Creativity

The other day my friend, The Crafty Chimp, wrote about "That Creative Gene". She tells us that she is from a creative family and encourages others to go look for their creative gene.
Her post made me think about my own creativity. I usually just take it for granted. I wasn't one of those kids who made maccaroni pictures, I have a glue trauma as I like to point out at any possible occasion, and if had to sew my own clothes, I probably would get arrested for indecent behavior after showing myself in public. I used not to knit half bad, though, when I still did it ... even though I only started knitting because my bad doodling wasted too much paper.

Then I found the wire and the beads, the big ones and finally the tiny ones, with a little adventure here and there like polymer clay.
Now it makes me wonder why we stick with some things and not with others.
Why is it so appealing to me to turn yards of wire into a mesh of stitches while I hated crocheting with yarn? Where did I find the patience to put tiny beads together on a loom, but not the patience to do it without a loom? Why can I waste wire experimenting for hours, knowing the project could well end up in the trash while I can't find the patience to look at a thirty minute video tutorial?

Sometimes people tell me I should make this or that, and they probably think that I'm very stubborn if I ignore it (yes, I am stubborn, but about other things).
Why don't I feel the urge to even try some things - wire wrapping, off loom beading, bead embroidery only to mention some of the things that could be seen as natural for me to try. I have most of the material around, I could jump right in and see if it's for me, but there is still so much I want to try in my own line of work, patterns are lined up in my bead program, wire ideas fight for that last bit of space in my brain, and then there is my need of keeping it fun and relaxing for myself.

Last night I spontaneously forgot all my patterns and ideas, instead I took a necklace I had been given by someone from a former life and which I never wore, cut it apart, and then there was only my wire, my crochet hook and the tumbled stone beads.
About 145 cm later I had a new necklace and felt good. I may not have the answers to my questions, but as long as what I do makes me feel good, all is well.

The necklace will be in my shop eventually after I had better light for pictures.

Random thoughts - creative moods

You remember Mabel, my muse? The voice in my head, the feeling in my fingers, the lady poking into my brain with a stick to cause sudden deviations?
Mabel who sometimes is a simple girl with a simple taste, then changes to an elegant lady who demands gemstones and silver, and makes a seamless transition to a dark soul or a geek afterwards.

What I'm talking about? Well, I often say that I like to explore and it's true. I like to experiment, go down new paths, change patterns in the middle of a project. When I look at the work I have done, I wonder if someone who hasn't known me for a while yet would be able to tell it's all mine.
What does it say about me? Is Mabel a bit crazy, and does that make me a bit crazy? ;-)
If I make, say a bowl, and suddenly it wants to be an octopus, should I really give in? Or should I finish the bowl, and then start an octopus? Would I even still want to make the octopus after I have finished the bowl, though?
Is it wrong that I rather follow the giggle sometimes? Yes, I actually do giggle while making some things, and honestly, it's a good feeling.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. Are you always serious about your projects? Do you start something and end up with something else? Do your creative moods jump wildly about the place or are you trying to contain them and keep them in order to always take the one you need out of its "mind drawer"?

Let me show you some randomly picked pieces I have made lately to explain what I mean.
These all come from the same muse and the same hands over the course of a few months.

Don't worry, Cara IS wearing a wire crochet body underneath, even if you may not see it at first sight.

Know now what I mean?