Cleaning Out The Gypsy Bead Chest

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I have this beautiful wooden box that I've been carrying along with us in the trailer. I decorated it with images of exotic looking gypsy women, and use it to store beads in. During the summer, when I was making a lot of beads, I stashed a few every day, in case I came to a time when I didn't have a studio for a while. And that's exactly where I'm at right now.

Here we are, at a house we don't want to move back into, happily camping in the driveway. The studio space is there, but for some reason I'm hesitant to set it up and start making beads again. I'm not sure if I'm just in a slump, or if I've really hit the bead wall, or if maybe I've actually lost my super powers. The truth is, after almost exactly 14 years of making beads, I don't want to make beads anymore. Huh. I'm not sure what to do with that information.

I sort of figured I'd be a beadmaker till the day I died. But now I'm thinking it might be time for a change. There might be something else out there, or in here, for me. Maybe I have more to offer. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and dig out the torch and glass and get right back to work. I guess I'll know when I know.

Meanwhile, I have a bunch of stuff in the Bead Chest that needs to find homes, so little by little, I'm posting them in my BeadShop. We can use the money, and I really need to clear the physical space in order to clear the mental space and make room for whatever wants to come through next. It might be beads. It might not. One thing I've learned, that seems consistently true for me, is when it's time for Something New, I never get a clue as to what that's going to be until I completely let go of Something Old. That's scary. Part of me wants to take yet another great big leap of faith, and trust that the net will be there. It's always been there before. The other part is a practical, chicken hearted girl, with her nose to the grindstone, making a living, making a living, making a living.

I could let all this freak me out, or I could be happily curious to see how it goes. We always have choices, and from day to day, the choices change like a revolving restaurant menu. Today's Special is... well, I can't wait to find out.

Comments

  1. Carolina ElizabethOctober 12, 2010 at 7:20 PM

    YOU ARE AN ARTIST!!! I tried to leave a comment on one of your lasts posts about what it means to be an artist, but it didn't work. If figured it was just not the right time.
    I am an art teacher and forever Jill-of-all-Trades. I never stick with one thing more than a couple of years. Right now it's oil painting. Last year is was metalsmithing, before that it was enameiling and ceramics. That was right after my glass sculpture period. Anyways, I think the act of creating is the art. If we are fortunate it will be special to someone else also, but that doesn't stop us from creating art. Some of us that are artists through and through create art out of anything. If no glass existed tomorrow I am sure you'd find another medium in wish to pour your heart out in a tangible way.
    Art does not have to "say" anything. That is a new and mostly Western idea, but humans were creating art before they were analyzing what was "truly meant" by an artwork. Anyways, you are an artist. I hope you come visit my post and read my declaration of being an artist...
    www.carolinaelizabeth-art.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carolina ElizabethOctober 12, 2010 at 7:22 PM

    This is my post...sorry


    http://carolinaelizabeth-art.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-am-artist.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. DebOctober 12, 2010 at 9:00 PM

    It is the season of change, after all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kim MilesOctober 13, 2010 at 1:47 AM

    Carolina Elizabeth - thank you for your thoughts and the link to your post. You're right. An artist is an artist, even when she's "between mediums." I remember easily calling myself an artist as a kid. Somehow that got harder as I went along. But there's no denying it. As Popeye would say, "I yam what I yam." :o)

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 13, 2010 at 4:55 AM

    Everybody needs change from time to time. Regards from Carpet Cleaning London

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousNovember 9, 2010 at 5:13 PM

    Damn! I wrote a long & good comment here a moment ago but it didn't post. I will try to re-write & post.
    Usually when I write something like this I do a "copy" in case this happens so I can paste & repost. Guess I learned my lesson!
    Sue Meister

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sam BernMay 8, 2012 at 2:09 AM

    All old houses have dirty old chests like this one and they need cleaning from time to time. I have found your tips very useful.
    Angela Brumfield

    ReplyDelete

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