classes Archives - Solamente

Too much to do, too little time to create

It was the end of a long day and my artist friend and I took turns apologizing for yawning through dinner, cross-eyed from too many days of busy-ness. Like usual, our conversation turned to the art projects we’ve been working on. Kathleen mentioned a new watercolor series she was thinking about starting.

“I wonder how I could carry color from one painting to the next?”

Suddenly, we both perked up. My favorite conversations start with, “I wonder how…” This question invites curiosity, creativity, and new possibilities to explore. Ideas were flying about color and technique. Suddenly, we were both energized as the creative possibilities bubbled up. We could hardly talk fast enough!

A colorful, complicated quilt block I completed thanks to Tip #4.

How to perk up your creativity

It gave me an idea to share with you some of the ways I bring creativity into my life when there isn’t enough time to make art. If your projects are languishing untouched, and your to-do list is long, I hope these ideas inspire you.

Tip 1: Ask artistic friends what they’ve been creating lately.

This is an enlivening topic of conversation for creative people. It opens up a world of discovery when you ask about what’s on someone’s easel or needles or workbench.

Tip 2: Talk about what you would make if you had more time.

This is the creative person’s variation on the “what would you do if you won the lottery.” Even when life intrudes, you can take your creativity to the hypothetical world where you have lots of free time and no other commitments. What would you create? What techniques or mediums would you like to experiment with?

Tip 3: Ask “I wonder what would happen if…”

In the case of Kathleen’s project, she was considering a larger question about color-blending techniques. Although her medium is watercolor, I shared about creating gradients with yarn (alternating rows of the previous color and the next color) and seed beads (increasing and decreasing percentages of colors). It gave us both a new appreciation for how widely-different media create similar visual impact. Wondering out loud is juicy!

Tip 4: Sign up for an in-person class. If there is a physical location to visit and people waiting for me, it really does make me prioritize creating. I’m nearly finished with a complicated quilt because I enrolled in a class with a friend.

Tip 5: Offer a class.

This is one way to really force yourself to create even when the stack of mail beckons. Teaching a class means creating samples and showing up in person to assist others. If you have access to space and a local following, this is a great way to get out of a rut and have fun creating. It’s an extra bonus that I often learn as much from the students as they do from me.

How do you fit creativity into your busy life?

Do you have ways to bring more creativity into your life when it’s busy? I’d love to know about it in the comment section!

A new wire art class

For the first time in six years, I’m offering a new advanced wire art class! It will feature creative skills for working with wire including bending, embellishing, shaping, adding hanging elements, and balancing a piece. I’m very excited! Here’s the first of two samples, this one is in silver:

Designing a class is an art

Not surprisingly, the process of designing a class requires creativity too.

The name of the class is Meander. Being a lover of words, the first thing I did was look up the definition and make notes about the descriptive words. This set the tone as I wrote the class description and made a list of materials.

Artists who teach likely have two general strategies for preparing a class–a chicken and egg approach, if you will. The first way is to create a piece with a specific class in mind, taking careful notes along the way, step by step. The other approach is to create a finished piece and then think, “Hey! This would make a great class!” This is more challenging because you must reverse-engineer the creation process from memory so that students have clear instructions.

When I create art pieces, my primary focus is always to ask “is this sturdy and stable?” I hardly ever think about the order I did it in. Fortunately, for the Meander class, I did it the first way and have good notes.

New wire art skills and techniques

In the past, I’ve taught classes that feature a specific project that participants walk away with. I’m excited that this advanced class focuses exclusively on students pushing the limits of wire, embellishments, and balance. Instead of a carbon-copy, students develop their confidence in creating an original piece using the techniques discussed in the class.

Since I last taught a class, I have learned new skills from the art I’ve been making. Sometimes wire does unexpected things in the course of producing new work. I am eager to share these discoveries with students. One of the other departures in this class is the option of rhinestones – something sparkly – instead of my more usual pearls or beads (I’m more of a monochrome designer, but hey sparkles, what’s not to like?). We’ll be playing with curves where you can choose to add rhinestone chain (among other things!).

One of the signs of artistry is being able to develop your own design aesthetic and learn to trust your own sensibilities. This class will be an aesthetic challenge for participants to discover what’s pleasing to them. To answer that age-old question: “How do I know when I’m done?” For all these reasons, I can’t wait to teach the class in January!

Five tips to fit creativity into your busy life