On learning to let go of the need to create something 'good'

Royal Academy of Arts, London

As I mentioned yesterday, I am on day two of a three day art course called Inspired by Joseph Cornell. Today we went to see the exhibition of some of his work at the Royal Academy of Arts. The exhibition is entitled Wanderlust which is an interesting choice as he was something of a recluse and didn't travel far from his home in New York during his whole life. However, he was obsessed with the idea of travel and collected photos, stamps, magazines, postcards - all kinds of items. He was also a very intelligent man who read widely so knew a lot about the world.

I really enjoyed seeing the work at the exhibition. This was my favourite piece that I saw today. The work is smaller than I had imagined and the strings are so precisely threaded.

Tilly Losch by Joseph Cornell

In the afternoon we went back to the Centre and continued working on our own boxes inspired by Cornell.
Yesterday I had a mini crisis about wanting my work to be good but I'm over that today! I've decided to just have a go and see what happens. It's quite a psychological leap to make. We always want to do our best but when we're learning we just have to have a go, otherwise we'll never learn and improve.
That's been a useful lesson and something to remember to highlight when I am teaching my own students as they can often get stuck trying to be good.

So my box is inspired by Cornell's Pharmacy. I will take a photo of it and put it on the blog when it's done (although it may be an artful photo with a lovely filter!)

Pharmacy by Joseph Cornell

Follow me on instagram, twitter, facebook and pinterest

Comments

Silver clay on the BBC

If you are reading this blog then you probably already know that I make jewellery with a material called metal clay. It's not a well known material so I was really pleased to see it featuring on a programme on BBC1. The programme is called Countryfile and a metal clay artist called Emma Mitchell was featured, interviewed by Anita Rani. Emma talked about the mental health benefits of getting out into the countryside and getting inspiration from nature and natural surroundings. They picked leaves and other natural materials and used them to make moulds and silver jewellery. It's fantastic that silver clay was featured on TV as it raises awareness of the material. The metal clay world is quite small but I haven't met Emma yet although she is also teaching at the Y ou Can Make It metal clay conference in March so I am looking forward to meeting her there. You can watch the programme here on the BBC iplayer until 6th March 2018 (but only if you're in the UK unfortun...

Business matters article for Making Jewellery magazine

As part of my role for the London Jewellery School I've been writing the Business Matters column in Making Jewellery magazine for six months now. We've been doing an interview series with jewellers on different aspects of jewellery business. However, this month I am actually featured! I wrote an article on getting press coverage which would be relevant for all small businesses. The magazine is available from Smiths and larger supermarkets so do check it out! It's issue 116, March 2018. This image is shared with permission, copyright GMC publications

Ring a month theme for February 2019

I've been overwhelmed by the number of people being inspired by the Ring A Month challenge. At the time of writing, we have 351 members in the Facebook group and 300 followers on Instagram. If you'd like to join in there's still time! Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/makearingamonth/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ringamonth/ I have decided to announce the theme for the coming month a week before the start of the month. This is to give people time to think about their designs, particularly those that are busy and have a lot to fit in. The theme for February 2019 is .... music and lyrics Here are some ideas to get you thinking about how to interpret the theme Be inspired by A song/piece of music you love A specific lyric from a song A style of music e.g. classical, metal, rap, funk etc A musical An instrument/s Music artwork (CD/LP sleeve or music video) A concert you went to (or wish you went to!) A music festival Choose ...

Edinburgh jeweller

Search This Blog