I have started the year a lot more organised than usual, which is a great thing, however life requirements are always plotting to derail my creativity - is it something you struggle with too?
I've always seen myself as being in the fortunate position of having a steady, full-time job, a roof above my head (almost paid for..1 year left on that mortgage!) and a loving family who support me - I really cannot complain... and won't. There is a tiny however in there.... When it comes to being creative and making the jewellery I want to make, while the job ensures I am not short of materials and tools, time to create is not so readily available. I had a brief conversation with my better half and youngest kid where I tried to articulate how I couldn't just allocate an hour to go sit at my desk and bang out jewellery pieces. I need to sit, ponder, noodle about before making something completely different from what I intended to make. My youngest (studying film - got an 'A' In Higher Art with some EXCELLENT pointillism) understood exactly what I meant - I suspect my better half was a little bewildered and probably thought I was making excuses. That's a little unfair, but they live in a lot more practical mind, so I understand how my boho, whimsical wafting appears confusing when I can be so one-track minded and focused in a crisis.
Last week, I had Monday spare before travelling to Bristol for work for the rest of the week. I contemplated some scrap jewellery I had acquired to make into rings - a broken Pandora bracelet being one of them. A couple of hours of tweaking, soldering, hammering, pickling and cleaning and I had detonated one piece through over-heating and was left with a ring that hadn't fully soldered the way I wanted and was still a bit too flexible. Explaining this process to a non-creative might seem like a complete waste of time and, while a little frustrating, I learned a lot from the scrap I was working with and what was less possible than I imagined. My great idea were mostly turned to lumpy blobs of frustration, but I couldn't be completely annoyed by knowing a bit more of what NOT to do next time.
Next up was creating a mould for a piece of costume jewellery I wanted to turn into a silver clay pendant which, in my head, was a simple matter of pressing it into some fine clay and letting the clay harden ahead of pressing in the silver clay and, voila! Shiny, silver perfection! But no.... while the detail was good in the clay, it wasn't the best for getting definition in the fine gaps and I am not 100% convinced the mould will hold up against me pressing silver clay into it, turning the face of Cleopatra into an ill-defined mush. But it was actually fun making those mistakes and learning from them. Sure, I could have watched YouTube videos and skipped the experiment, ordering Siligum straight out the gate, but I feel an essential bit of knowledge would be missing. I learn through doing, and instructional videos and lessons only gets me so far.
Embracing the Meta Demon
Apart from jewellery experimentation, I have also embraced the dubious beast that is the Meta Business Suite shudder. On the plus side, I can now organise my posts across Instagram and Facebook (did you know I had a Facebook profile for my jewellery? No, neither did I...) where I would encourage you to follow me for, you know, algorithms and stuff. On the negative side, It's Meta and, in terms of Social Media is only slightly 'better' than the horror that is Twitter. Buuuut, I will use it for good and rise above the nonsense with wonderful people such as yourself. I'm going to be more active on Social Media this year, especially as I have added my video editing software of choice to my phone - all hail my lifetime license for Filmora! It's perhaps another creative distraction to take away from the jewellery making, so I will have to be careful. If you see too many posts, feel free to comment "Get back to the workbench! Begone foul procrastination demon!"
So there you go - this month has mostly involved explosions, breaking things, organising things and being just a little distracted - all with the love and support of my family. I'm truly lucky. NExt up on the horizon - learn to sand-cast, handle a crucible, pour molten metal and not set fire to the house. Have a wonderful, creative time!
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