new inspiration

-
I never get tired of pondering inspiration and how it comes to us. It's always so surprising and also so expected when something new pops up. I've known for a long time that if I let the inspiration flow, there will always be more. I know there's not a limit on creativity, except for limits we put on ourselves. People who claim they don't have a creative bone in their bodies drive me nuts. We are creative beings who come from Divine Creativity, and each of us has our own form of creative expression. It's easier to spot in some people over others, but I believe in my bones that everybody, everybody is creative.

I've been looking at the curtains in our trailer for almost five months now, thinking how the crazy flowers in them might lend themselves to a good bead design.


It didn't go any further than the thinking phase until the other day, when my friend Deborah sent me a link to MagnoliaPearl.com.



I spent an entire wash and dry cycle in the park laundry room, immersed in this beautiful site. It spoke to me. I even have some of the same gypsy images on my beautiful Bead Chest, remember?



The next day, boom, there were new beads just pouring out of my hands. I can never take credit for new stuff when it happens. I know it doesn't come from me, but through me, and when it happens this way, it's a ridiculous amount of fun. Look at this bead. It's crazy! And it looks nothing like my curtains, but the curtains are in there too. That's what I'm talking about when I say Divine Inspiration. Hooo-La! It's such a romp to sit back and watch the sparks fly!



I used to teach beadmaking, but stopped a few years ago, although I wasn't sure why, except that it just didn't make me happy. I think I've finally figured it out. I think that when I teach someone how to do what I do, in the way that I do it, it hampers their own Divine Creative Connection. It doesn't serve their higher purpose to try to make beads just like mine, and my limitations as a teacher don't allow me to be vague enough to show them just the nuts and bolts and let them run from there. Teaching is not my talent, just like knitting or cooking might not be yours. We all have to go with our strengths, and let someone else take over where we're lacking. Isn't it lucky that we all have different talents and skills and interests? Together we all keep this big ball spinning, and it spins the best when we just relax and let the inspiration flow. I have more of these beads in the kiln this morning. I can't wait to see them, and I can't wait to make more. What a ride this is. What a ride.

Comments

  1. m.e.November 23, 2009 at 12:57 PM

    I always think of inspiration as a sort of stew.
    Not a very glamorous comparison.
    But ,both stews and art start with a variety of ingredients.
    Some we almost always add,some are new ingredients we want to try ,and some might things hidden away in the cabinets of our minds.
    Then we just stir it all together and see what happens. The process is nourishing ,even when the result isn't especially tasty.
    Whatever you added ,your new bead turned out to be Delicious looking!!! Love it!!!
    :)m.e.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Zoe NelsonNovember 24, 2009 at 4:59 AM

    Wow, Kim. That is one gorgeous bead! I might have to get me one of those. It makes my day when things just seem to come togehter on their own. I made a bracelet yesterday out of pieces and parts that had been lying around. I just looked at the way they happened to distribute themselves on my bench and, voila! All I had to do was put it together.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MichelleNovember 26, 2009 at 4:55 AM

    I recognised the picture on the girl's top as being on your bead chest immediately Kim ! I thought you were designing clothes as well now !! What an amazing site that is !!
    I love the new beads, can't wait to see more of them !!!
    Michelle xox

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment!

Popular posts from this blog

cats are not dogs, and how tangling string untangles frustration

-
Image
As Airbnb hosts, we have lots of lovely interactions with guests while they're here, and with potential guests making inquiries before they book. I try to be really clear in our listing, about the house, amenities, and rules. The trouble is, some people would rather not actually read the listing, or if they do, they just ignore the parts they don't like. Oy. I mean really, who thinks cats and dogs are the same thing? Today I got a booking for two nights in March, from a very nice-sounding couple coming down from Canada. They were very excited to stay here at Mermaid's Nest , and everything was great... until I got to the part in their message about bringing their cat... Ruh roh... I had stated very clearly in our listing that we allow small dogs . Cats were not mentioned. Neither were goats, snakes, skunks, or rhinos, because I figured people would see that part about dogs , and at least ask before assuming all other animals were welcome. Oh, silly me. Apparently the...
Read more

where to buy what i make

-
Image
I closed my Etsy shop recently. What??? Why??? Well, because I think Etsy has done great harm to the livelihoods of makers everywhere. If you do manage to get noticed, which is pretty difficult these days, it's impossible to compete with the pricing on so-called "handmade" goods that are mass produced in foreign countries. Equally frustrating to me is the number of actual makers who drastically underprice their work, effectively turning themselves into voluntary sweatshop laborers in order to stay in the game at all. I'm not playing. I would love to see makers of all fine handmade things everywhere reclaim a sense of dignity, and charge a fair price for their skills and talents. Until I find such a group of folks that I can join, I'm back to being on my own here, in my own little shop, charging a reasonable price for the quality materials and hours of work it takes to make the things I make. I feel good about this. The Shop, at the moment, contains exactl...
Read more

soft spring scarf

-
Image
If you come here often, you know that I finished this pretty little swath of yarny love a few days ago. The yarn is from CandySkein , and I love it. A lot. It's a beautifully hand-dyed, washable merino fingering weight that was quite wonderful to knit with, even though I'm sort of a lazy knitter and usually use something quite a lot more bulky. This worked up into a delicious, lightweight-but-warm fabric that's perfect for between-season wear. Pardon my pilly worn-all-winter sweater, and focus on the scarf. It's my favorite style - an asymmetrical triangle, worked from end to end. It has a ziggy-zaggy edge on one side, and a smooth edge on the other. The pattern is called the Hitchhiker Scarf, and you can get it on Ravelry . I test drove this one for a day and loved it. But as I do with most of the things I make, I also decided to let it go. Only three have made it into my personal wardrobe for keeps, and I'm just fine with that. Make them, love them, let ...
Read more

and what do you do?

-
Image
I'm in my outdoor office this week, at the picnic table on the patio. I have a favorite vintage tablecloth, lilacs in a martini shaker, and tea in my new favorite cup, made by Charan Sachar . I'm considering a new format for my blog, which I'll try here today. I suspect that only three people actually read this, and yet I persist. I like to write, so that can be good enough. I have lots of things to talk about, so I'm going to try dividing my time here between Life Stories and Ponderings, and of course, Knitting. Feel free to tell me what you think, or even just grunt if you're out there. Really, have no idea. Pondering... I like meeting new people. But I hate the inevitable moment when New Person will politely raise their eyebrows and ask me, "And what do you do?" It's sort of like the human equivalent of dogs sniffing each others' butts. We need to size each other up somehow , right? What better way than to sniff out what a person d...
Read more

yarn that speaks for itself

-
Image
I've had this amazing ball of hand-dyed-and-spun yarn for months. It was made, and given to me, by my friend Valerie, which makes it even more special. I've moved it around the house, looked at it, held it, and asked it what it wanted to be, but it's been very quiet. I've loved it so much just as a ball of yarn, I was in no hurry to knit it into something else. Here it is with my great-grandmother's hand carved crochet hook. So much wonderfulness. Maybe sometimes yarn can just be yarn, at least for a while. As the weather got colder, I started think of hats. Not just baby hats like I make for the hospital, but big hats. For me. That wind on the beach can really bite a girl's ears in the winter. So, long story short, I knitted my beautiful, most favorite yarn into a hat. I found a really easy pattern for a beret, which Rick made for his daughter (yes, he knits a bit). Here's the pattern . It's really cute! And here's my hat. Also really cute. ...
Read more