Ideas, inspiration, designs, they are all strange things, aren't they? How do you work with them? Quite often I find I design my jewellery first in my head and it stays there for awhile before I put pen to paper. A concept will float around in my mind for weeks sometimes before I pin it down and write a few words in my journal, or sketch a quick sketch in my notebook. I'll keep musing on it, adding to the jottings and sketchings, before starting to play with my ideas in metal or wax. So often the designs change direction as they make their way from my mind to my hands. So often once I begin I suddenly 'know' the answers I was asking myself about texture, scale, gemstones etc. The key is always just to begin.
What a joy it is, this whole process. This way of living in my creative mind while doing the dishes, having a shower, feeding the cats - tasks where I can let go of my focus and allow my subconscious to express it's self. What a joy it is to notice the details in the day to day, and absorb their beauty. A yellow leaf against a grey gutter. A white pigeon perched on a hills hoist. Spilt milk like a comet surrounded by constellations. Or the delicate detail of a twig, which will become lost forever amongst the leaf litter, except for a scarce few which have now been cast in silver.
And so my new collection is coming to life, capturing the organic detail of a handful of twigs, to create jewellery to be treasured.
