Resistance to Closure OR Procrastination?

Filed under: Bezels, Creativity, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Torch Work, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

Several sleepless nights this week left piddlin’ in my studio wondering what to do when you are too sleepy to do much of anything. Have you ever felt that way? During one of those times, I located a number of UFOs (unfinished objects) and pondered the current state of my work.

My need for closure used to require that I rush to complete each piece. My head knew that this was not a good thing since creative people are supposed to be amble to remain open for all the artistic possibilities that might present themselves. When you decide on an idea or problem solution (close) too quickly, there’s less opportunity to exercise true creativity. This is one of the areas rated on many formal creativity tests. Yes, my head knew I should resist closure, but I still willed myself to “get it done”.

Because I understand this need to resist closure, I consciously try to remain open and therefore lay some things (pendants in particular) aside while I consider various alternatives for completing them. Apparently, I got carried away with this little practice and during one of my late night/early morning studio carousings, I discovered what I had wrought. I had an entire pile (a little exaggeration) of things left undone.

Then it hit me. Creative gurus teach that we are supposed to diverge and then converge. During my divergence, I was resisting closure and laying things aside while I thought of the myriad of possibilities for how each could be used. But, oops, I forgot the rest of the teaching . . . CONVERGE! During convergence, we are to pull the ideas together, make a decision and, in my words, finish the work. I didn’t do the latter.

So, on that fateful day, it was time to CONVERGE. (Can you here my battle cry?) I devoted one day to getting those pieces in some sort of completion form. I made the pendant for the first one, “Wing It”, last May upon coming home from a boutique run where a customer said that’s what she does. Oh well, it’s only January; but it was time for something to hatch.

It only took a short while to attach the riveted pendant to some chain and add a few dangles. What took me so long?

The next piece sports a pendant provided by one of the boutiques. The owner had it on a simple silver wire and it had not sold. She sent it home with me before Thanksgiving saying “DO SOMETHING” and she hasn’t seen it since. It’s time! I hope the store owner likes it. She will certainly be surprised to see it again and will probably take it just to get her pendant back.

I cannot honestly say how long I’ve considered the use of this S shaped pendant armature. I know it has been several months since I repeatedly annealed and whacked this shape. At the time, I just wanted to see if I could hammer a piece to the extent that a couple of my friends do in their pieces. This week, however, it finally turned into a necklace.

This one is fairly long and dangles from a doubled leather cord.

Finally, I found two bracelet armatures all formed and tumbled, just hanging around waiting for embellishment. They are now properly adorned.

           It’s good to finish these pieces and I’m glad I didn’t follow my urge to just throw them away when I first found them. They were worth completing. Yet, now I wonder whether I was really being creative on these by resisting closure or if I was just plain procrastinating. I think it’s resistance to closure when you are not sure that all the possible ideas have been explored on a piece and you are remaining open to receive those great thoughts. That was definitely the case on two or three of these pieces. However, I have known what to do with those bracelet armatures for a while and just didn’t want to do it. That is plain old procrastination! Shame on me! Will it every happen in this studio again . . . . . I can defiantly say “YES!” Now I hope to resist closure when needed and beware of that other phenomenon.

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Problem Solving-a Permanent Fix

Filed under: Creativity, Philosophy, sewing | Back to: Homepage

Problem solving is a natural part of life. Every time a designer begins a piece, he or she faces a myriad of problems such as which beads to use, where to place the focal, how long to make the piece and so on. These probably don’t really seem like   B I G    problems and you may see them more as choices. Yet, we do solve these little choices in the same way that solve the bigger issues.

During creativity training courses, we learn all sorts of great ways to move toward problem solutions. I’m thankful to have had this training during another phase of my life and subconsciously rely on it often. We can also view and learn from problem solving in nature. The first photo below shows how the bulls here at Dreamcatcher Ranch solved their problem of finding something delicious to eat. Much to the chagrin of the hunters on our property, these ten big guys helped themselves to the deer corn out of one of the feeders. A hunter captured this photo from his video cam at the site. So what’s the problem?

