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
Sue Seibert ! Please send your postal address to the ABS Suggestion Box to receive your Sun Button from Creative Impressions in Clay!
It starts with a painting...
That becomes a bead...
Transformed into a necklace.
These were all pieces that were randomly spread on my bead table, slowly the elements merged together until I had a complete design in mind.
Where does your inspiration begin? A color palette, a painting, a photograph, beads strewn on the table?
Leave your answer in the comments section and one lucky winner will be picked for a set of my golden disk beads.
36 comments:
Sometimes it starts with a glance outside my window, or photos taken on a motorcycle ride. The class I taught this year for the regional EGA seminar came from photos taken on vacation in Lost Maples State Park -- lots of greens, golds, oranges. http://www.sang-ega.org/sem2008/images/Theresa%20leaf%20lariat%20copy.jpg
But I will admit that sometimes what I have in mind is NOT what comes out of the beads!
Theresa
I find that I start in many different places . . . sometimes a special bead sends me in off in a direction, other times something I do or see works its way into my subconscious and dictates line and color. Ii rarely am conscious of my inspiration while working, although, after I'm finished, I can usually recognize what set me off!
This is a stunning piece. Thank you for sharing.
For me, it can start with anything! Something visual, textural or something in my mind's eye. Then comes a bead, or a pendant or a certain type of chain maille, or chain (I love metal elements)~(I was born in the year of the white rat)~ thus the metal. I have always been a bead tosser, just throw them out and the fun begins. I sure do love beads. I think I need to go play now. Ya'll have a grateful day....peace out
Sometimes just from a picture in the newspaper or magazine of someone else's art, in a different medium, makes me think I could make a bead with those colors, etc.! Once it was ceramic vases in the newspaper!
Beautiful piece!
Susan
That bead is a great representation of the painting. I get inspiration from so many sources. Sometimes it's color combination that I see;I love looking at the quilts in Quilting Arts Magazine for color combos. Often it's just a feeling inside that dictates what I will use.
Arline
Beautiful piece! My inspiration can come from almost anywhere. Sometimes I just see beautiful beads and I know I want to create something. Sometimes it's nature, sometimes it's memories from my travels.
Hannah
Most of the time when I torch, I have a list. However, I have found my most creative times come from mistakes that I make as I torch. One thing seems to lead to another, and I have found new inspiration because I made a mistake (usually HUGE) on a bead. I'm not good at making jewelry, so that doesn't count. When it comes to jewelry my philosophy is KISS--you know, keep it simple, stupid.
Like many of the other respondents so far, I find inspiration in many places and many ways. I've only once made a piece based on a painting, but I really loved it. Otherwise, my inspiration is split pretty evenly between wanting to use a specific focal, being caught up by a certain color combination, or wanting to do a technique that I haven't done for a while (or a new one!) and then just picking whatever beads seem fun at the moment.
The piece that I'm currently working on has two sources of inspiration. One is my desire to use the Green Girl medusa head bead that I've had for a while, and the other is to do an Ndebele rope, which I haven't done in forever. It was just a matter of picking the perfect snaky color to go with medusa and then I was off to beading :)
I love that bead! It inspires me. My inspirations are like progressions. I see how your inspiration came from a picture, I will do something similar. So, I am inspired by inspiration.
And so on...
Thanks for sharing your process. I think most creative people can get inspiration from anywhere. Although it is usually color palette for me, it can come in any form. Once I pulled into a parking lot and the four cars next to the open parking place made a gorgeous palette. I got out my camera and took a pic of the cars. I made a great bracelet from that palette.
My inspiration comes from pictures.
Sometimes from things around me, seasons inspire me. YOU inspire me!
Rosanne
What a wonderful piece Heather! I love the colors...
What inspires me? A lot of things...it could be the season (I love Fall) certain colors (my favorites are green & pink) my mood, my pets, trips I take...there are just so many things!
Heather, Such a lovely outcome from a wondrous painting. Great article-
makes me ponder.. where do the images and designs come from?
Thnaks, Joan Tucker
Off Center Productions
I am often inspired by catalogs, usually clothing and home decor ones inspire me with colors and textures. I can also be inspired by a specific bead or pendant. The seasons definitely influence my designs and color choices.
Lisa
I get my inspiration from many things,sunlight glancing off the crystals in my kitchen window,scraps of lace,bits of fabric,with a few odds and ends thrown in,old jewelry-just about anything.When I do hit a slump-I get out my colored pencils,bits of pastels,old crayons & start doodling.Pretty soon it all comes together ,and I feel a new idea coming through.
Heather-your necklace is wonderful and the colors!So perfect.It's beautiful.
Gail W
I'm always inspired by ART BEADS!
Artisan handmade pendants and beads make it easy for me to create jewelry that evokes some sort of feeling, or mood. There are some really creative gals out there!
I'm usually inspired by my mood. If I am happy, the work flows and sitting at my bench pounding and drilling and etching metals is totally fun and I'm sometimes amused and amazed at the ideas that pop up along the way. Dreams inspire me, too. Often I will dream of a design (really!) and will wake up, sketch it out on a paper I keep by my bed, and then konk back out. Art is always, always an inspiration.
That's just a fabulous piece!
