I created this cuff over the weekend. I am embarrassed to admit that I was having a hard time getting motivated to create new work. I have some enormous deadlines looming and instead of being spurred into action, I became somewhat paralyzed. I found, through talking with other artist-friends, that this is a normal occurrence. Especially in the dead of winter, with no sunshine or color in the sky. My strategy for this piece was to limit my variables. I took a form that was familiar to me (an open 3-dimensional square filled with another square) and created a repetition of form- using simple tones of black (jet), bone (matte) and dark silver (pyrite and sterling silver.) By repeating the same form multiple times, I was able to build a rhythm and warm up my fingers to enjoy the basic process of beading. Essentially, I love this process but did not want to muddy the activity with anxiety of …will this sell, will this be successful, will the colors work, will it fit, will lots of people look good in it? Instead, I just beaded away, drank my black tea and listened to music and before I knew it, I was excited again. Sometimes it just takes a little faith.
