Monday 3 March 2014

It's Monday Again

It's funny how the world works - every 7 days it is Monday again. It is almost like New Years Day (only more frequent) - a fresh start - the beginning of a new school term - whatever - you get a chance to put the past away and start fresh. So what does that mean to you and me?

A generation ago, the start of each week meant doing the laundry - you may not remember the nursery rhyme, but on Monday you did the wash - on Tuesday you ironed your clothes - not sure about the rest of the week ------ So "doing my laundry" is one part of getting my week in order - while "washing" I review - do I have any deadlines to meet? how about appointments to keep? outstanding obligations to fulfill? So, I use this time to make sure that everything is in some kind of order for the week (and that I actually have thrown in a load of wash).

After completing this paperwork review and update, I usually sit down and try and determine what ideas the jewellery fairies might have (yes, they do exist, but they only whisper and sometimes it is hard for me to make sense of everything they have to share with me each week). I usually start by quietly sorting and organizing my supplies, putting away things that I have finished using or that are new to me. (I am sometimes distracted by intrusive sounds like the ring of a telephone or door bell.) After I have sorted and organized and filled my idea basket, I go to my work table and look at what I have collected - do I need to fabricate anything? do I need to string anything? is there anything missing that may prove helpful (spacers or findings)? Perhaps there is a necessary and urgent trip to my local bead supplier, in my immediate future? or an order to place to one of many online suppliers. Then, ideas usually start to come.... I will often sit for some time, just looking down at my basket of goodies. Waiting.

My Father used to sit in an old lawn chair and rock back and forth while smoking a cigarette (no easy trick). I don't smoke and I don't rock, but I now understand what he was doing - he was visualizing and designing some kind of finished product, before he ever did any work --- (and I thought all he was doing was killing time) ---

When something does finally catch my eye, I get busy and just run with it. There is always a later opportunity to second-guess first impressions.


This is a sample of what I may collect - I will be sorting for quite some time on Monday mornings since the flood. It is not unusual for me to create 4 or 5 or more of these bowls and then take the rest of the week to create something with them. I may take the better part of the week fabricating the components necessary for the necklace in my mind, prepare wax carvings for casting, hammering, forging, pour resin, enamel something, and on and on....... or it may simply need to be strung. Every piece is different. Every piece is unique.

 After the piece is complete the remainders are sorted again the following Monday.

Here is the first attempt....



Not sure if I want black or yellow at the back. May be some minor tweaking and then it will be completed. Your comments are appreciated.

Thanks for visiting. Live well!

4 comments:

  1. I agree with you with the yellow bit on the end. If that necklace was a party, those yellows are the guy that came to crash the whole thing. Otherwise, I think it looks good.

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    1. Thank you for your suggestion and great comment. I have reworked the necklace and while not completely happy with it - it is better.

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  2. Oh yes, Monday is indeed a 'starting anew' day for me. I always feel like, "This week I'll do it better." I especially like the way you approach the day to design for the week. That's something that I might try also. My designing tends to be rather spontaneous and willy-nilly with no direction to it. As such, I tend to just get overwhelmed and fail to do anything at all. Your method still gives you time to think about the design without feeling pressure to get it done NOW. I like that a lot. Thank you for sharing your process. It's quiite inspiring. Oh, and that necklace is divine (I've already seen your post of how you finished it.)

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    1. Thank you for your kind words - and I am so happy share a process that may work for you. Let me know how it goes. God luck.

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