Inspiration

This weeks blog topic on Flaming Hot has to do with Inspiration - what inspires me when I just run out of steam or ideas.

I am primarily a left brain person (analytical, logical, a thinker), although my family would tell you I have right brain tendencies. I struggle with creativity. The arts that involve making wearable, useful art like sewing projects or jewelry projects I have always been good at. I think it speaks to my sensible side. Set me down with a basket of fabric and tell me to make something with it and it will take me weeks to come up with something. Tell me to make something to hold this, this and that and I will solve your problem and sew something right up! Beadmaking is the same for me. I sit in my studio and look at my 100 pounds of color and wonder what I can do. I have to have something that inspires my creativity.

When I first started, I used magazines and fabric to get me going. They are really great for picking out color combinations. My favorite was Martha Stewart Living. I am a huge fan of Martha Stewart and her magazine has some of the greatest color combinations. Very fresh, light and airy. Oprah Magazine is another good one for fresh color combos. I would rip a page out of the magazine and pick the three or four most predominant colors and use those colors to make a set. It was kind of cool to see how the colors moved from the page to the beads.

Now, a lot of the time, I get inspired by a new toy whether it be a new tool or a new press...Maybe it was a new shipment of glass that I just got in or some new silver. I love to shop and play with new things. When I finally found my muse again after a long hot summer of barely beading, the thing that got me going was glass. I have a large drawer of very expensive, rare, odd color glass. Some that has been gifted to me and some that I purchased myself. I put the glass in the drawer and oogled over it but never used it. Some of the colors I had never even used before. I just decided what good was it doing sitting in a drawer. It was really inspiring to melt it for the first time. See the new colors bloom. Try different techniques. It was very uplifting and I got a huge amount of satisfaction from it.

I just finished beading this evening and what has me inspired right now is becoming a better beader. I am really not trying to focus on anything but techniques. Taking one thing and focusing all my energy on it during the beading session. It really has me going right now and I think I will run with it until I get inspired by something new.

:-)
Megan