Saturday 22 March 2014

I Think Of Them With My Brain

When thinking about this post in bed this morning, I thought I might call it 'Inspirations'.  Pretty dull though, right?

Then I thought of something my friend Paul Cemmick (illustrator and cartoonist extraordinaire) said when we were talking about daft questions artists are asked - in particular 'Where do you get all your ideas from?'.  I don't know if he ever seriously gave this response, but his 'I think of them with my brain' always makes me laugh.

So here are some designing inspirations, aka the things I think of with my brain.

NATURE
Biggest, first and foremost brain-exploder EVER.  Nothing is more beautiful than nature, in my humble opinion.  All of what I love is here - colour, form, pattern, the lot.


 
Yaaay!  Nature is pwetty!

COLOUR
I love colour and it's really important in my life.  I have something called grapheme-colour synaesthesia, which means I see letters and numbers in colour in my head, and have done ever since I can remember. I'm quite particular about colour matching and getting it absolutely right in my work - I don't know whether these two facts are connected!





PATTERN
It's very difficult - perhaps even impossible - for me to leave anything plain and unembellished.  I see patterns everywhere and love patterned textiles, dresses, tiles - anything.  This affects the way I decorate my jewellery, particularly the mixed media pieces, and has also inspired the fox & hare designs.



THE PERFECT CURVE
 I find myself really concentrating on getting a nice flowing curve when I'm drawing out and refining designs.  It has to be perfect!  I love spirals and a nice 'S' curve.



GRAPHIC SHAPE 
Simplifying pieces into a strong graphic shape is a vital part of my jewellery design process.

  

MANY PIECES MAKE A WHOLE
The idea of making something out of something else, so it has many levels of visual interest, is utterly beguiling.



AND FINALLY . . .
The one who brings them all together.  My absolute hero and total genius - Antoni Gaudí.


Usually I'm found overcome and sobbing around Gaudí's work, but just about managing a cheery smile here in Parc Guell


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