"AH-HAH!!!!!"

I get asked quite often where my ideas come from. That's an interesting question because my ideas come from all over. There isn't a "go-to" place where I can randomly pick an idea and run with it. Sometimes my ideas are a random incomplete concept and sometimes I can see the finished piece clear as day before I have even started. Then there are the projects I start thinking one thing and it turns in completely different direction and looks nothing like the original idea. Once in awhile I will be working on one piece and the mess on the bench will suggest another piece to me. I am always working amongst these huge messes. I try to kep it looking neat and tidy- huge fail.
I don't keep a formal sketch book. I mean not like what I had to keep in school- I don't draw everything out. What I do have are several blank books. Some are small and thin enough to slip into my pocket and some are purse sized. At last count there are 21 of them.  I always have one of these on hand because I never know when an idea may hit me-especially when I am traveling. I might see something someone is wearing or a combination of colors I find striking that I never would have thought to put together. I make notes and little sketches in my books. Sometimes I tear a picture out of a magazine or catalog and that goes into the books too. Maybe I read something funny or came across a word that for some reason I needed to remember- yep- in the books.

When I find that I am blocked or uninspired I will flip through the books hoping something will jump out at me. I have found that I will consult these books when working on a project looking for that one thing that I know the current project needs.

So last night I am in bed, letting my mind wander as I try to get to sleep and all of sudden  it hits me. I have to make this bracelet. I cold not sleep now- this bracelet was shouting at me to be made. I was just about ready to get up and get dressed and head to the studio at 11:00 at night. So I grabbed the book by my bed and made a little sketch. I have had these amber beads for a long time and I like working with them on gloomy days because the color reminds me of warm summer days soaking up the sun. I also like pairing amber with sterling silver and I had ordered these tube beads several years ago thinking I would make a choker with them and never got around to doing that. While looking for something else on the bench I came across those beads and filed it in the back of my head to do something with them sometime. And I did. And this is what I came up with. Amber and sterling silver- my little bit of sunshine today because it is drizzling and cold and just plain icky outside.

it all starts with an idea

Last week I started a project with my K-2 class that I am calling "The Monster Project"  I gave each student a large sheet of black paper and a set of construction paper crayons. Then I told them we were going to draw monsters. I had a whole list of questions about their monsters. Questions like- what color is it? How big is it? How many eyes and arms and legs? You get the idea. Before I even got halfway through the list of questions they were off and drawing. I love to listen to kids this age draw. Before I knew it each student was caught up in a world they had created on paper and each monster developed a  unique personality.

I decided that I was going to make their monsters real. I got the first one finished last night.

This is Megan and Maria. Megan and Maria live in the jungle and they like to play. What makes them so special is they have two heads.  Megan and Maria was designed by Olivia who is a first grader.

After studying Olivia's monster for a bit I drew a simplified version of it.  Then I went to my sewing machine and created this~ my version of Megan and Maria. I am planning on doing this for each of my students. I want them to see how an idea can come out of your head and onto paper and sometimes that idea can then be turned into something real. 

 Everything starts with an idea.