Designer’s Brain Lock
Well tonight was supposed to be spent working in the shop designing and making gorgeous pieces of jewelry. It doesn’t always work out that way. I’ve found I just can’t sit down and put on paper all the ideas and designs I have floating around in my brain. Instead I spent too much time on the computer, playing a couple of short games, and installing our new washing machine.
I thought I might refine some of the sketches I made while on vacation in Hawaii. This is where the trouble came in. I can see it my mind much better than I can get it down on paper. It can be very frustrating at times.
Time to switch gears. There is a pietersite pendant I need to make as a gift so I started making various sketches. Nothing really stood out for me.
A search of the internet turned up many uninspiring jewelry pieces. Every link for five pages of results for “pietersite pendant” was pretty much a waste of time. There were no more than three pieces that looked like they were made outside of China. All of them were already sold.
Next I browsed a collection of jewelry photos I have stored on my computer. This includes my own work shown on the left. When I see a piece that inspires me either because the overall piece is wonderful or the skill and craftsmanship necessary to make the piece is high or it uses a combination of beautiful stones I like to save the photo on my computer for future reference. There are some beautiful pieces that I viewed, but nothing that kicked an idea into motion. So back to the sketch book.
At this time there are 16 sketches of the pendant. Some I like and some I don’t. One technique I have learned to use is to sketch something I know I don’t necessarily like. This is something that I will not create for one reason or another. This helps me break out of that designer’s brain lock.
Since sketching a design I will not create, I have produced two of my three favorite designs. Check back in a few days to see which design I selected. Until then, it’s all a secret!
