Pat Evans Designs

Where do you get your ideas?

2011-02-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

Back when I thought I was going to write the Great American Novel, I went to a lot of writers’ conferences where the number one question from aspiring writers was “Where do you get your ideas?” Generally the Famous Writer Presenters had been asked that question so much that they had a raft of stock answers—“From the Sears and Roebuck Idea Catalog” or “From the Idea Fairy”. Some of them would even go on to try to answer the question seriously, but I really got the sense that it was one of those questions that, if you had to ask it, you probably were in the wrong line of work. I always felt a little cheated and a lot uncreative.

Then, when I was teaching in Pasadena a couple of weeks ago, my student Patty Dean Wolford, who is looking to move into teaching, asked me, “How do you come up with ideas for projects to teach?” I found myself flummoxed at first and tempted to give her the Sears catalog line.

Patty Dean is a talented and precise artist who will one day be a fabulous teacher, so I thought she deserved a careful answer. I walked her through the way I had come up with the Silver Linings silver and resin cloud I’ll be teaching at Bead Fest Santa Fe. (https://thriva.activenetwork.com/Reg4/(S(1edq41yg3qje25j535qdy4mv))/Form.aspx?regkey=RpYOYPxE37%2beky8ByS4XhQ%3d%3d ) Together we came up with the title for her first class. But her question has stayed with me for the past weeks since I got home from Pasadena. And when something stays with you like that, I figure it means you need to work it through.

The thing is, an idea doesn’t always spring, fully formed, from your soul to the finished piece. So when you’re looking for an idea, you can take a number of routes to get the ideas flowing. The Silver Linings piece came from several seeds. I wanted to experiment with UV resin, so that meant the piece was going to have color. I’m a metal clay artist, and I wanted to try syringe as a frame for resin, so that meant I could have thin lines and flowing curves. As an artist, I’m drawn to images that speak to the places I’ve lived in, from the dogwoods of my North Carolina childhood to the incredible variety of nature in my adopted home in the Bay Area of California. It was cold and grey and I’d been down in the dumps, so the cheerful flowers and sunshine motifs didn’t appeal. I started sketching outline shapes and the one that seemed both doable and fitting to my mood was a cloudbank with raindrops dangling from the bottom.

My skill set includes traditional wire work and beading techniques, so making my own connectors was as easy as having to use purchased findings, and lots faster than having to order some. And I always have a big stash of jewelry materials, so finding the right piece of fine chain to dangle the raindrops from was a matter of digging through one of my bins.

What I’ve learned from deconstructing this project is that an idea can start from a number of impetuses and then is developed by more influences. So if you’re looking for an idea, here are some places to start. Pick one, then mix and match to develop your idea into a project you want to make.

• Is there a new product I want to experiment with? What are its properties? A year ago I didn’t know much about resin, so I signed up to give a presentation to my guild to give myself a deadline to learn about it. Then I tried to include it in lots of my work over the past year.

• Is there a new technique I want to try? What shapes or inclusions or tools, etc. can I make with that technique? When I wanted to learn to make metal clay hollow cones, I started with cones for necklace ends. The problem is that I don’t make a lot of necklaces that use cone ends. Then I realized that the cone shape was perfect for the center of a daffodil, which happens to be one of my favorite flowers, and I made one of my all-time favorite pieces.

• What do I love? What do I dislike? Maybe you think hearts and flowers are overdone, or maybe (like me) you think they are iconic. Are you drawn to cities or mountains, or (again like me) it is a matter of mood. I’m a cat person, so I’m not likely to make dog jewelry. Except if it is for my walking buddy, the stately standard poodle Regis, who really isn’t a dog at all. He’s people.

• What am I good at? What do I want to get better at? Making my own findings is easy for me, so I can incorporate them in a piece without worrying about it. A lot of my pieces were pretty two-dimensional, so I deliberately set out to create some designs that were multi-part and/or dimensional.

