A Big, Bold Challenge

Kathleen Nowak Tucci, Secret Garden Necklace

Have you considered challenging yourself creatively with something you’ve never done before, or at least not for a long time? I have a lot of creative friends who are doing just that right now and, as I work towards having free time again after an exceedingly busy couple of years, I am too considering what to start in on. My mind, probably like yours, never stops churning up ideas so the designs in my head and in my sketchbook have progressed into a variety of new possibilities. The question is, what do I challenge myself with first when I can get back to creating my own artwork on a regular basis?

Whether or not you are at a similar crossroads or want to change up what you’ve been creating, I encourage you to consider the question of how you could challenge yourself as we go through some work that is very much unlike what I have done in the past. I am hoping that, going through some of my own possibilities, this might start those wheels turning for you. What, if any, pieces here feel like they are in the same vein as your present work and which of these approaches have you’ve never imagined yourself doing but might consider?

Not Sage

I, like the vast majority of polymer artists, work primarily from organic inspiration. (See my post from last month about man-made inspiration for contrast.) A lot of my work is also rooted in story, particularly speculative stories dealing with the human struggle in both usual and unusual circumstances. It’s emotional, and personal and not at all neat and tidy. So, this means that certain styles of work almost never cross my mind as options. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try it.

Highly graphic work is one of the things that I’ve never done. I have no aversion to it and, in fact, really enjoy beautifully crafted and highly graphic artwork. I have even drawn particular elements as inspiration for aspects of my work, both in polymer and in graphic design, from the likes of Mondrian, Mucha, and even graphic novels. But I have never designed any highly graphic art work.

If I did aim for a more graphical approach, it might be something like Jana Lehmann’s colorful and fun pieces, with clean lines but still plenty of blended color and subtle color variation to make the colors glow and give it the calm energy I gravitate towards. I could see trying to create cleaner lines and using purer color and standard shapes although I think the organic would find its way in at some point.

Aren’t those flowerpot pins just adorable? That brings up another thing I don’t do much of. I don’t do cute. Which is strange because I love cute! Although I am kind of picky and maybe a bit odd about the cute that I enjoy. So, if I were to try to create something cute, it would probably be cute with a dark edge to it. Maybe something like these Bitty Bitey Ones by Darcy of North Carolina. Just look at these faces! The big black bead eyes help but it takes some serious sculptural instincts to get such great expressions. The cuteness factor is through the roof! Could I work on my skills long enough to create something even half as cute? Would I want to? Won’t know unless I try, right?

There is one thing though – I just couldn’t create such pieces in pink. Now, I have made some pink polymer jewelry in years past, mostly because of requests, and it did sell well but it didn’t do anything for me. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. But the important thing was that I tried and found out I just didn’t want to. That period did get me a touch more comfortable with the color so when it turns up incidentally in a blend or interference powder, I don’t just set it aside. The thing is, it’s not just pink that I steer away from. I don’t, in general, work in bright colors. But I’ve really been thinking that more saturated colors are something I should push myself into trying out.

Maybe I could do something like Jana’s super saturated color schemes above or, go completely over the rails and aim to mix-and-match a little bit of everything in one piece like Susan Dyer so expertly does. Talk about graphic! Her use of solid colors and highly contrasting patterns could be sniped from Bauhaus prints. Her compositions often teeter on the edge of chaos but the confining silver bezels and the consistency of her unmuddled approach to color and pattern creates cohesiveness.

One of the reasons Susan’s work appeals to me is because it’s not actually that big – the pendant above is all of 1.75” by 1.5”. I also tend to design jewelry that works as an accent or embellishment for the wearer rather than it outshining a person. But I know a lot of polymer artists prefer large pieces as one can really show off the surface design and techniques that way. And, honestly, I would love to do some really large jewelry but since I generally wouldn’t wear anything really large, it’s hard for me to envision what a wearer of this kind of work would want, and I think that makes me hesitate to the point that I have not tried.

I have been trying to work up the courage to go big by taking a close look at the work of big and bold artists like Kathleen Nowak Tucci. I love her work because it’s not only unabashedly large but it’s also, in part or almost wholly, created from recycled materials, such as the Saul Bellow award winning piece of hers you see at the opening of this post. And talk about going big … her work has also appeared on several big TV shows including the multiple times her work adorned the immensely talented Lily Tomlin on the show Grace and Frankie. You can see both Kathleen’s Leaf Necklace and Pistil Bracelet on Lily here.

What’s on Your List?

There are a number of other things I could try to push my work outside my comfort zone but these are presently on the top of my list.  So, now that you’ve seen the top of my list, what do you think you would you be willing to try out that you would not normally do?

Keep in mind, this self-challenge is not designed to change your style but to just put yourself, and hard, to see what you come up with. There is the potential for as yet unimaginable discoveries about yourself and where you want to take your work. It can be a way to inject some fresh new energy into your studio time and, since there is no end goal such as even showing the work to anyone or selling it, these explorations can give you the freedom to just push yourself in unselfconscious directions.

Are you one of the ones that have been doing this already this year? If so, maybe you’d like to share what you’ve tried to do and how you like the experience. You can insert a comment at the end of the post to let me know. Maybe when things slow down over here in the chaos it is my home at the moment, we can devise a midyear challenge for us all to work on. What do you think?

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Back to the Chaos

Ok, gang, I have to get back to wrapping up the next magazine issue while navigating my discombobulated house. The chaos is in a holding pattern while we wait for the city to get the plans back to us. There is a ton of construction still going on due to the fires in November so things are a tad busy over there. But at least we figured out how to NOT have the refrigerator in the studio although it is just outside my door, just looming over me. So my present challenge is not to open that thing every time I have to squeeze by it!

As for you, my darling readers, I hope you are enjoying your weekend and have a fabulous week to look forward to.