Inspiration Monday

It occurred to me once again that I tend to get caught up in my "have to do's" and "should do's" (hmmm, should there be an apostrophe in there or not?), and my opportunities to just let go and have some creative play time are rather limited. Right now I have 3 fiber art commissions to work on as well as 3 in-progress projects. I'm thinking that if I pick a few things as inspiration for the week, it just might get me out of my comfort zone and nudge me to explore something new.

I keep lots of pictures on my computer as well as file folders full of printed material. Today I'm going to choose a few things that I hope will guide me this week in my creative endeavors.

For my fiber inspiration, I've chosen a few photos that I took last summer when my good friend Amy West and I went to San Francisco to see the Chihuly exhibit. I didn't realize that flash photos were prohibited, so I managed to snag a few before I was chastized by the exhibit police. I was really taken by his Basket series - maybe because I had just started making fiber vessels - and here are two of them that really inspire me.

Maybe I will combine elements from both of them into a single piece. I have some "stuff" that I've been wanting to use, but up to this point I hadn't had a vision for it - now I do! I'm not sure if I'll create a vessel or something different - I'll let the mood of the moment dictate what comes of it.

For my glass inspiration, I had already decided what I wanted to "play" with. These are some royalty-free stock photos that I found, which I will use to guide me. Since the next show I'll be doing will be in Miami, I thought that an ocean theme would be appropriate. And today is rather hot, so these pictures make me feel good in MANY ways!

Wow, I want to jump right in! But the area of the Pacific that's closest to where I live is just too dang cold to do that. A nice trip to Hawaii would be lovely right about now...

So that's my inspiration for the week. It might take me more than one week to get to it, considering my commissions, in-progress projects, and the fact that I'm teaching classes on two evenings. You folks will just have to keep me on my toes!

And finally, a wonderful jewelry artist - Cassandra Graham of Wilde Jewels - posted a picture on her Facebook page. She purchased a set of my leaves at the Bead & Button Show, and she has been very busy since she got home. Here is the set of leaves that Cassandra purchased at the show.

And here is the necklace that Cassandra made using my leaves to accent a wonderful focal bead by Wayne Robbins.

Thank you, Cassandra - you rock! If you've never seen their work before, you absolutely must visit Wilde Jewels and Mountain And Robbins.

And now I'm off to the kitchen to play with some food. I have no inspiration for that task, so I'll just have to rummage around and see what I can come up with. (Yes, I ended my sentence with a preposition - bad Shirley!)

Now go have yourselves a happy and creative day!