Behind the Scenes: In The Beginning There Was Inspiration…

(For the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be doing a short “behind the scenes” series on the process of creating my jewelry pieces.)

A couple of times, friends have asked me how my jewelry ideas come to me. The creative process (at least for me) isn’t a magical experience where waves of creativity hit me and I get this huge rush where I make a dozen jewelry pieces instantly. Most of the time, I can just look at crystals, gemstones, etc. and something just clicks color or design wise. 

These ideas seem to come at the most inconvenient times and I have to quickly sketch out the idea on whatever writing materials I have on hand.  These include scrap paper, napkins, church bulletins (I pay attention to the message I promise!), inside of book covers, and the back of ticket stubs. 

Here’s one jewelry piece that I’m still in the middle of working on.  It’s an idea that came to me when I saw a butterfly shirt that a kid wore at my job, so I had to hurry and sketch it there:

Once I actually have an extended amount of free time, I sketch out my ideas in colored pencils.  I really don’t consider myself a good drawer, but it really helps to have everything laid out on paper, so I know what materials to purchase, figuring out measurements, etc.  These drawings are two pieces that I made in May:

I collect these sketches in a binder and often refer to them as I create the pieces.  Although it takes a while to sketch them, time passes quickly as I commit my ideas to paper.

Coming soon: a not so exclusive behind the scenes look at my jewelry “studio” where I create my sparkling pieces of art!