There wasn’t really a problem for the bulls, but we had a problem that centered around how to keep them out of the deer corn and make the hunters happy. We thought about how to keep the corn away from the bulls, but quickly realized that there wasn’t any type temporary fence that would keep these guys away from food. So, we reversed the situation and decided to keep the bulls away from the corn. We let them happily spend the couple of weeks until hunting season was over in the large steel pipe fence pens near the house where they lounged and ate nice bales of hay.

The next photo shows another problem that occurred at the same venue.

This one is a bit more difficult to see, but you will again recognize a deer feeder and note the raccoons on the ground. The raccoon in the tree, whether the sole perpetrator of this theft or simply the one sent by the others, is reaching from the tree over to the hanging feeder. He must be saying “hey, guys, do you think if I shake this thing more deer corn will come out?” He appears to be solving his problem quite nicely. This time, we just gave up, thinking there was no way to keep raccoons away from that feeder. My question is “how did he get down from  there? “

In both photos, animals are seen just doing the natural thing to solve a problem. So today, I decided to think naturally too. For the several years since I made my mother the sweatshirt shown in the photo below, she has been having me iron the hearts on the sleeve.

You can see that they are “flying hearts” which is what I intended when I made them. I thought a little motion would be cute, but these want to crease in half after laundering. Mother doesn’t like this and since I do her laundry, she usually sends this sweatshirt back home with me if I forget to iron down the hearts. Last week, having forgotten to iron the hearts, I snuck it into her closet at the nursing home while she wasn’t looking. Later in the week when I picked up her dirty clothes, she explained that the day she wore the sweatshirt, she told everyone she saw that her sleeve hearts looked funny because her daughter (that would be me) wouldn’t iron them! So, I took the sweatshirt home and planned to iron those silly hearts. Yet, last night, I decided it would be better to solve that problem once and for all. While it seemed natural to just keep ironing the hearts after each washing, I was becoming just a bit annoyed about it. So, I took a different approach and today I tacked those little gals down permanently with thread. It seemed like the natural thing to do. It also was the simplest thing to do. Why hadn’t I done it before?

It seems that sometimes, I forget that I can solve a problem rather than putting a band aid on it as in the case of just ironing the hearts. I could have saved a time and frustration if I had just fixed it right to start with. We fixed the bull/deer corn issue right the first time and the raccoons seemed to have solved their problem, so why can’t humans? The next time I run into a little problem irritant, I’m going to use my animal instincts!

By the way, my mother will be 90 years old tomorrow. I love solving her little problems!

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Bird Brain

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It’s Cedar Fever season in my neck of the woods and it tends to make me feel a bit dull. After doing a few things that I felt weren’t too smart the past few days, the term “bird brain” popped into my mind. I don’t actually think that anyone has ever called me that derogatory term, but I have heard it used before. So, I wondered. Is it right that when you aren’t functioning at a real high level could you be experiencing the “bird brain” phenomenon?

As it turns out, being called “bird brain” might be a compliment. While scientists used to believe that most of a bird’s brain was a primitive and instinctual structure, recent discoveries indicate that about 75 percent of the brains of songbirds actually serve as a sophisticated information processing center. Many songbirds actually have a more powerful processing center than mammals. The bird’s brain is pretty small, but it’s also quite mighty.

I made a bird necklace yesterday in honor of those little brains everywhere.

The bird is difficult to spot on the copper pendant. I used a nice stamp pad of a bird scene to apply stop out to the metal and then etched it. A close up photo follows. It is much clearer in reality.

I hung the earrings on the necklace for photo taking purposes and wanted to show you the new twisted wire I’m trying out. Although the ends are difficult to deal with, I like the look of this wire. I also used it for a couple of swirls in the handmade chain on the necklace shown in the next photo.  

From now on, when I’m struggling with those high cognitive processes, I will not think about bird brains. I will simply hope that my brain is half as power packed as those little song birds.

Tweet … tweet!

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Spring is in the Cold Air

Filed under: Bracelets, Color, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

Yesterday was one of the coldest days we’ve had this season in South Texas. Although I am seldom chilled while hammering, torching and working with my tools, yesterday was an exception. I was trying to imagine warm Spring breezes blowing across the bluebonnets and women in cotton dresses and floppy hats out enjoying the day. Alas, it was a very big stretch to say the least.

