll be working until my eyes are blurry.
As for seasons, I use whatever colors appeal to me at the moment. Really, nowdays you see dark brown in summer, and pastels in winter–so I don’t really follow any fashion rules.
Your Dogwood pendants are lovely! One of these days I hope to scrape up enough cash to purchase a slug of beads from you!
Alice
rosebud101
March 15, 2009 at 2:18 amIdeas are beginning to emerge that were dormant before. I love the onset of the spring of creativity.
cindy
March 15, 2009 at 4:58 pmAs usual, I’m all over the place with my designs. I just added to my Etsy shop a pair of Celtic inspired earrings, (2 days before St. Patrick’s day, I know), but I have been working on some spring and summer items too. I just made this necklace with some of your polymer clay beads.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/devinedesignsjewelry/3356229333/
Cindy
Nerissa Alford
March 15, 2009 at 5:17 pmYour beads are just gorgous. Thank you for the opportunity to win one.
I am all about Spring right now. My creative juices are just flowing. I'm working on 2 collections & I'm inspired by Marie Antoinette & the Sea.
Have a great week
Nerissa
Valerie C.
March 15, 2009 at 6:04 pmI live in Las Vegas so it is Sring, summer, hot, hot, hot, spring, a week or 2 of real cold, spring, summer, hot, hot, hot, all over again. I like it that way. I use to live up north in washington State so I can relate but it is starting to get foggy in my mind. I like that to.
I write everything down on paper. I have 2 jobs plus my jewelry business so I don’t have to much time to create. When I get a few bills paid then I can quit one job and I will be in my studio all the time creating to my hearts content. I have no problems with ideas they just keep coming. I don’t think I will be able to use them all up in my life time. But I will give it a good try.
CreekHiker
March 15, 2009 at 6:22 pmI’m in Spring mode!! Lots of ideas but no time to torch with taxes looming…ugh!
Connie
March 15, 2009 at 6:31 pmheather the dogwood beads are fabulous – very gothic looking!
I am actually in a very prolific art mode- bursting with ideas in many mediums – i have started multiple experiments and was mid-projects when i got a job offer and took it – in Richmond, VA! (I live in hawaii) So i had to abandon everything and won’t be back for a month – all those ideas on hold – i’m living in a hotel for the next month and won’t be doing ANY artwork…
CreekHiker
March 15, 2009 at 6:33 pmI’m full of spring ideas but tied down with taxes… making me a very frustrated artist at the moment!
Paula Leone
March 15, 2009 at 6:48 pmHeather your writing is as evocative as a painting. Your creative soul shines here too just as fine as your art.
I find in the winter that I must keep busy at other things like teaching or taking classes to learn new techniques or just for fun with my ‘beading buddies’. That is how I keep my creative sap flowing during the colder months.
I also spent two months this winter collaborating with a bead artist on a large piece for a competition. Our piece wasn’t chosen but I learned some valuable lessons.
Now I am all recharged for the spring and summer and ready to move into my new Studio (or work room as my hubby calls it) and branch out into new growth and ideas. Like you, I am ready to trust where my art takes me.
I wish to thank all at ABS. Your sharing in this blog is an inspiration in itself.
peacockfairy
March 15, 2009 at 9:37 pmHeather: I feel very inspired and bursting full of ideas (like Spring) right now. Probably because I don’t have much time to put them into motion. It seems when I don’t have time to create, that’s when all the ideas come. But when I do have time, I am stumped. My solution has been to journal my ideas so that when I do have time, I can choose what I want to work on.
Love the new beads!
Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor
March 16, 2009 at 2:23 amHeather I just loved your description of your creativity as Seasons. I can see how tricky it would be to get your mind wrapped around Fall when a new season is lurking around the corner!
I myself seem to be in a Summer season of creativity, where I have so many ideas ripening at once that they are falling off the tree! Have to run around holding a basket trying to catch them and hoping that too many don’t fall to the ground with splat!! 🙂
Lisa R
March 16, 2009 at 3:25 amMost winters, we travel south to FL or out to the southwest, and I can take my beading and wirework supplies outside on the picnic table and bead to my heart’s content. This winter, we’ve been in Maryland and I’ve only been able to do a very small amount of beading and wirework. Every nice spring day I’m out there, getting as much done as I can – drawing on ideas that have been percolating all these months.
Dogwoods are a wonderful choice to welcome spring – it’s one of my favorite trees, both for the flowers (bracts, actually) and for the shape of the tree once it’s filled out. Your dogwood blossoms are wonderful. Thanks for sharing them, and your ideas, with us.
Lisa
Gaela
March 16, 2009 at 4:20 amThe dogwood bead is quite nice! I’m sure it must be hard to be “in the moment” when your work insists that you must be in the future as well~ the bane of keeping ahead in this business. But, my inspiration has been flowing so much since the first taste of spring, and I’m just on a different tangent daily and sometimes I’ll hop on another idea from morning to afternoon on into the night. And I know that I will never get to every idea, not in this lifetime. But that’s OK, at least I’m enjoying the ride….
Summer
March 16, 2009 at 11:52 pmYou do such lovely work! I’m a hobbyist beader, so I don’t really have to think about deadlines and such; so I don’t know if my comment is what you’re looking for. But I find myself moving back and forth depending on the season. In early winter, I’m all about snow and ice designs. By mid and late winter, I’m all about spring! And so it is with every season… my initial excitement and inspiration of the season is then tempered by my desire for the next one. I suppose it’s reflective of a lack of discipline on my part regarding the whole “being in the now” thing:-D
Pamela
March 17, 2009 at 1:08 amIt seems that my ideas come and go according to colors I have seen, different beads I acquire, or sometimes my mood. I teach high school students and they inspire me quite often!!! I am learning to take the time and “smell the roses” you might say, and let what is around me be my guide.
Kiwiken
March 18, 2009 at 11:01 amI’m currently struggling to get past a creative block… hopefully, now that spring seems to finally get closer, that will help. Until now, cold and wet and grey weather didn’t really help me to spark my creativity with spring-themed designs…
FrankandRox
March 19, 2009 at 3:52 pmI ebb and flow always, a flurry of ideas then a slow trickle it is difficult at times for me to get going. One thing is for sure, the idea i start with is never where i end up… right now the snow is melting from my yard an since we had about 3-4 feet in the back it is like watching a pot boil, takes forever! but improves my mood 🙂