Comments on: The Aha! Moment http://libzoid.net/blog/2008/11/10/the-aha-moment/ Thoughts about creativity, polymer clay, beading and life Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:43:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Libby http://libzoid.net/blog/2008/11/10/the-aha-moment/comment-page-1/#comment-1229 Libby Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:30:37 +0000 http://libzoid.net/blog/?p=733#comment-1229 Elaine & Randee, thanks so much for sharing your stories. I love to hear how people get hooked on a specific material. Elaine & Randee, thanks so much for sharing your stories. I love to hear how people get hooked on a specific material.

]]> By: Randee M Ketzel http://libzoid.net/blog/2008/11/10/the-aha-moment/comment-page-1/#comment-1228 Randee M Ketzel Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:02:26 +0000 http://libzoid.net/blog/?p=733#comment-1228 Yes.....most definitely. I had been a bench jeweler/designer for almost two decades, and craft as it were, was my life, though on a level that could not be considered hobbyist; it wasn't so much fun as work; I learned to blow off the stress of setting diamonds by working in more forgiving materials....but none of them resonated. Once I finally (and blessedly!!!!) became pregnant with my daughter, I kissed metalwork and other crafts goodbye; but just before doing so, I had purchased some Cernit from Rio Grande on an impulse. Thirteen years later, I ran acoss some of it in a box--still good, don't you just love polymer clay--- and started playing with it; realized that there were other more colorful brands out there.....just in time to get a call from one of our neighborhood organizers that a girl from our school desperately needed fundraising help for a heart transplant. I looked at those bright blocks of clay, they looked back at me, and suddenly I started forming the most gorgeous eternity symbols in clay. They were truly what the ancient Greeks mean when they refer to inspiration, and another artist (Clare Pramuk) and I made and sold hundreds, donating every penny to the transplant fund (Which was a wonderful, wonderful success). Working with that clay, watching it transform, blend, discovering every new and beautiful thing I could do with it...that transformed me. To my eternal gratitude. Yes…..most definitely. I had been a bench jeweler/designer for almost two decades, and craft as it were, was my life, though on a level that could not be considered hobbyist; it wasn’t so much fun as work; I learned to blow off the stress of setting diamonds by working in more forgiving materials….but none of them resonated.
Once I finally (and blessedly!!!!) became pregnant with my daughter, I kissed metalwork and other crafts goodbye; but just before doing so, I had purchased some Cernit from Rio Grande on an impulse.
Thirteen years later, I ran acoss some of it in a box–still good, don’t you just love polymer clay— and started playing with it; realized that there were other more colorful brands out there…..just in time to get a call from one of our neighborhood organizers that a girl from our school desperately needed fundraising help for a heart transplant. I looked at those bright blocks of clay, they looked back at me, and suddenly I started forming the most gorgeous eternity symbols in clay. They were truly what the ancient Greeks mean when they refer to inspiration, and another artist (Clare Pramuk) and I made and sold hundreds, donating every penny to the transplant fund (Which was a wonderful, wonderful success).
Working with that clay, watching it transform, blend, discovering every new and beautiful thing I could do with it…that transformed me.
To my eternal gratitude.

]]> By: Elaine http://libzoid.net/blog/2008/11/10/the-aha-moment/comment-page-1/#comment-1194 Elaine Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:54:44 +0000 http://libzoid.net/blog/?p=733#comment-1194 Yep. Had the Aha! moment the fall I was pregnant. I had been making and selling my jewelry at shows for a few years and I had begun progressing to using fairly nice but expensive art beads. I picked up a beading book and in it was a section with making very simple millefiori beads. I went out and bought some Fimo and made scads of beads! Over the next few years I found more complex caned beads online and my technique improved and developed. This fall marks my tenth year though the honeymoon is still on. Yep. Had the Aha! moment the fall I was pregnant. I had been making and selling my jewelry at shows for a few years and I had begun progressing to using fairly nice but expensive art beads. I picked up a beading book and in it was a section with making very simple millefiori beads.

I went out and bought some Fimo and made scads of beads! Over the next few years I found more complex caned beads online and my technique improved and developed. This fall marks my tenth year though the honeymoon is still on.

]]>