If you are a designer or type of merchant who makes changes in merchandise with the seasons, you may be experiencing my difficulty. At the height of a given season or perhaps even before that season begins, we need to switch gears and plan for the next one. So here goes. I’m layered in warm clothes from head to toe and I have the Spring palette of colors laid out to work with. It just doesn’t seem right, but it IS necessary.

Luckily, the owner of Dovetails of Wimberley gave me the Casual Corners catalogue displaying the Spring line. I’m using it to help plan jewelry to go with the garments. Take a look at the beautiful mixture of colors shown in the catalogue.

Inspired by these photos, I began to play with the fiber I had on hand. This included yarns, ribbons and cording.

This gave me a better understanding of what colors coordinated and might work best in beads.

I’ve begun now to work with the beads matching these colors that I got from Magpie Gemstones (www.magpiegemstones.com). I can show you the one new bracelet below and the lapis necklace that just went into my etsy shop (www.dreamcatcherdesigns.etsy.com).

I used a new style armature for the bracelet and think it will be nice for those customers who have enjoyed the wave bracelets. This one is not as wide and displays more gemstones and pearls.

The lapis necklace is a piece that finally hatched. I made the pendant at least two months ago and then it sat and sat on the work table waiting for further inspiration. The blues from the Casual Corner catalogue finally led me to finish this piece. Just a few charoite beads help set off the color of the lapis and make it look more like Spring.

Today, the sun is out even though it is still cold outside. I guess I’ll have to continue to imagine the warmth of the Spring breezes. I think I’ll go put on a floppy hat to get in the right frame of mind.

Bracelets, Color, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work 2 comments

Gabriel is TWO

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This is the month for birthdays in our family and today is grandson Gabriel’s day. I used to think birthdays weren’t very important, but now I realize they are a good day for remembering. Today, I’m remembering the day G was born at a mere 4 pounds six ounces and I can still feel the agony that his prematurity brought to us all. Yet, look at him now. I am thankful for good doctors and nurses and for his parents who calmly took it all in stride. Gabriel is a fitting name for this child who made pitiful little wheezing sounds as he first tried to breath. The neonatal nurses said it was because little male Caucasian babies don’t develop their lungs as early as others. He did mimic the celestial Gabriel blowing his horn. Another biblical reference is that he was born on his great grandmother Eden’s birthday.

         Christmas 2010

You can note from the picture above left that Gabriel was busily perfecting his hammering technique. He is usually fascinated by my metal supplies; so I provided the large piece of Styrofoam into which he hammered many nails and rivets. Like most children, he preferred to play with these real objects over his Christmas toys.

The second picture on the right shows how much he’s grown in just a year. Isn’t it nice he got some hair? Who knows what the next year will bring, but I trust it will be interesting and blessed. Happy Birthday Gabriel!

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Do You Have a Frienemy?

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You’ve probably seen the commercial on television that pertains to losing weight in which a woman calls the bathroom scale her “frienemy”. Evidently and obviously, she is encouraged to lose weight by the reading on the scale while at the same time disgusted by the same number. I CAN relate to the enemy part, but not as well to the friend dimension.

My camera is my frienemy. I’m still trying hard to get my wire technique perfected and lately have been pleased with the way the handmade jump rings close and how the wire looks post hammering. I’ve been pleased, that is, until I’ve viewed them in a close up photograph. Then I can’t believe I’m looking at the same piece of jewelry. Those beautiful closed rings are NOT perfect. That camera is definitely my enemy!

While it’s not as noticeable in this size picture as it is on my large screen computer, you may be able to see the less than perfect jump ring closures and the dent in the head pin wire. I can’t imagine how they got there between the time I completed the earrings and the time I took this photo.

Yet, as I look back at photos of older pieces, I do see some progress in my technique. For one thing, I now know what to look for whereas I used to just be happy with a sort of roundish ring that held together. I can also see that I’m doing better than I used to do and that makes the camera my friend since it has documented change over time.

The close up photos also help me find all the little wire ends on bracelets that need to be tucked under. Even if I wear my reading glasses, I sometimes miss a few, but the camera doesn’t lie and it finds them all.