• Who is my target audience? I’m interested in teaching my projects, so they have to be accessible to a group of beginners, and they can’t require esoteric materials or tools. On the other hand, I want to sell to upscale galleries and sophisticated women buyers, so I’ve pretty much given up on man-made CZ’s for my pieces that are intended for sale rather than teaching. Instead, I’ve started using natural precious and semiprecious gems and stones. I am inclined towards making classic pieces that are a staple of a woman’s jewelry wardrobe, rather than the trendy pieces that are good for a season or two. That choice informs the materials I use and the designs I create.

Maybe you haven’t done enough making to know the answers to what attracts you in your own work. If that’s the case, open your jewelry box and analyze the pieces you wear all the time and those that always get passed over. Are you drawn to line and form? Geometric or organic? Do you love color or tend to stick with metals? Do you like antique designs or modern? Then go to your sketchbook and work for an hour or two, putting together the pieces you like, rearranging them and adding to them, until you come up with something that says “you.”

And that’s my next-to-last tip. At the 2009 Metal Clay World Conference, I took a class from Alan Revere on design. It made me understand the power of keeping a sketchbook and making variations on a theme until I reach one that calls out to be produced. I’d never been a fan of sketchbooks before. In fact, I was of the “can’t draw a straight line with a ruler” school of self-deprecation. But since I’ve been keeping a sketchbook and putting down ideas as they occur, or sketching thoughts that spring from something I’ve seen as I see it, I feel that my work has reached a higher level and my ideas come more easily. I even took an online drawing class from my local community college to feel more comfortable with sketching.

The last piece is to get out there and make something, anything. There are studies that show that with 10,000 hours of practice, you can become an expert in anything. Do you want to be an expert at reading blogs or at making jewelry?

Yippee Skippee!

2010-10-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

This catalogue for Bead Fest Santa Fe just came in the mail, bundled with my copy of Lapidary Journal Jewelery Artist. And that's my silver and resin cloud on the cover! Those little letters underneath say "Pat Evans" for all the world--or all the subscribers, anyway--to see. I'd been feeling a little down because I haven't heard from Bead and Button, which at this point means that I didn't get in. Getting this positioning on the cover for Bead Fest makes me feel a whole lot better.

The show is in March...I'm really looking forward to the trip. My cousin and I are going to drive there and sightsee all along the way. Anyone else up for a cool jewelry vacation to escape the dregs of winter? Santa Fe is going to be a great show, and I'd love to see my friends there. (And there are lots of cool classes besides mine.)

Feeling like a beginner....

2010-09-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

I started taking some online art classes through my local community college. Although I think of myself as a jewelry artist, I don't think of myself as an "artist" artist. Being in a beginning digital art class with people who can paint rings around me is a humbling experience. (We won't even discuss Beginning Drawing.) However well I end up doing in these classes, I've already learned one big lesson--I'm remembering how it feels to not know how to do something, how frustrating it is when the teacher seems to assume I already know some vital step, how different my final product is from the image in my mind, how much better everyone else's work seems than mine, and how afraid I am that I'll never be as good as the other kids. I may not ever be able to sketch like Degas, but I hope I'll at least keep all these emotions in mind the next time I teach.

Summer work

2010-08-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

It must be summer

when starfish hijack my art

and waves call my name

The Power of Lists

2010-01-04T10:35:00.000-08:00

Even though September always feels like the "real" new year to me, thanks to many years of school, kids in school, and teaching, I like the fresh start of January, too. I love making lists, having the dream of achieving everything on them, and checking off accomplishments (which usually lasts a few days, at least.) The good news is that even though the lists go by the wayside sooner or later, the intentions in them live on. I recently found a list of goals from a couple of years ago, and I had actually achieved most of them, even thought the list was long forgotten.

So it is that even though I know myself well enough to know that I won't keep up with the check-offs for long, I am busily making lists of goals in various areas of my life--Health, Home, Art and Business. I'm breaking them down into smaller steps, and trying to do a little in each area every day. It's day 2 and I've already slipped up on some things (no walking yesterday, sigh). But that's OK. The intention is there, and I've learned not to let one slip-up stop all progress. So off I went to walk this morning.

It helped that I had an appointment to walk with a friend. I used to keep my goals closely held, so that if I goofed, no one would know. I've learned that sharing the goals with a few close friends, and working with them to attain them, helps to keep me accountable. So I'm adding another goal to the list--find like-minded people to work with in supporting ourselves in that perpetual search for growth. May you find many supporters on your path, too--and let me know if you need me to be on your team. I'll certainly be contacting some of you.

