Monday, December 6, 2010

SHIFTING and design gears

Firstly, all you folks who do not mind reaching for the capitalization key, I really honestly and truly apologize for being so erratic and slipshod about its usage. I try sometimes, but it gets in the way of my trains of thought. These are slippery enough to harness as it is. So, please forgive me for my lack of discipline.
So now I shall give my increased effort to slow down
and use you dear "ole SHIFTY".

It may simply be symptomatic of my erratic state of
organization and focus.
Maybe this ought to be on my upcoming list for self improvements for the new year.
I will think on this. I like the idea of making progress on some small task in my life that i feel is lacking.
One of my little ideas is that big changes may be the result of small tweakings.
I started with changing the direction that the toilet paper unfurled from its holder.
It held for a week.
It was an interesting experiment.
I figured if I could slow down and change something, another change might ensue.


Another shift is desired. I go up and down about my work.
Since it is all self initiated and imposed, it is all totally up to me.
The problem is that I get stuck a lot.
Now it isn't worth whining about... since it is easy to get unstuck pretty quickly too.
Recently there have been more than a few custom necklaces to make.
I genuinely love these.
Essential to forward movement with custom work is a little bit of cleanup between projects.
That is if I want to start another.
Not sorting and cleaning can cause an overlap of ideas that are just not worth finishing.
Sometimes, false starts allow for earring pairs or just an odd little bit to pop into a necklace
somewhere down the line.
Nothing is wasted really, it's just a little progress speed bump.

A customer from Oz, down under, asked me to start something for her.
I really want to, but the main idea was based upon something that I had already done.
The problems posed with this, is that I rarely have two of the same things to play with one after another.
I got stuck again.
DANGITALL...

I pulled all that I could and made a few arrangements that may or may not come together.
I don't know if my customer is inconsolably set on the one she originally liked. My ability to move the "jigsaw component" pieces around to make a fresh composition, is something I rely on heavily. I constantly am second guessing what is needed to start. At a certain point, I feel the need to just find a starting point and try. If i am really lucky, I can get a little traction and commit to beginning a fresh piece.
This is the necklace that was sold a while back. It is the model for my new design. I know the colors,scale and shapes are different from the original ones. I think that it can be pulled off though.
The newly proposed palette is this one.

I am telling you all of this, since it is on my mind today. I have no idea how other folks come to their designs, so I thought it was worth sharing. Now it's time to get this started. Surely, this will be shown off when i finish, since i am a little shameless.


thank you as always for dialling up....
xow.

2 comments:

  1. Both those pieces are absolutely stunning. When I start making something I don't always know where it is going to go. It just seems to grow and evolve as I go along. Fresh ideas pop up, some get incorporated others discarded but that is what makes each item individual. I'm about to start making a small 6" x 12" quilt the theme being 'Take flight'. I can visulise how I want it to be, now I have to make it happen.

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  2. wow, i love that you have a stream of consciousness in your work too. It is the ability to add and discard as you go, that makes a fresh vision. thanks for adding your thoughts on this!
    xoxo.w.

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