   So what should a girl do with a camera frienemy? Thinking of the camera as my enemy and admonishing this inanimate object for making me look bad isn’t the answer. Also, it won’t do any good to plead with the camera to take a less upsetting photo. Therefore, I’m going to have to work with the friend dimension of my camera. I’m going to try taking a picture of my work sooner rather than later in the design process. This should provide a golden opportunity to spot and correct any technical flaws before proceeding to the next step. Often after I’m moved on, it’s too late to go back and fix certain things.

OK Camera – I’ve decided to let you be a friend. Now act like one and help me improve!

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Happy Birthday Bruno

Filed under: Ranching, Uncategorized | Back to: Homepage

There were harbingers of his birth days before he arrived. The restlessness and pacing let us know it wouldn’t be long. Yet, when he finally came into the world it was a struggle. His mother required help during his delivery; but, thankfully, he was born healthy, a whimpering mound of whiteness and fur. He and six other pups arrived one year ago today, January 15.

Little did Bruno know or even care at that time, that he was to be chosen as the Dreamcatcher Ranch male blue heeler. Little did WE know that he would be such a BIG blue heeler.

His first Spring days amongst the blue bonnets at the ranch allowed him to display his spirit as he romped and played with his mother, grandmother and aunt, also blue heelers. That was back when they still liked him, back before he grew and grew and grew, back before he began to dominate the dog pen.

What a difference a year makes as now Bruno rules. He is 56 pounds of ambitious dog who must surely be digging to China by the look of all the little holes around the back yard. We know they are his holes by the tale tell dirt on his nose. The girls all have clean noses. hmm . . .

As with all self respecting dogs, he would love to eat the cat. When he gets to come in the house, he must always check through the window to see if the poor calico kitty is anywhere close by. When he spots her, he chomps his teeth and makes biting sounds, surely thinking . . . Macho, Macho, DOG. He also displays his maliness by grabbing his little momma’s collar and pulling her around the yard.

All in all, Bruno is a pretty good dog. Although the girl dogs can’t wait for him to settle down, we enjoy his exuberance and have fun with him. I guess he’s going to get to stay. I thought about creating a beaded collar for his birthday, but realized he would just eat it! I guess he’ll just have to get an extra bone today. Happy Birthday, Bruno! 

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Everything’s Comin’ Up . . .

Filed under: Earrings, gifts, Metal Work, Pendants, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

. . . hearts! Many of us have struggled this week to get back in to some semblance of a routine post holiday. While pondering this difficulty, I realized that the stores are beginning to thinking Valentine’s Day. This always sneaks up on me because January is so full of family birthdays. Well, not this year! I’m going to be ready for Valentine’s Day.

I’ve spent some time the last several days making heart earrings. First they were quite plain, although I tried to give them slightly different shapes.

Next, I fancied a few pair by adding beads. Pearls, garnet chips and something red helped these get dressed up.

Finally, last night I got a bit carried away with the alcohol inks. (No! I wasn’t drinking them.) They adhere nicely to the copper and polka dots seemed to add a little twist here. I also did a pair with double hearts soldered to each other, but that photo refused to work.  Now I’m thinking of all the shapes that could handle these polka dots in various colors. Let’s see there are butterflies and balls and . . .

Several of these could easily be turned into pendants or minified to become charms. I can see a necklace in particular out of the pair in the first picture that has pearl and garnet chips wired across the middle.

I enjoyed working these out in copper and am now considering going for it in sterling silver. We’ll just have to wait and see if anything hatches with that wire. Perhaps there’s more to come.

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Why Craft?

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Many years have ebbed by since I last researched the value of arts education. It used to be of particular interest to me when I taught piano to very young children, four years old and up. At that time I consumed the research that justified how this training can affect healthy brain development. This week, however, during a reading raid on the magazine section of the local book store, I again became intrigued with some research. This time my interest peaked when examining a copy of Craft, a magazine produced in the UK. Thumbing through this publication, I landed on an article in the Archive section written in 1997 by Mike Penn. This is a reprint of “A New Vision in the Making” which has been retitled “What Has Craft Given Us?

