Where I Get Ideas

Where I Get Ideas

A lot of people have told me that they aren't creative because they don't have any ideas. I'm sure they have trouble finding good ideas, but I do too.

I think one way to get good ideas is to make sure if you finally happen upon a good idea, don't let it get away. The way to do this is to always keep your notebook of ideas with you. I do this by taking notes in the note app of my phone. As soon as I think of an idea that I think is pretty good and I might want to try it sometime, I dictate or type it into my phone. The dictating is necessary when driving or otherwise too busy to look at the phone.

Then later I take my ideas for writing and copy them into my larger note file. (I leave the jewelry and other ideas in my phone in my to-do list for some reason.) I organize the notes file and I even cross out ideas when I use them so I can know which one has been used. You don't have to use this system, but come up with a system that works for you to keep track of your ideas if you want to have more good ones.

I think another way to have good ideas is to try your ideas out to see if they work. Probably some of them won't work! That's okay! Those mistakes are necessary for you to learn how to be better at your creative work. Get determined to make something you have had an idea for. You will learn many invaluable lessons, even if you don't like your first result. Then of course you can keep trying to perfect it until you get it just the way you like it. Many great artists have had to try 30 or more times to create their best pieces.

Another place to get ideas is by looking at the type of work you want to make. It's okay if your first pieces are attempts to imitate something you've seen. You're just practicing. But most of the time when I see art it makes me think of what I would do differently or how I would like to use a technique I see to get a different result. So get on the internet or look at some picture books to get inspired.

Another way to get ideas and I don't hear a lot of people talking about this but I do it a lot is to be inspired by materials. What kind of materials and supplies make you feel happy or excited? It's okay to fool around with supplies for a while first before trying to make something good, in fact I would argue that is the way you should do it, so you can learn how to use the materials before trying to wield them well. So maybe just a trip to the craft or art store could inspire you to get started making something.

For example in the picture above of my "Mermaid Necklace," I got the idea to start by looking at how many beads I had in ocean colors such as blue, teal, and green, with interesting old-looking surfaces such as faience, stone, and clay, I imagined what a necklace made by a mermaid of all the pieces she had found from shipwrecks would look like. I made the wirework swirly and wavy like the sea, and finished it off with a soft, undulating silk ribbon.

I hope these ideas help and may you be blessed.

--Pam

 

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