Wednesday, May 28, 2014

How funky is your creative funk?

Mine is pretty funky. I have absolutely no desire to head to the studio. I'm not inspired by anything. My brain is in 5 billion different places the last few weeks (lots going on here)...none of which includes bead making. Oh, sure, I've participated in a waxed linen challenge and blog hop, and the April AJE design challenge. But other than that? Not really much of anything happening.

Over the long (United States) holiday weekend, I realized a couple things. My brain is now officially on vacation at the lake house. And second, that needs to change because I have three months to prep for Bead Fest Philly.

And while I spent very little time on Facebook this weekend, this photo of ceramic pendants made by Natalie McKenna (Grubbi Ceramics) immediately caught my eye when it showed up in my feed.


I can't find the original comment she made regarding the pendants, but it was something like they were based off photos she took in Scotland. (I would ask her directly, but it's like 5am her time as I write this. I highly doubt she's going to respond in the next 15 minutes or so that my eyes are going to stay open to finish this post.)

Hello? DING DING DING!!!! Remember my lake vacation brain? How about combining my love of the lake and love of making beads? I'm sure you're thinking "Duh, Jenny. How slow are you?" 

Sunset cruise.


But I've never been someone who makes beads based on something. I'm more inspired by color and reactions than anything else. 


Luna moth. I've never seen one in person before and thought a leaf was stuck in the porch light fixture at first glance. #lunamoth


Found hiding in the Hawthorne tree.


Sheets of ice shifting, moving, crashing together on the lake today.

Sunset


Autumn at the lake  house


Just arrived at my happy place.


Ominous clouds moving in. #nofilter #lakejamesindiana

Lily pads in sunset


Lake "weeds"


The Sandhill crane couple (aka the alarm clocks) surprised us yesterday with two teeny fuzzy brown bundles of joy. The cranes are super skittish and won't let me get very close to get a good iPhone shot. One of the babies is at the bottom of this pic, abo

Even my AJE teammate, Rebekah, was inspired to create this set of beads for me based on photos I took at the lake. And I absolutely treasure them. 


I think it's time to create my own "lake series" beads based on my own photos. Next thing you know, I'll be sketching bead design ideas too. That would just be plain crazy...

Hopefully I'll have something worth showing for my next post in two weeks. 

Have a creative week! 

-Jen Cameron

8 comments :

  1. Can't wait to see what you come up with Jen - those are some very inspirational photos from the beautiful lake.

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  2. Very cool, love all the pics and dying to see Sandhill Cranes one day!! Rebekah's creations are amazing and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

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    1. I love those guys. My first experience with them was having them wake me up at about 5am with a gawd awful noise. But now I love it :-)

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  3. Wow, your photos are just amazing - all of them! My creative funk can get pretty funky, too - I totally understand that! Natalie's pendants are just drool worthy and those beads that Rebekah created for you are just super! Love the colors,...wow!!

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  4. Hi Jen, I'm so glad to hear that your muse is returning. The beads that Rebekah made are great. My favorite is the one with the crane. I will be watching to see how you do this with your beautiful glass.

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  5. Your photos are fantastic--you could sell them as art themselves! Love Natalie's pendants, they look like copper! Can't wait to see what you come up with from your lovely lake photos.

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