The article discussed and commented upon information gained when the Crafts Council in the UK sponsored a project that explored and defined craft learning. (http://mikepress.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/craft-research-2/) While there was a pedagogical bent to this article that seemed to question how institutes of higher learning approach craft education, I felt it could engage thought among those of us interested in craft as a hobby and/or vocation.

One quote in this article grasped part of my belief in the value of craft for all of us. While I probably would not agree with much of what Harry Braverman, who was an American Socialist, wrote, I do appreciate the following quote:

“We think of craftsmanship ordinarily as the ability to manipulate skillfully tools and materials of a craft or trade. But true craftsmanship is much more than this. The really essential element in it is not manual skills and dexterity but something stored in the mind of the worker . . . it is the knowledge which enables him to understand and to overcome the constantly arising difficulties that grow out of variations not only in the tools and materials, but in the condition under which the work must be done.”

I certainly enjoy my craft, but other than a source of joy and a small income, what does it do for me? That can largely be summarized by the term “problem-solving”. Craft makes me solve problems and inherit in problem-solving is creative thinking. Ok, you are thinking. How can solving the problem of something like how to solder a little metal angel so that the solder doesn’t spill onto her copper body possibly be of any value other than the singular product? How does solving a jewelry design problem help in the grand scheme of my life?

It’s a matter of brain exercise. We all would most likely acknowledge that in elementary school we became faster at learning to add through repeated practice of the addition facts. Remember those wonderful flashcards? Did you try to be the fastest in your class? Problem solving is the same. We’ve got to practice it to become proficient. I choose to practice problem solving through craft. At times the problem is as simple as “what am I going to do with this expensive piece of sterling silver sheet metal I purchased?” Yet, each time I creatively solve a problem, I become a little better and a little faster at the process.

The issue is not whether problem solving in craft is valuable, but rather whether it is transferable. Does the type thinking involved in solving the problem of what to do about the solder on the metal angel transfer to problems in other areas of life? For some the transfer is automatic while it may not be so for others.

I believe that those who succeed at transfer are either encouraged and taught to transfer this learning or consciously work at it. Craft pedagogy, including local jewelry classes or workshops at bead festivals, could easily encourage problem solving transfer. Many of these already do encourage creative thinking and problem solving is usually inherent. As students, we can look for these experiences and appreciate those instructors who value craft for something beyond the product.

Don’t get me wrong; the product it usually why we craft. Yet, I believe we should also value the process and the brain stimulation it offers us. In a phrase: KEEP ON CRAFTING!

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Nuts and Bolts

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Today is the first day of the new year and it’s time to get back to the real world. For my little jewelry business that means getting back to the nuts and bolts of producing. January, for me, always means “try something new” during the lull when my boutique customers are clearing out rather than stocking up.

This year my initial “new” something comes in the form of Dream Kits. The name was suggested by a friend and it represents a package of metal components that may be purchased as a set. Kits are highly popular in other avenues of bead work. For example, one can easily find seed bead kits that contain all the components needed for a particular design plus the tutorial for making the piece. There are also kits for making chain maille designs that include lots of jump rings in the size required for the included pattern. Yesterday, I listed a couple of handmade chain kits on my etsy site (www.dreamcatcherdesigns.etsy.com) and I’ll be adding more as I produce them.

My thought with these kits is that some excellent designers don’t want to do any wire work, yet would enjoy using handmade components in their pieces. I enjoy making these and can offer a good product. We shall see if there are any takers.

The next kits are going to also have sheet metal components. These may be needed since working with metal requires so many tools and not every one wants to make that investment. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and suggestions about what types of kits are needed. Do you think it would be better to offer the components separately?

I also wrote a new bracelet tutorial yesterday which will soon be ready for consumers. This flower cuff bracelet tutorial is in the proof reading stage and should be on etsy later in the week.

I’m also trying to learn to use a jewelry saw – currently a slow-go process. My first piano teacher told me to always begin with technique. It appears that the technique of sawing will take some time and practice, practice, practice. I guess its like working on scales on the piano every single day. Practice usually does produce. I find that this practice also requires patience. (My teacher forgot to tell me about that!)

All in all, the nuts and bolts of January 2011 are starting to come together and I’m looking forward to the year’s journey. How about you?

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