[Jewelry making - Article 00058] - Re: [Orchid] What Is Jewelry Design?

[lee]

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>     How does a goldsmith / artisan differentiate between design and
>     creation? Clearly, many people think that making jewelry and
>     designing jewelry are the same thing, but are they? What are the
>     qualities that differentiate the two? 

    The question is based on an assumption that we all share similar
    creative processes. It is a false assumption, I think. 

    Some goldsmiths do meticulously design a piece before engaging in
    the act of bringing it into physical being. Others may begin with a
    core concept that develops in some respects as they delve into the
    project itself. Still others may begin with a rock and some metal and
    no preconceived notion of what they are bringing into being. Many, if
    not most of us, have operated from time to time in more than one of
    these modes. 

    How would an expressionist painter explain the division between
    design and creation as he scrambles to capture a sunset with splashes
    of color on a canvas? Would she/he necessarily share the same
    creative process as one who devises delicate and clever findings as a
    signature of their work? 

    I myself have worked in all three of these modes and have produced
    finished pieces in each mode which I am variously happy or unhappy
    with. Sometimes I seem to think/feel with my hands, intuiting rather
    than planning what I am doing. Sometimes I have stared at a stone,
    and stared at it, and done several sketches before I have settled on
    a game plan. 

    Each approach has strengths and weaknesses. The meticulous planner
    may find that his/her approach tends towards formalism, and is
    imbalanced towards the conservative and the cognitive. She/he may
    also find that meticulous planning unlocks a capacity for intricacy
    and complexity. The spontaneous doer, on the other hand, produce
    striking pieces which seem to emerge from the subconscious or even
    collective unconsciousness, but may on the other hand find that their
    finished pieces are unsophisticated, underdeveloped, or unduly based
    on accidental factors. 

    So what is the answer? I think that it is not so much a matter of a
    "right" way so much as finding your way. One friend of mine was
    technically somewhat accomplished, in some respects much more so than
    I, but he was chronically frustrated by the fact that many of his
    pieces were just recitals of standard techniques employed in a
    conventional way. I encouraged him to occasionally forget exquisite
    karat gold and fine faceted stones, and just take some time with
    silver or even copper and screw around with it like a happy idiot,
    doing silly, nonsensical things he would never dare do with gold.
    When he did things that really rock (and if he took my advice, he
    would be doing unique things that absolutely rocked, probably in the
    first hour) he could then do them in gold without the fear that drove
    him to such conservatism. Another friend is very creative but frankly
    "flighty" and impulsive- she does some interesting things, VERY
    spontaneous, but mostly the result of accident and nothing compared
    to what she could do if she was somehow forced to sit down and
    actually get a good grasp of a technique rather than skimming over
    the top of it. 

    Here's why I am not rich: Rather than sell you the Unlock Your
    Creativity and Worship Me As a God Seminar, I am telling you this
    for free, and with the disclaimer that, despite my advice, both of
    these people AFAIK are doing exactly the same things in exactly the
    same way as they were previously. Of course, they did NOT heed my
    advice, and this voids the warranty. Local restrictions may apply.
    CreativeLee is a Delaware Corporation and may get away with Murder
    under US law. Buy CreativeLee today. 

Lee

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