Creativity & Flexibility

There is an important element in the creative process that I discovered this week: FLEXIBILITY. As a dancer I knew that the more flexible my body is the more creative I could be with movement…an obvious connection. Today as a jewelry maker the connection between flexibility and creativity is a bit more subtle for me. I have found in my last few special orders that I must GO WITH THE PLATE! Honor the piece and the design that it whispers in my ear, rather than the thoughts that I might have about what something “should” become (“should”, tsk, tsk…such a dirty word!). In order to hear that I have to get quite, listen to the stories that the client shares and be willing to let go of any notion I have about what that design “should” be. There is also the story that the china shares, beyond the memories of my client and my appreciation of the design, it is stored in the vibrating energy of the clay and carries with it knowledge of its own creation and past lives. The creative process in a special order is a shared experience borrowing the sentiment of the client, the history in the china and the end result that flows out of my sketch. In order to create something truly special, it is essential to open my mind and be willing to go with what works, be flexible, liquid, fluid…

I am working on a new special order that has nothing to do with jewelry. When I got the request to make ornaments for a wall sconce I wasn’t sure it would fit with what I do, ever rigid and suspect, resistance always seems to show up first. Fortunately, I remembered that creativity is one of my guiding values and that in my vision for this business I don’t necessarily see myself exclusively making jewelry for the rest of my life. In an ideal world I see myself surrounded by other creative people as we share our ideas and design concepts growing out of a shared creative force. I digress as usual…when I got the photos of the sconce and matched it with the design that my client chose I wasn’t sure that was the best fit.

All this being artistic and creative is new to me so I don’t automatically take ownership of being a “designer” or artist. None the less, I went with my intuition which was saying that something else was wanting to be done with these pieces”, a practice I am trusting more and more with special orders. With this order I sat down with the images of the sconce, the glass component I am adorning and the Blue Willow China that I am using for the piece. Over the course of an hour or so, ideas started to flow, neurons started firing, the process ignited! “If I make the shape more pointed it will connect with the shape of the star, if I use elegant crystals to space them I can honor the antiquity of the piece, if I choose pieces from the entire story of the Blue Willow it will tell the story on her scones…” I got more and more excited as I sketched!”

In the back of my mind I remembered that my client had something else in mind, “oh no will she even want my suggestion, will all this design work be for nothing”, “should I just do exactly what the client asked and offer no alternative???”. Ahhhh, the itty bitty committee in my head has all kinds of suggestions that have nothing to do with the creative process. And then I remembered that she also came to me because of something I had created, that I designed, something in her must be willing to also trust my input and design sense. So, what the hell, got to throw it out there…

In the end it doesn’t matter whether my idea is adored or chosen, my commitment is to honor all parts of this process: the client, the china and myself, if I can hold the space for integrity around that then I know it will be a success. There are times when my design work hits the nail on the head and other times when it just doesn’t. The most fun I am having is through the entire process, the conversations, the frustrations, the “aha’s”, the yes’s and the no’s. I am grateful for my special order clients who give me this opportunity to challenge myself in a new way. As my body ages and I relate less and less to my previous physical flexibility I had 10 years ago I am finding joy and solace in the flexibility my mind is practicing.

Tools of the Trade

About 17 years ago I was living in Texas with my mom and step-dad, Peter. I was young and in the clouds about life, chasing my heart toward the West Coast in following my heart and then current passion. I don’t remember exactly what I was telling Peter, I am sure it was a litany of plans for what I thought would happen when I left Texas and made my way to New Mexico and onward to whatever. After spewing forth my tempest of ideas, thoughts, desires and wishes, Peter’ ever responds ever so simply: “Well, SOMETHING is gonna happen…” I wish I could insert the sound of his voice into that quote so you could completely get the ultimate zen simplicity with which he delivered this quintessential message that I would return to over and over again in my life.

Peter got involved with my mom when I was around 9 years old, I am sure he didn’t have a clue what he was getting into, the tempest that is the energy of my mom followed by the whirling dervishes that are her children. Something tells me that Peter either knew in some cache of infinite wisdom the power of his catch phrase or this was when he was beginning to discover it. Either way “something happened” for all of us.

One might ask what the hell this has to do with business or business philosophy? Well, everything. How I have interpreted this saying over and over again in life is that it is critical to take some action, to go live life, take care of business and then beyond the simple actions we take all we can do is sit back and see what happens. This is something I have NEVER been good at. I often have a clear idea of what I want to happen so it has often been a struggle for me to sit back and accept what life brings. What I am learning from that phrase these days is that rather than being a period on the end of the sentence that phrase is actually a rolling dialogue: I take some steps, the universe responds, as much as I would like to know what the universes response is going to be (and I often try to pretend to know this) I don’t know, so what there is to do is to respond to what is in front of me.

For example, this weekend my mom and step-dad are in town and I was so looking forward to sharing the Saturday Market with them, after all they have played the largest part in getting this crafty business up and running. They paved the way with their craft business, Flowers in Glass. Their choice to lead a funkier than normal lifestyle and choose work that supports their lifestyle is the source of my inspiration. When I think I am making crazy choices about starting this business or wonder if it will ever amount to putting food on the table I look to their life, take a deep breath and a few steps in the direction of success confident in the knowledge that…”something is going to happen…”

No matter how prepared I might have been to give it a go this weekend I couldn’t control that the Market would be canceled due to major storms passing over. I believe that because of my commitment to practicing principles in this business such as trust, faith, open-mindedness it was so easy to let the cancellation roll off my back and open up space to enjoy their company. I trust that I have done and continue to do the work to create a successful and honorable business so when something happens that I didn’t foresee I can roll with it and enjoy the “something” that shows up.