Once I settled on the three main “contenders” for a line of brooches and earrings. I next set out to make five of each of these. Making a multiple of  five helps me to think deeply about the design and the mechanics of the “making of”, refine the techniques, try out different color palettes, and see which designs excite me the most.

For this particular series I decided I wanted to add fabric. I had so enjoyed making the initial fabric collage that  I wanted to explore different ways to add fabric to the brooch design. I also wanted to use my French flea market metal” treasures”.

Each of the flower brooches was made specifically for  each of the four women in my original story.

I leave soon for workshops in France and will be writing weekly from there about what I see, what I am inspired by, where we go during the workshops, and anything else I find that you might be interested or inspired by for making art. Please join me!

I started by drawing 20 different flower shapes.

Then made several in polymer clay.

Here are some of those.

Next step was to decide which one had the most potential (and interest) for me to make as a possible new jewelry line.

I’ll show you next step next post.

Small things are savored slowly and thoughtfully. It may be arranging fresh cheese and tomatoes for lunch. Or picking fresh wildflowers on my morning walk to place in a vase from the flea markets for the breakfast table . Or walking the old road between our village and the next to get fresh bread for the morning.

I have the info up on my France workshops page here for my early bird discount  for France 2014. Please email me for the details. It would be a pleasure to share this with you.

Creative Sparks, by Cynthia Tinapple and myself is now available as an Ebook! Click on the sidebar on my site or at PolymerClayDaily.

On another quick note I am now part of the Seek Your Course regular contributors team. I’m very excited and honored to be a part of this. My first post will be in June. I’ll be writing about Finding Art Later in Life (among other creativity ideas.)

Next week I’ll get back to Narrative as Inspiration.

Here’s a quick exercise for you. Pick a favorite knicknack and photograph it or do a quick drawing of it everyday for a week in a new environment.

I started by writng a short (very short) vignette about four women waiting in the garden at Versailles after a gala dinner there. The women were from the 1920′s. I  found imagery from old postcards and fashion magazines (that I picked up at the French flea markets) that depicted women from the 1900’s.  The fashions they wore, the jewelry, the mood of the women depicted all fed my narrative and this fed my ideas for the actual art. The story has alot of adjectives in it- descriptions of the gardens, what they are wearing, etc. These descriptions can be translated into art techniques- for instance, “curliques and paisleys” (into surface designs), sculpted topiarys (for shapes).

Next: How many ways can I interpret the story- brooches, earrings, pendants, bracelets, collage, books, wall pieces, boxes, vessels, pillows, sculptures? I want to brainstorm and design as broadly as possible at first.

In order to focus, I set intentions/tasks/assignments for myself as a way to develop ideas. First I decide to interpret one of the vignettes as a fabric wall hanging.

Next to further develop jewelry ideas I draw twenty different flower shapes- flowers from the garden at Versailles, flowers from other source material and flowers from my imagination.

Then I make a number of these flower shapes in polymer clay and fabric and decide which I like best, which ones I can see myself making many of, which ones pique my interest.

This is a bracelet I made using the scraps from several collages and adding polymer clay centers.

Next week- what happens next in the process!

For the last several yeaar I see Margaret once a year at la Cascade. Her quiet (yet hilarious) presence is a joy and  she always inspires me and keeps me striving to be a better artist.

Margaret sent me several pictures of her work which I would like to share with you. She is also in the gallery at the back of the Polymer Master Class book.

Margaret and I are hard at work on a collaboration which I hope to share with you in the not too distant future. Theres a bit of pressure Margaret!!

We soon after connected and became friends at the wonderful Tory Hughes’s retreats in Northern California thruout the 1990′s. This was a rich and rewarding time of growth for those of us that were able to attend this annual retreat and forged friendships that have contimued thru the years.

Christopher and I share many art days together and he is the first person I go to to reflect on my art and brainstorm ideas and solutions. His excellent eye for detail and his wonderfully creative brain are a constant inspiration in my life. His own artwork is always exquisite.  He is a perfectonist and there is no detail left untouched. I admire his work ethic to do something over and over again until it is exactly how he wants it to be.

His work has been featured in polymer clay books and in galleries on the west coast. Here’s a small sampling for you to enjoy!

I was so pleased when she decided to come to my workshop in France, not once, but twice. During our time there we got to know each other and share many wonderful and special experiences- a highlight is when her lovely husband gave the whole workshop a private piano concert. I will never forget that.

Amy is thoughtful, adventuresome and creative in her artwork and my time with her has been inspirational and lots of fun. We have talked in depth about creating new work, the marketing of work, teaching- the whole range of being a working artist. I think when you visit her blog  and see her latest  artwork, you’ll be inspired too. Not only to create but to think deeply about being an artist.

I especially love this necklace that she created during one of our get-togethers in New Mexico. We were staying in a beautiful house called The Butterfly House and everyday was a joyfest of making polymer clay (and I was sewing fabric collages like a fiend). Jan made hundreds of these beautifully colored discs and besides this stunning necklace, she also created a 8 ft long Rain Chain with the same technique- stunning! See it HERE.

She is one of my favorite people to brainstorm and problem solve with. Thanks Jan for sharing this lovely necklace.

Denice worked on several exciting pieces during the Messengers and Storytellers workshop. She created a piece later that spring for an auction- I think it is spectacular! It’s called Melody’s Content.  And check out her classes at Craft Edu. You can also find her on Etsy and Flickr.

I’ll  start off my in-person workshop year with three fun workshops at The Bead Chick in St Augustine FL. Here’s the INFO. Come join me February 16,17 18,2013.  St. Augustine is a wonderful place to explore and Peggy’s store- The Bead Chick- looks great.

One of the exercises in the book is to choose a word that you feel is the essence of the creative project you are going to undertake. (my creative project was” to develop a new way of working creatively). I thought deeply for a couple days about what this word was/is/would be.

I saw a recurring pattern in my creative process.  As a child I created stories for my art and when I was an actress in New York City I always created a detailed biography for my characters.  I realized I was most creative when I worked within or from a narrative or story.  I have always been fascinated by people’s stories, real or imagined, and especially fascinated with those from other countries and other cultures.

I realized “narrative” was to be my starting point – I want my new work to have a story.  It may be a story only I know and use as inspiration or perhaps a story shared with others as part of marketing. But “story” or “narrative” was essential to the inspiration and process of making art.

I’d like to share with you a bit of my process and a couple exercises (easy non-threatening ideas) for you to try. Here’s an easy one.

Find a picture from a magazine or book of a woman (contemporary, from another era) and answer these three questions about her.

She Likes, She Loves, She Dreams of.

Now design a piece of jewelry for this woman. My example is She Loves earth colors, She Likes dots and checkerboards. She Dreams of having a garden. At the top of the post is the necklace I designed. (PS the photo is from an old French postcard- the kind you can pick up at the flea markets there).