New Years Resolutions - 6 Months in

Can you believe it’s mid year all ready? The time has flown by and I’ve heard mention of the “C” word already! 

This week, I’ve been thinking about my January post where members of the AJE team shared their plans for the New Year. Today, I thought I’d catch up with everyone and see whether we’ve stuck to our plans, failed miserably or ended up somewhere completely different! 

Where has this year taken you so far?

Lesley Watt

Good progress with the components with more original and thematic designs... Dipped toe with the sketching and larger clay pieces but still want to do more...I've not made that much jewellery but what I have made has been more technique based...No progress on books yet. 

Ceramic Components

Art Journalling

Ceramic Sculpture and dish

Designs by TheaJewellery

Jenny Davies-Reazor

My year has been productive! New experiments and a new series developing of pendants in porcelain. New tile designs being ads to the Mythic Nature line. And shows, many shows. I have been neglecting the personal/inspirational side of things. My pile of books is no smaller, but Ive been reading plenty of fiction. My artists journal got stalled due to travel and shows. At mid year I am reevaluating and trying to reinstate my journal practice and give myself permission to read!

Reading Pile!

Ceramic Tiles 

Selling at shows

Linda Landig

-My first goal was to continue developing my skill in ceramics. I'm doing that.-Next goal was to get a feeling for my personal style in ceramics. That's def going to take more time.-Did some drawing in Oaxaca, as planned.-Haven't done much in the way of wire work, except to have made a small supply of handmade ear wires, while in Oaxaca.

Ceramic components

Sketching

Destashing

Karen Totten

What resolutions? I made resolutions? ::blink::
Karen’s intentions for this year were to get back to daily art journalling, but that was sidetracked when she started a new job in UX Design. It sounds fantastic and she gets to hang out with some pretty cool co-workers! 

Awesome Co-Workers

Rebekah Payne

Things are coming along for me.
Slower than I'd hoped, but progress is progress and I can't complain! New leather stuff is finally happening! No new critters yet, but I have been making new beads… and old beads in new colors to change things up a bit. Right now I'm really focused on efficiency and I'm designing beads around that idea. I'm very patient when it comes to art, but long production time is limiting to me. My goal is still the same: maintain what I'm currently doing and get more time for fun (non-bead related fun once in a while is nice!) and family.

The production Line

Leather Components

New bead designs

Susan Kennedy

A water disaster turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I was able to do a few things in my house that would not have gotten done otherwise. That prompted a large garage clean out and some other rooms were organized as well. Still searching for the creativity muse that's hid somewhere.

Clearing Spaces

New Designs 

Stunning Lampwork

Francesca Watson

I haven't made time for the drawing class I wanted to take, but otherwise I feel like I'm making lots of progress towards the other goals. I spent a whole week with Connie Fox at our retreat in March digging into the elements of design - it has profoundly changed my working process and style. I also walked through a process with her of discovering what I'm trying to say with my work - it was an intensely personal and eye-opening experience and I feel freer in my creative efforts than I ever have. As a result, I've gotten much better about scheduling and protecting my creative time, maybe because I'm enjoying it more.

Developing Styles

Hand Forging with silver

Jennifer Stout Cameron

I haven't really accomplished any of those goals as I have been too focused on getting straight A's in my college classes towards an art degree and not neglecting my family too much. However, I signed up for a drawing class for the fall semester (it helps that it's required I take drawing classes to get an art degree). I did talk to my advisor about the fact I do not have any drawing skills and that my artwork up until now has been mainly glass and metals which did not require I even be able to draw a stick figure. As for balancing school, home and studio time, that hasn't happened at all. As for journaling, I have started a bullet journal, which has helped contain everything plus encourages me to journal a few days a week.

Bullett Journal

Wall Planner

Keepsakes

 Melissa Allford Meman

The only goal I met was continuing to play with metal clay! I didn't get a chance yet to try cloissone, but do have Pam East's Enameling on Copper Clay DVD and am getting ready to experiment with that. My personal blog has not improved!

More metal clay

Designing with handmade components

And for me? 

Caroline Dewison

Well getting back to sketching lasted for an entire drawing, I like it though and it feels good to get things out of your system when you need to. I've played with metal clay, although I was only brave enough to try out some bronze, the silver is still in the packet.  I’ve cranked up the pottery wheel and managed to practise a few times, I even produced a wobbly cup! And being more organised… well I don’t think that’s ever going to happen! I have plan in place for the rest of the year though, and that's to keep practising on my wheel and creating bigger work. I have a new kiln on the way so I can fire larger items... we'll see how that works out in another six months!

