Saturday, October 27, 2012

Studio Saturday with Gaea Cannaday of Gaea Handmade


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.
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This weeks winner is.... Lois Moon
Congratulations! 
You have won a beautiful pair of earrings from Rebecca Anderson of Songbeads.
Send Rebecca an e-mail with your address and she will get it right out to you.

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This week we visit the studio of Gaea Cannaday of Gaea Handmade.
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It seems harder and harder to carve out creative time from a busy schedule. Raising children (learning disabilities and piles of homework!) and paying bills (why does the car always need attention when the bank account is so low?) seem to take president over lovingly pulling out all of my fun beads and jewelry design elements (sigh). My studio seems to be in a permanent state of disaster. This can sometimes work to my advantage and force me to focus on what is readily available and not go digging deeper into a avalanche inducing, teetering pile of supplies. With the ABS monthly art challenge as inspiration I grabbed what was at arms length and created a quick pair of earrings...



 How do you fit creativity into your day? 


Leave a comment for a chance to 
win a bead set and copper rings!

Gaea Cannaday is a mother and ceramic artist living in Ojai, California. You can see her work here... www.gaea.cc or here... www.gaea.etsy.com

38 comments:

Rosemarie said...

Love, love, love these earrings AND the sentiment behind their creation! How reassuring to hear that even creative people I admire find everyday life can make being creative every day a challenge. Inspires me to keep finding time for creativity in my own daily life.

Alice said...

Those earrings are beautiful!!
This is my busy time of the year because my volunteer activities are all in full swing. This, with all the things I do at home (laundry, cleaning etc) plus kids activities, makes it difficult to find time to make jewelry. In the past three weeks I've only made two pieces! I have yet to figure out how to add more hours in a day and I'm stumped on how to really make it all work.

m.e. said...

Many days I don't have time to actually create something.
But,I can always fit in a little creative day-dreaming.
Yesterday my job was extremely stressful .
To relax,I took short "bead breaks' and dreamed up some ideas I might try for the ABS Ornament Blog Hop :) m.e.

Niky Sayers said...

9pm til 10.30pm after I put the kids to bed and before the other half comes in from work is my "me time also known as bead time" or used to be pre baby now my creativity is mostly sleeping!

lamplight crafts said...

I have to say that I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom. So once the boys (all 3) are toted off to school, I have about 6-8 hours to schedule some creativity. But even with free time during the day, I often find myself making jewelry after everyone else is asleep. That time between 11pm and 3am, I am my most creative at my desk with the lamplight.

Erin S said...

Many days I don't make time to create, but sometimes the urge is overwhelming--I drop everything and work on a new idea, even if its only for 20 minutes, just to get something started. Alas, I am GREAT at starting and terrible at finishing.

Unknown said...

Life definetly gets in the way of my bead time. I do my best to try to get a little time to myself each day, but it doesn't always work out. The earrings are beautiful. :)

Cheryl K Roe said...

My creativity goes in streaks and is not really controllable. You just go with the flow.

sandi m said...

Love these earrings. Now I know what I can do with my yards of waxed linen cord! My creativity goes in spurts and, of course, always seems to lack at the most important times, eg, when I'm trying to prepare for a show. But somehow it always works out.

Liz said...

Your pieces are beautiful. I wish I could create each day, but for me when I create I tend to get joyfully lost in the process. So I tend to work when I can find a block of time to let the creative process blossom. When in my zone a lot gets accomplished. I also tend to work in the same medium...all bracelets, all necklaces, etc. Sometimes, however, it takes a spark to ignite the creativity...a color combo, an art bead, an idea. Oh sounds so fun I wish I was home in my workroom now!

Hermine said...

Très jolies ces bo. Les couleurs sont superbes!

Sweetpea said...

Well, I must say, THIS is wonderful pair of earrings and a very doable project for a jewelry beginner such as myself ~ thank you! I'm especially excited to learn about the cotton cord...that will make designing so much easier.

Sometimes I play a little game with myself to entice me to pick up my beads the next day. I purposely leave off my project at a point where I've just come up with a grand idea of how to continue...or when I've come across some exciting beads I'd forgotten about that will fit perfectly...you get the gist: anything that will nudge me to fit time in at the beading table ~ because I can't stay away!

Leah Curtis said...

Oh, I do love your beads! This design is beautiful. The colors just pop against that copper. I love how the one on top looks like a pumpkin.

Urbanscapes... said...

GORGEOUS & CHIC earrings Gaea!
With a full-time day job, creativity is often a figment of imagination :)
Or making a quick treasury over lunch to get my dose of Etsy...
On some days I hurry up dinner so I can work with my beads for a bit, and otherwise I just wait for the weekend !
Beaditi

Beaditi said...

GORGEOUS & CHIC earrings Gaea!
With a full-time day job, creativity is often a figment of imagination :)
Or making a quick treasury over lunch to get my dose of Etsy...
On some days I hurry up dinner so I can work with my beads for a bit, and otherwise I just wait for the weekend !
Beaditi

kristibasket said...