Inspiration? A theme, a movie, a photograph, a bead, a building, a technique, a visit, to a museum. A combination of things almost always!
I've noticed that when I watch a period piece movie, like 'Out of Africa' or 'Elizabeth' or when I read a book set in another location (the Elizabeth Peters series is an example) I get mental images from them. It inspires and influences the jewelry afterward. The 'Golden Compass' movie is an example, too. The power of suggestion for time periods and historical settings.
Heather, your necklace is absolutely beautiful! For me, inspiration usually comes from a particular bead/set that I'd like to use (usually lampwork)or I'll be in the mood to create with a particular color scheme.
Inspiration can come from anywhere. Sometimes I dream a bead; other times, I'm shopping (a rarity) and snap a photo of an outfit and try to duplicate it in a bead.
When I learned bead crochet, as I was working on that necklace, I KNEW I had to make a bead to match.
I also sketch ideas and pin up photos around my studio. Currently I have about 6 photos of different gingko leaf shapes and I'm trying to duplicate the the shape in outrageous colors.
As someone with synesthesia I use it to my advantage. Right now I'm on a music kick, and finding lots of color ideas and patterns in some of the heavier stuff that I listen to.
Next week it will change and I'll be more inspired by what I'm seeing outside of my window.
Never ending inspiration!
For me, inspiration comes even from a change in the weather. My beads do inspire me as I will play with differnt color combinations, different shaped beads. Right now I'm working on a doll for my weight loss journey.
Thanks for sharing the wonderful work.
Beadily yours
Susan Feldkamp
Nightbeaderatlarge.blogspot.com
Nature inspires me, the rugged ocean coastline, giant rock formations when the tide goes out and the trees on the oceans edge, that's probably why most of my designs are based on blues, greens and browns.
Heather - Your beads are just astounding. Every time I think you've outdone yourself, I see another example and am floored once again.
It's wonderful to read about what inspires you and to see how you work. The list of things that inspires me is endless... I can find hundreds of inspirations just looking around me. There are so many colors, shapes, and even sounds that make me think of something that I just can't keep up with it all.
:-)
Heather, the Klimt painting is one of my favorite paintings - I've got a 5x7 print of it in my office, and I've looked at it more than once, longing to capture the richness, detail, and romance of the piece. I think your bead & necklace are both exquisite, and you capture the mood of the piece perfectly. You've inspired me to look at that painting again, and see what happens!
For me, inspiration comes from everywhere - this summer, I've been obsessed with the little curly tendrils on my garden pea plants - they're so perfectly curved and curly, it's irresistible! I'm a junkie for color too, as well as shapes, textures, and contrasts.
I love to find new and unique color combos in nature - if you look closely, you can find some good ones. Deadly nightshade isn't much use except for its lovely rich royal purple flowers with that little pop of bright yellow in the center. And I told my sweet hub I wanted our bathroom walls the same shade of green that you find in moss, LOL.
Heather, love the rich jewel tones in the bead. It is just beautiful!
Clothing can inspire me, but sometimes it is a person that inspires me. Several times I have seen a woman in a wonderful outfit without any jewelry, and thought to myself, "wow, I could make a stunning piece for her!" The creative juices start and I go home and make what I could see with the outfit.
Other times, a bead itself inspires me. Someone once asked me if I make beads, I said "no, but I like to frame great art." That's how I feel when I use art beads in my jewelry making - highlighting someone else's work of art.
In Beads and Happiness,
Suzann WIlson
My inspiration usually comes in the form of dreams. I will wake up in the morning with a design that I just have to make. Now as far as what triggers the dreams, it can be a picture, a mood, nature. Lately I have been inventorying all my beads and I am sure that has been causing lots of dreams.
For me, it's fabric. And it's all about the colors. It doesn't really matter if the fabric is a floral pattern or a plaid. What's important are the main colors.
Once I've figured out what they are, I go to work trying to replicate them in polymer clay, a process that seems to be more intuitive than anything else.
Once I have my colors, I use them to create my "signature" cane designs. In this way, my buttons, jewelry, etc, will coordinate nicely with the inspiration fabric, but will not be copies of it.
Love your painting-inspired bead. And, of course, what draws me to it are those rich colors!
Omygosh! What a gorgeous bead! --and necklace!! Klimt's richness is amazing. You've captured the spirit of it.
As an art historian, I would have to say I get a lot of inspiration from masterpieces of art, but I also find inspiration in fabric (I'm a quilter too). And then there's that strand of beads that call to me when I'm out doing some 'retail therapy'.
I can be inspired by one of our gorgeous sunsets, drops of rain (which is precious here) glistening on leaves, the wind, a Hubble photo, and especially by any piece of literature that I have read or have waiting to read.
That Klimt painting is one of my alltime favorites and I love the way you interpreted it in your wonderful bead!
Kathy V in NM
Sometimes I dream an idea, sometimes it comes from nature, sometimes it comes from a thought or day dream.
Just wanted to thank you for the great post,Really Beautiful piece!.Its So Beautiful combination of colors in Beads,Gemstone semi precious beads.
Realy a wonderful piece.
Beautiful!!
Inspiration can come from any direction and when it does it is so stimulating I can hardly wait to get going... Color seems to be the trigger.
xoxo
((((hugs))))
Maggie
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