Sketching with pastels

Creating with Bronze Clay

Wobbly cup

I think we've all done pretty well so far!


So how about you, our readers? Have you managed to stick to your plans? let us know how your resolutions are working out so far in the comments!

Call me Stash Buster!

Hi my name is Kristen and the last bead purchase I made was December 31, 2014.

This picture is loaded with some awesomeness including the new Kheops, Czechmate triangles and bricks, Rullas and Chexx!  I got those in just under the wire.

And with that the request edict demand requirement challenge has been made for that to be the last bead purchase for 6 months.

I know I did that too!  So many new beads come out everyday whether they come from the Art Bead community or the manufacturers that make the cool accents beads us seed beaders love.  I may have fainted during the conversation because the goodies that I will have to wait for were spinning around in my head.
But really you do not need to feel that bad because this is my bead stash.

Now I know how organized it looks and for the most part it is because I do most of my beading at the couch during TV time.  And this is also what we see as soon as we walk in the basement door so that is why it is organized like that.  A little OCD too.  That may also be the reason my husband seems to think I have enough beads.  Humm we may have to re think this arrangement.

If you have been following this month we have all been on a stash busting kick.  I think it is a good way to start the year as well.  If you would like to join us please go here to see the rules and sign up.

So of course you want to see a sampling of what I intend to bust right?  This is part of my team stash.  I have pieces from almost every member to play with.

So has this happened to you?  Do you think you want to play along with us?  Do you think I will make it 6 months?

What are these "resolutions" of which you speak??

I don't do resolutions. Resolutions make me crazy, mostly because I can never, ever keep them. Ever.

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this, right? Who needs the extra pressure and opportunity to feel worse about oneself??

However...

If 2014 was any indication, I definitely need to slow down and take some time to not only do a better job of planning but also do a better job of working my plan, whether that's at home or in the studio. If that's a resolution, then I guess I'm making one... and the more I thought about it, the more I decided I was going to need some help.

First up: planning for my income in 2015.

Maybe this seems like a no-brainer to some of you, but I didn't sit down last year and really examine my goals for each income stream I'm working. So I put together a spreadsheet that breaks down where my income came from last year and where I want it to come from this year. That's helping prioritize where I spend my time and focus.

This was super simple to set up in Excel, and for every line item in this summary I have a planning tab that lets me work through the details. For the 2015 columns, I set it up so I can plug in a bottom-line income number on the total line, and then shuffle the numbers around in the goals section to play with percentages. This particular exercise has been really eye-opening - as it turns out, some of the things that take up the most amount of time haven't been the most lucrative. Being more efficient with my time and energy seems like a logical thing to move to the top of my priorities list.

So: creating efficiencies comes next.

Again, this may seem like a no-brainer, and having spent so many years (decades) in the business world, I was honestly surprised that I was struggling so much with this. In fact, it wasn't until I had a conversation recently with my friend (and business partner) Gail Stouffer that the light-bulb went on. I kept referring to all of this in the context of my "creative life." She said, "It may be your creative life, but it's also your job."

source

Oh. Right.

So I'm implementing a few new "rules" to help me think of my creative life as a job. First, I'm only going to take my laptop into the Roadhouse Studio one day a week. I can pick an hour to handle emails and stuff from home either before or after studio time each day, so one day a week should be PLENTY to do the necessary admin stuff. If my laptop is in the studio with me, I tend to get distracted from the work of "making" that I really need to be doing in that space. 

Second, I'm going to try out some new tools to help me manage my blogging and website tasks more proactively.

Do a Pinterest search for planner printables and you'll get a ka-billion pins to wade through. I found two that looked interesting to me (here and here) and printed out only those pages I thought I'd really use. Mondays are usually the day I update my to-do lists, and since I tend to be more analog than digital about my planning, these printables will give me a place to do my jotting. With three websites to keep updated (mine, Roadhouse Arts' and - soon - my husband's) and three blogs to write for (mine, Roadhouse Arts' and here at AJE), I really need to do a better job of planning and researching updates and contributions.