Love learning more about you!! Thank you for sharing this great earrings idea! I have some of your copper links I have been hoarding (I would love a whole box full :), and this will be a fun idea to try!! Your work is beautiful!! I always look forward to your updates....just need to make sure my computer is not being a "turtle" that day...shoot, you can blink and it is gone! Congrats on a great post!

Stepha said...

These are darling. I try to make something everyday.. but that does not always happen..

Shannon Chomanczuk said...

Love those earrings. I try to make time after my stinky goes to bed. It has been getting harder and harder to stay awake now that the sun goes in so early though :-(

Brandie C said...

Right now I don't have much time with school, but I try to get a little bit of a bead fix on the weekends help me get through the week! I love those earings! They are so cute!

My Life Under the Bus said...

OMG I am sooo there! I have taken to keeping some beads for wire wrapping in the car with me as I drive from place to place to wait and pick up my boys! If not I tend to stay up late to make SOMETHING!!!!

Creations by Kari said...

Sigh...in the middle of moving with most of my beads floating across the Pacific with the rest of my belongings, I am feeling seriously creatively constipated! Sorry if that was a little too graphic, but it's the only way to describe how I feel to be separated from my supplies and stuck in a strange place. I visit the ABS, CBC sites and various blogs, etsy, pinterest, see so many things I want to do and try, but have to wait! I'm sure if I had everything here, it would not feel so urgent and I probably wouldn't get to any projects right away, but arghhh...can't wait till all my lovelies get here safe and sound and I can play!

Monique (A Half-Baked Notion) said...

Beautiful earring set, Gaea! Love to see the cording in more and more designs lately. Creative time? Lets just say: thank goodness the sketchbook is quite portable... some weeks that's all I have time for. Once the design is started on paper, it's much easier for me to grab a few minutes to gather beads and become a Creator LOL.

Anonymous said...

These earrings are lovely---but then anything made with your beads turns out special. You have such a way with your colors I almost hate to use up the beautiful beads as they sit in a special box on my worktable for inspiration. Thanks so much for the earring idea!

Syl said...

These earrings are just plain fun. Bright colorful and full of sparkyness. Don't worry about your studio being messy, I find that when mine is neat, tidy and all put away, so is my muse.

Linda said...

Very cute and easy earrings. Thanks for sharing!

DESPINA said...

I adore these earrings, such a fun project!!
Creativity is the joy of each day for me, the question is how I fit everything else sometimes!!
:-

DESPINA
deb_oro@yahoo.gr

Joanna-Gloria said...

If you love sth, you always find time to do it, even in the busiest day.
Creativity is necessity, expression and a breath of fresh air for me.

Joanna-Gloria, yana_ven@yahoo.gr

Catherine Sorensen said...

Mmm..lovely earrings!

Between being a busy college student, jewelry business owner & homemaker, it can be hard to find time to relax & let my creativity run loose. Fortunately my brain comes up with designs in a flash, so the main thing is just finding time.

I set aside Tue. & Thur. as my business days whether I am taking pictures, making jewelry, blogging or working on Etsy listings.

Since your question was rather open ended: my creativity is NOT limited to beads & jewelry. There is plently you can do to make cooking, cleaning & other household duties much more pleasant!

Blessings!

~Catherine

KayzKreationz said...

Those earrings are so cute. Very organic. I don't always get to fit creativity time in, but if I do, it's usually in the evening while I'm watching TV and chilling after a long day.

Anonymous said...

Love the earrings! Count me in! Pretty please!

Unknown said...

Love the earrings!!

Cynthia said...

Love these earrings! So simple, but beautiful. Would love a chance to win!

Anonymous said...

Love, love love the earrings! Count me in for a chance to win these awesome beads! Pretty please!

SueBeads said...

I love your earrings! I usually fit it in at the last minute, when something finally comes to me. But it's hard with all the obligations!

Manola Maria said...

I never let a day go by, without beading. Fortunatelly my son goes to preschool and still takes long naps, so I have plenty of time το get creative.

Francesca said...

Very pretty! I've never used cord or textiles in my work at all, but with all the pretty designs I'm seeing these days, I might have to give it a try. :-)

Zeniswoman said...

Gaea, I just wanted to let you know how much I admire your honesty about your own creative process and the drag of real life. You are always a genuine inspiration to me! Thank you :) I am an artist by nature and spirit, but life can be so demoralizing somedays. I carry a sketchbook with me everywhere, because I am often hit by the muse at the most inconvenient moments (when I'm driving or teaching or grocery shopping). It happens often in the car, because I am alone (watching the morning sky unfold; birds moving in patterns; hawks watching on wires). Creativity keeps me connected to life and sane. Thanks as always :) Holly

CraftyHope said...

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has a disaster of a craft room/studio and never quite enough time to clean it. . .and I don't even have kids. I can only imagine. Those earrings turned out beautifully! I try to fit creativity into my day with a timer. I create or work on other aspects of my creative job and when the timer goes off (after 30 minutes) I try to get something productive done. Not every day gets to be creative, but this method helps me make sure I stay on task in other ways as well.