Building an Infrastructure

2009-09-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

I've been following the amazing bridge repair feat of a lifetime that is happening this weekend on the San Francisco Bay Bridge (www.baybridgeinfo.org). The planning, practice and expertise that have gone into the undertaking are simply amazing. Go watch a video or two, and pay special attention to the faces of the people involved. They seem bemused and proud at the same time, and they fairly vibrate with excitement.

That's what I want to feel about my work every time I sit down to create. And the lessons these bridge builders have to share are lessons for makers of all sorts. Prepare every way you can--practice, have even more materials than you think you'll need, rehearse, know all the tricks of the trade--and then dive in. Tell the world that your work is important enough to inconvenience people for a few days and shut the damn bridge down. Accept the risk of complete collapse and go ahead anyway. It will never happen unless you pull out the tools and start. And then, keep going, because finishing matters. Unexpected problems along the way are no excuse. They found a crack in the old span of the bridge today that would have forced a closure of the bridge whenever it had showed up. But because they had all the pieces in place, the extra materials, the people, the expertise, they're just adding that repair to the weekend's work, and last I heard they still expect to reopen the bridge on time.

In my own search to become more professional in my work habits, I've made a lot of progress, but I have a long way yet to go. I think I'm going to put a picture of the Bay Bridge up in my studio as a reminder. I've got the practice, the materials and the knowledge. Now I just need to block out the time, shut down outside traffic, and do it.

Just a little test post...

2009-08-31T10:39:00.001-07:00

to see if I can make this import to FB thing work. Maybe I'll stick a picture in, too, just to see if that shows up. I'll try to find one I didn't post yesterday. For the rest of you who are as clueless as I am, Sherry Cordova pointed me to this link for importing blogs: http://www.facebook.com/editnotes.php?import. I knew there had to be a way; I just hadn't noodled around enough to find it. Today I'm grateful for friends who lead the way!

34 Years of Practice

2009-08-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today is our 34th wedding anniversary. That's a lot of practice at being married--297.840 hours, not counting leap years. And, of course, way fewer hours if you only count time we spent in each other's company. But we were married even when miles apart, and so I say count them all.

Now, this is a blog about design and jewelry, not about relationships, so why am I talking about our anniversary? Because the point holds, whether you're talking about a marriage or about design. It isn't only time in obvious practice that matters. You're designing all the time. This weekend in Napa I didn't make a single piece of jewelry or even jot a single note in my notebook. Still, I saw a fake Persian palace with great motifs that may show up in a jewelry design one of these days. Down the street was a castle, ditto. And of course there were those vines, laden with black-purple grapes against a sea of green leaves and brown vines. What a color combination! That greyish bloom on the grapes--just Wow.

A few weeks ago we went to the Tut exhibit in San Francisco. I started using carnelian and lapis together as a direct result of that trip. I'm crazy in love with that color combination now, but it wasn't one I'd considered before. Yes, I know all the design rules about using complements, but I didn't FEEL them until Tut. Those Egyptians had design rules down pat.

So if you're feeling like you haven't done much this week as far as design goes, ask yourself what you have been experiencing. It's a part of you, a part of your design background, just as surely as all those days when Glenn was in Canada working and I was juggling kids and their activities at home added up to the relationship we have now.

Getting Serious

2009-08-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a year since I last posted on here, and that was only my second post. I'm not doing so hot on that blogging goal, am I? But in looking at those goal setting entries, I notice I didn't actually SET a goal for blogging. So here goes: 2 posts a week from now until Christmas. More if I can, but for sure 2 posts, whether I'm traveling or tired or sick or pretty much anything but having both arms broken.

The good news is, though, that I found an old list of goals that I'd lost, and I've actually made progress on the path. I do believe that the first step to arriving at your destination is to write down where you want to go. So. 2 posts a week.