(As an aside, I do use Asana for my to-do lists and I highly recommend it. Once my plans are finalized, I update my projects online. This is especially helpful for long-term projects and it's essential for teamwork. Gail and Lisa, my Roadhouse partners, can see all my Roadhouse-related tasks, comment on them or ask questions, and see when I've completed or updated things - and I can do the same for theirs. It's been a huge help in reducing emails, confusion, and duplication of effort.)

Finally, keep learning.

Barbara Minor at Roadhouse Arts, December 2014

I am so very, very fortunate in that I get to participate in deciding which guest instructors get invited to Roadhouse - and who I personally would like to learn from often pays a huge part in the suggestions I make to my business partners. I love learning from other artists, don't you?? Last November, I spent a week in the home studio of metalsmith Melissa Muir and in December, master enamelist Barbara Minor spent three days at Roadhouse. I came away from both experiences completely fired up and creatively refreshed, and December was maybe my most productive time all year. I didn't do enough of that throughout the year.

In 2015, I'm going to have the great pleasure of working with and learning from Melissa Muir and Connie Fox at the Roadhouse Retreat, followed closely by two Roadhouse workshops with Robert Dancik. I'm such huge fans of all three of them that I'm a little giddy at the prospect! (Want to join me? Head over to the Roadhouse Arts workshops page for more info!) And I'm teaching at three national venues this year - teaching is always a learning experience for me, as I work to create projects and an experience that is positive for my students, so I'm counting all three in the "learning" category. (More info about those opportunities will be posted over on my personal blog soon!)

So that's where my reflections on 2014 have brought me. What about you? It's hard to believe January is nearly half over already - where are you focusing your energies? What are your plans for 2015?

Until next time -

2013 and Beyond!!!

Hard to believe 2013 is coming to an end very soon!!

The technique I played with in 2013 is not really a technique but a medium. I have been wanting to jump in to Polymer clay for a couple of years, I finally did it this year.

I started with mostly painting these flowers and starfish.

then moved on to mixing color combinations
 and of course I had to start using Ammonite and Sea Urchin
 textures which have been a favorite of mine using PMC since I began in 2008.

Had fun with my Wonky Bead Blog hop!

Wonky Bead Blog Hop REVEAL

I can't say I have anything specific I want to learn in 2014,

 I just want to continue expanding my Polymer Clay techniques and continue working with Copper.

I want to play more with my own textures using

 Scratch Foam

 Photo Polymer Plates

 and my Sillhouette Cameo Machine.

Thank you all for coming along on this ride with me and I hope to continue with the fun in 2014!

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

KristiBowmanDesign on Artfire

Open

Last Saturday Melissa wrote about choosing a word to guide her for the upcoming year.  Many people have found this to be a more powerful approach than making a bunch of resolutions that are easily forgotten.  I decided to try this approach for 2013 and I've chosen the word: Open.

I would like to be open to new experiences, rather than being fearful of change.  I will strive to be open to new learning and open to change, rather that clinging to the safety of old ways of doing things.  I hope to be open to pushing my jewelry in new directions with out paralyzing myself with anxiety over whether it is good enough (to me that often means perfect) or not.

To that end I have signed up for an e-course on wire working by Kerry Bogert.  I've wanted to improve my wire skills for a long time.  I'm attracted to contemporary forms of wire work, such as Kerry does, but I've been afraid of mangled and bent up wires.  I envision my wire work looking like a ball of yarn the cat has played with.  But, I'm banishing that image from my mind now and forging (pun intended) ahead!  I will be open to new jewelry adventures! 

I look forward to sharing my efforts - both the challenges and the successes, with you.  I will strive to be open to learning from my mistakes without self-judgement.  Intellectually I know that all learning involves some frustrations and failures. Its just that getting that intellectual knowledge into my heart is sometimes tough. But I know that if I am not open to experiencing the inevitable set backs, I will never move forward.

I've done some simple wire work, as you can see in these pictures, but it is very laborious for me.  The finished pictures don't show all the times I've cut apart the wired links and done them over (& over!) because they looked crooked, bent or wonky in some way.  Plus there are so many more wire techniques I hope to learn.

Do you have a word for the new year, or some jewelry goals you hope to achieve?  Share your thoughts here.  For one thing it helps to make your goals public and for another, we can inspire and support one another.  I'm looking forward to your comments!

Linda
Linda Landig Jewelry