Monday August 30th, 2010

I've just read a previous entry I compiled on these very pages, it was telling of my woes and disappointments regarding my jewellery pieces (or lack of rather). With great sadness I wrote of how I'd gotten into the art of jewellery making several months prior and simply didn't have much to show for it in terms of actual output, somewhere in the region of 18 items I think. But I'm proud to report that since that melancholy day my output has practically doubled, well the content of my Flickr page has at least I am pleased to announce. I don't know what it is but recently I've been getting in to really hardcore, it certainly isn't a bad thing. One possible explanation for my sudden bout of creativity could be put down how I've recently started to store my masses of beads, while I was up visiting my mum my grandma and I paid a visit to our favourite place; Haworth alias 'the village that time forgot'. As it's complimentary alias suggests it's a very ye olde traditional place and it was in it's old Apothecary I discovered some vintage glass jars which I purchased specifically for bead storage. It was in these jars where I literally poured all my beads the unpredictability and complete randomness at which they landed inspired colour schemes and ideas that I might never have even contemplated before, I even rebelled against the convention of colour schemes and matching beads I opted for complete randomness for a few pieces and it worked quite successfully (or at least I think so). The only real down side to keeping your beads in jars is that if there's a bead you really want to use that's chilling out at the bottom you have to strategically pour them all out to reach it but they make great decor too. My relationship with my 'sketchbook' is also on the rocks because I'm finding it easier and better to just make ideas up as I go along with the beads I have as opposed to planning the pieces out in advance. well it must've worked because discovering this new technique I've been on fire, well you know what I mean.

Looking through 'Beads and Beyond' magazine I spotted the 'Jewellery Maker of the Year' competition, looking at some of last years winning entries my heart sighed the skill, creativity, use of colour and finish was astounding but maybe in a year or so I could even think about entering for anything like that - I still consider myself very much a novice but I would love to have the belief and confidence to enter one of these competitions and just maybe do quite well out of it. I guess it doesn't matter if it takes a few years for that to happen as there are so many of such competitions held annually so we'll see. But before I can even contemplate such a thibg I really, really need to work on my wire wrapping and wrapping loops. The latter is rather crucial as I use them a lot but it's a very hit-and-miss situation; one time it'll be absolutely perfect and on another occasion it'll represent a jangled, tangled mess of wire. The amount of headpins I've gone through trying to perfect this technique is unreal. It might sound trivial to some of the more advanced folk but for some reason I just can't quite perfect it, consistently at least.