I just got a lovely encouraging email from Lora Hart, whose fabulous blog "Such and Such" is one of the few I follow regularly. (Check out http://lorahartjewels.blogspot.com/ ) She suggested that I use the blog as a tool for my design process (in particular for the Metal Clay Masters Registry, which I just signed up for, finally tipped into action by her latest blog post.)

So here's a big thanks to Lora, and a promise to myself. 2 blogs a week, Level 1 Masters Registry sent off by a year from now, and regular dates with myself to work towards all my goals.

Setting Goals, Take 2

2008-08-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

After a month of creative conferences, one on writing and one on metal clay, I've come home to get back to work on jewelry. I'm enjoying experimenting with the new bronze clay (pix to come later this week).

I'm also looking at my goals again. I've found a couple of good websites on goal setting: http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html and http://www.topachievement.com/goalsetting.html
I'm rethinking the main areas in which I'll set goals. Each of the above sites has slightly different breakdowns, but they helped me focus my own thinking. So far I've come up with Personal (Health and Spirit); Career; Relationships (Friends and Family); Home/Environment (by this I mean personal surroundings, not improving the world's environment--that falls elsewhere); Financial; Pleasure; Public Service. What areas are other people choosing to set goals in?

Everywhere I look, experts on creativity, organization and even health are emphasizing the first two hours of the day. My nutritionist says everyone should eat breakfast within an hour of waking. The creativity guru at the writing conference, Eric Maisel, made a compelling case for doing your creative work right after you get up, while you're still in almost a dream-like state. Julia Cameron of The Artist's Way says you should do your Morning Pages first thing. FlyLady wants you to get dressed to the shoes and do some housecleaning priorities. I found myself stressing about what I should do first, and stumbling around trying to do it all. For now, I think that going to water aerobics is going to win at least 3 mornings a week simply because that's when they offer it. I'm going to use some combination of rituals (like listening to music or lighting a candle), practice (sketching or a Morning Pages-inspired Brain Dump), and BIC (butt in chair) for getting into my creative work.

What are you working on in your life? How are you setting priorities?

New Year's Goal Setting

2008-01-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

Here we are 5 days into the New Year already, and I haven't made any resolutions, nor do I intend to. What I am doing is setting goals. What's the difference? In a way it's just semantics, but playing the semantics game works for me. Ignoring the dictionary definitions, for me a relolution is just a determination to do something, with no plan of action. And we all know what happens to most resolutions. You break them once, and soon they're forgotten. A goal, on the other hand, is all about a plan, about thinking about the baby steps that lead to actually attaining the goal.

The good thing about a goal instead of a resolution is that you don't break a goal. Think of a hockey game. The team sends the puck down the ice. Usually they don't try to make the goal in one big whoosh; they make their way down the ice, sometimes running into obstacles along the way. They shoot. They miss. The goal hasn't gone away; it's still there waiting for another attempt. The team doesn't give up (well, usually). They regroup and make another stab at the goal. And if they don't reach it this time, they have a team meeting, rethink their strategy, and try again the next game. A goal is something you strive towards, keeping the end in sight, but with strategies to get you there.

I wrote up a two page list of goals in every area of my life--health, relationships, home, career, art, etc, and I'm putting steps towards those goals on my calendar each day.

I want to be more creative this year, to make my art a priority. What's the first step? Well, it's really got three smaller steps. First is to reclaim my studio from the clutter that got tossed in during the holidays. At the same time, I am insisting on including a few creative minutes in the studio daily. Otherwise, I could get lost in cleaning and organizing, and easily delay the scary business of creating. However, I haven't set any huge requirements for myself this first month. The idea is to start small, get some confidence, and work towards more. My focus is on building stamina and confidence. In other words--just make something! I'm allowing myself to be imperfect. The third part of my plan for making art a priority is to submit something--a contest entry, a tutorial, a book or article proposal, each month. The first step towards that piece is to decide what this month's submission will be. I've got that on my calendar for completion by Tuesday.

Writing this first blog entry is all part of the plan, too. It's part of becoming more serious about my art career. I'm not insisting on writing an entry daily, but I'm committing to once a week for now. And if I don't make the goal? Maybe it's not the right one, or maybe I just need to have a chat with my inner coach and come back with a new strategy for success.

Happy New Year!