carol j watson

Sigh…

The end of summer break is drawing near, and I find myself at the zenith of my creative energy. June was for decompressing, exercising, and sleeping. July was all about business: Dental appointments, doctor appointments, various household administrative tasks that had been held til summer break. Around the middle of July, the electric buzz in my head meant ideas were finally heating up and bouncing around in my brain, and my “work” began. By August 1st, I was in the throes of jewelry making, photography, listing new items on Etsy, and planning my next moves. Art shows to enter, new beads to make on the torch, and suddenly, I realized that school is less than two weeks away…

Sigh.

You might think that I am not looking forward to school. Not true. I love teaching art, and I love what I do for ten months out of the year. It’s just that the next two weeks are in many ways the hardest part of the year, and require a shift in thinking for me. A shift that takes me away from my much awaited regenerative, creative time back to lesson planning, meetings, parents, anxious teenagers trying so hard not to look like anxious teenagers, more meetings, more lesson plans, new schedule, new problems to solve, and the like…The Friday before teachers return to work is always the hardest. Four projects to wrap up this weekend. Somehow get to sleep Sunday night. Show up Monday morning, with a smile on my face, ready to begin a school year anew.

Every year this happens. I press the “pause” button on my tidal wave of creative energy. Then I spend two hard weeks preparing for the real work of the school year to begin. And, as always, when I press that “pause” button a second time to unleash the creative thinking again, I realize that I have a better use for that creative energy than just me.

Here’s to a new school year.

I love working with blue/brown glass combinations. Doing so is the lampworking equivalent of jeans and a soft turtleneck sweater on a rainy day. There’s something so maternal and genuine in this combination, perhaps because they are the essence of earth and air, soil and sky. Visually, these beads are versatile in terms of fashion and jewelry design applications. This beadset features moretti glass of cobalt, blue, periwinkle, sky blue, blue aventurine, brown, topaz, taupe, and ivory. Transparent light blue and topaz lend three dimensionality to many of the beads, and a variety of shapes and designs are highlighted in this set.

I am working with jewelry designer/metalsmith extraordinaire, Jane Estes, on the International Society of Glass Beadmakers’ Convergence Project. The fundamentals of this competition are that two artists are paired, a lampworker (that’s me) and a jewelry designer (that’s Jane), to created a wearable object of art that is inspired by the four elements of water, air, earth, and/or fire.

We’ve been planning, brainstorming, sketching in our notebooks, and visiting each other’s studios in order to learn more about one another’s style, ideas, art form, and expectations. It has been exciting to collaborate with another artist on a project, and we have gotten off to an incredible start, despite one hip replacement surgery (me) and 4-year old twins (Jane)! I have found Jane to be a fountain of inspiration, with an incredible eye for style and design. My most memorable moment so far has been watching Jane play with and pick out colors from my glass inventory, creating a palette from which I would create glass beads. Pulling out the pretty rods of glass is sort of like opening a brand new box of crayons, but without the fabulous smell. It’s good.

So far, I’ve experimented with nails and screws in glass beads (see last month’s posts), and I’ve really enjoyed creating the most recent Earth and Water inspired bead set, which I will feature below. Next, I am going to focus on truly Earthen tones, and see what inspiration is derived therein.

As most people who have looked at this humble blog probably already know, I will be going into the hospital this week for a much needed hip replacement. At 39, this is an unusual thing, so I expect to turn a few heads in the joint replacement ward. But, it is what it is. I feel thankful to live in a time when my ailment is so easily corrected. I look forward to being able to walk normally again, without a cane, and my students (many of whom have only known me this school year and with a cane) had better get ready for the new and improved Mrs. Watson when I return! I also must acknowledge my supportive and loving family, especially my husband and son who have waited on me hand and foot, patiently walked with me while I hobbled to and fro, and in general have made it possible for me to keep working up until this point. I couldn’t ask for more supportive family and friends.

With all that said, let’s talk about ART! Specifically, let’s talk about the art I have been thinking I will do during my recovery period, and how this recovery period will affect my art and the creative process. Already, I have been planning some specific art projects, and they’ve been defined by what I think will be limiting circumstances: limited mobility, limited ability to sit (at first), and obviously, limited standing/walking ability (also at first). Working with clay, at least as I’ve done in the past, is out. Standing at an easel, probably also out. Sitting at the torch, making beads, well that I might be able to do in a couple of weeks. So, that leaves me some promising outlets including drawing, small object painting, and jewelry making.

I love to make pocketbook/matchbook shrines, and I have been gathering supplies for that: miniature objects and ephemera, papers for collage, pastels, varnish, and paints. I think I will work with those objects first, but as to what I will use as my subjects or inspiration, I cannot say. That hopefully will work itself out in the next week or so.

Once I am more mobile, I plan to do some lampwork. I am very excited about this, and even on this blog you can see I’ve been feeling very experimental lately. I am collaborating with jewelry designer Jane Estes on the ISGB Convergence Project and Competition, and I hope to get some work done on that project during my recovery period as well.

Lastly, I hope to make some lampwork jewelry from my finished beads. I have been particularly fond of making pendants during the last year or so, and quite averse to earrings. Maybe that will change and I will get some earrings made. I would like to include found objects in my designs, so that will be a challenge to my creativity as I work in this category.

So, give me a week or two to get it together after surgery, and I hope to post again before you know it. Time flies when you’re having fun, and I intend to have a blast with this new experience. I can’t wait to see its reflection -and expression- in my art.