Random thoughts and a scary idea

I spent Easter visiting my parents, out of state. While I love them very much and enjoy spending time with them (specially since the food is great!), I miss my own space, my books and my workbench. Yes, 5 days away from metalworking and I am going through major withdrawal symptoms.

So, to try to curb it, I started sketching new pieces. I know I said I design primarily in my head, but I have been trying to work more on paper: it is good to have a record of my evolving ideas, it is important to be able to communicate with clients before actually working on metal ("just trust me" doesn't inspire a lot of trust, does it?) and it helps to work out some proportions (mathematically, of course!). I also want to develop my style more and create more cohesive pieces.

On a parallel track, it has been a long time since I created a treasury. I was sorting through ideas in my head, to find a theme that was interesting, what kind of items I could include and how I was going to organize them visually, since, of course, I over think everything. I kept going around "circle of life", "milestones", "universal events" and all the things that mark our lives, for better or worse, and makes us who we are. And very clear images of what I wanted were coming up. All were metal jewelry, predictably.

So I linked both activities and decided on a long term project for myself: create pieces that represent those events, feelings and realizations that mark our lives. My parameters for this:

- Universal: I want to design and create pieces that will speak to everyone. Of course, my own experiences and thoughts will be important, but I must find a way to make them accessible to a wide audience
- This project does not have a deadline or a timeline. These pieces will be made over the coming years, so each can be throughly thought out, both in concept and design
- Each piece must be representative, the concept must be well thought out and defined

As I defined this challenge to myself, I realized that I had already done the first piece for this series some time ago. I will share it with you all on my next post.

Good night and sweet dreams!