New Beginnings - taking shape

For the last few days, I have been working on my ideas for a range of jewellery and accessories called 'New Beginnings'. This is a little project to satisfy my creative desire to make some tasteful souvenirs for tourists to our country, and to get back into the market/craft fair scene, which I have missed. My long term plan is to use images of my original dot mosaics, but until I have actually made them, I will focus on using one design, based on the Koru.

New Beginnings – hand painted jewellery and accessories by Claire Fairweather

The ‘Koru’ symbol, widely used in Maori art, carving and tattoos, has also come to represent New Zealand (Aotearoa). Derived from an unfurling silver fern frond, it represents new beginnings, growth and harmony. New beginnings both literally, in terms of new life and growth, and also a new start or new phase of life involving personal growth. To be in harmony with life is to understand, grow and change.

The circular balanced shape of the Koru design is attractive to the eye and is a very positive symbol, to be worn with pride. It makes a wonderful gift, especially for a new parent or child, newlyweds, for a new home or anyone starting on a new phase of their life.

New Beginnings seems a very appropriate name for this project, as it has meanings on many levels. Apart from the symbolic meaning of the Koru, this will be my first serious attempt at turning my creativity into a small business, it will also be my first project in my new studio, in my new home. I am hoping that this will be a new phase in my own life, the beginning of a successful venture into a new creative career.

'Polymer Journeys' book has just been released

The long awaited Polymer Journeys book has just been released. It is a fabulous book showcasing the best polymer art and craft, and I am so proud to be included on page 117. To order your copy, go to http://www.polymerjourneys.com/

Plans taking shape

Part of my indecision about what to do is because although I really enjoy creating artwork with my ‘dot mosaic’ technique, it is very time consuming (making all the tiles as well as placing them to create the design/picture). I do not think I will be able to sell the pieces at a price that will justify the time I have spent creating them, when I could be doing more paid work. I have also missed not taking part in the markets/events, where I get to meet people and gauge their reaction to my work. For this reason, I came to the conclusion that the ‘dot mosaics’ should be my hobby and that I should try and find something else to develop as a small business.

I still keep coming back to the idea that I want to make small souvenirs for visitors to our country that are actually made in New Zealand. I have dabbled at various ideas (some not even with polymer clay) but have not really come up with anything different that I think I could make profitable. It is very hard to compete with souvenir items made in China.

Then this morning I had the idea of creating original ‘dot mosaic’ designs, which could be photographed and the images used for greetings cards, prints, jewellery and possibly other items like t-shirts, bags, mugs, etc. I might be getting a bit carried away here but I think it is worth trying out on a small scale to start with, to see how it works out. The images will be mine, and totally original, from my own mosaic artwork created in New Zealand. Being able to reproduce the images on various different items may mean that I can gain some ongoing income from my original dot mosaic artwork, which I so enjoy doing.

For the first time, since we have moved, I feel inspired and with a plan to put into action. I just need to come up with some good designs!

This is not an April Fool

As I keep chopping and changing my mind about what I am going to do next, I have purchased the domain name www.cfdesignz.co.nz. As this is very general, it could cover any designs or pieces that I create. By using a 'z' rather than an 's', for the spelling of designs, it reinforces that it is New Zealand made.

Creative Block

Now that we are settled in our new home, and most of my studio stuff is unpacked, I thought it would be easy to get back into the creative flow – but it is not. I keep chopping and changing my mind about what I am going to do next, even though I have several half started projects waiting to be finished. I am finding it really hard to get started on anything serious.

I just cannot understand this creative block. For months I could not do anything because all my gear was packed up waiting to move and I was getting frustrated that I could not put my ideas into action. Now that is past, and I have some time, I cannot decide what to do. Or am I just too scared that I have lost my creative Mojo?