Focus-do you have it-how do I get it?

simvet02 · #1 2008-08-10, 4:55am

I've been having a lot of trouble with focus lately. I am so inspired with all that I see here that when I get down to the torch I almost don't know what to do first. Even when I go down with a plan. So, that being said, here are my pole questions.

Alison D · #2 2008-08-10, 5:18am

Sorry, I don't know what a plan is. I Try new things everytime I torch. I figure I can work at perfecting them when the head rush wears off.

Alison

helensharvest · #3 2008-08-10, 6:05am

I drink caffeine for instant courage to overcome torch fear...works on the attention/focus thing, too. Sometimes, I write "homework" beads on a notebook, then reward myself after each one w/ a fun bead. ♥

beadsoncypress · #4 2008-08-10, 8:08am

If I am really lost, I come check out the gallery...

lbloomer · #5 2008-08-10, 10:23am

Unless I have a job to do, something to make for a project, I let the flow take me. I read a lot of books, and drool over lots here, so sometimes I'll pick a skill to work on, raku, dots, working with the "think pink" tut. So many times the colors on my bench start chattering "play with me, play with me", so that's what I mean about letting the glass take over. With glass being such a fluid medium I figure why try to put it in a box? As long as my skills are improving, and I am happy with what the kiln gods deliver I figure it's all good.
Jaquetta

ChristinaColligan · #6 2008-08-10, 10:32am

I do what needs to be done - I have a notebook that I write down EVERYTHING that inspires me and when I go out to torch I pull out a set number of mandrels to make when those are done I play and experiment.

scoutycat · #7 2008-08-10, 10:43am

I don't get much time to torch anymore, so I have to plan at least a bit. I usually make a list, often with sketches, of the stuff I want to do as it occurs to me. Then when I'm about to go work, I pick out a few ideas and list them separately. I clean up my bench & set out the colors I want to use before I work, them I try and do my list. If one thing is going particularly well I might stick with it and not get anything else done, or if something just won't work for me I move on. I find I am much more productive and satisfied with my outcome this way, altho it runs counter to the way I want to approach my torch (just show up and do something).

playswithfire104 · #8 2008-08-10, 10:48am

I usually try to have something in mind when I sit down at the torch. Often I'll 'warm up' by pulling stringers or making cane or twisties. I usually get bored making too many of the same thing. Bead sets are almost torture for me. But sometime I get stuck and make lots of something. Like godesses. Last summer I got on a godess kick and made something like 20 godesses. Then didn't make any more for almost a year. I've done this with shells too. Right now I'm such a tutorial ho I'll concentrate on one or two tuts that I work on all day. Currently I'm having too much fun with Pipyr's tuts. Boro is my only focus lately on and off mandrel.

simvet02 · #9 2008-08-10, 11:04am

Jaquetta, sounds like you and I kind of work the same. It makes me feel good to know that I'm not the only one that works this way.

Ah Christina, I wish. I do have a notebook. I have to work so I take it with me to work and jot things down during the day that come to me. But, I always forget to the it down to the torch with me. Eventually I will.

Jen, like you I only get to torch on the weekends for about three hours each day so I have to make the most of my time.

Nancy, I usually start by hooking all the small rods together so that I can use them up. Then come at least two stringers or twisties. I am horrible at it but eventually I will get it. And the tutorial Ho comment made me laugh, I have them all. I usually try them once at least but so far I haven't gone back because it seems there is a new one to try every day. I haven't had the nerve to try Pipyr's yet, I just got her new one which will surly help me get up the courage to do it on my 5LPM concentrator.

Thanks everyone, I feel better knowing I'm not the only one that can't stay with one thing. I tried making a set today and was nearly crazed by the time I got to the last little bead. I tend to make very large beads, or at least they seem so, none of them will ever fit in the presses that I've purchased. Working smaller to use them is going to be a challenge in itself.

Torch on!

C-Ann · #10 2008-08-10, 11:46am

With what little free time I have for just ME

I sometimes plan for days what I want to do when I can get out in my studio. There is always something running around in my head.
I like to fuse and make beads so I set up the bench for what I am planning on doing before I get out there. In the case of making beads I clean and lay out my glass, tools, etc.
I am easily distracted

and I find this works for me.
I have been planning since Friday evening on making beads today but I spent the past hour or so cleaning beads I already have made for making up some new pieces......I received a check yesterday from the local community arts center

so I have to get some things together to restock my space.
I am really happy about that - cash for glass and I bought Anne Rickett's tut's

but it pushed my bead making session back

simvet02 · #11 2008-08-13, 4:37pm

I plan and dream all week long about what I want to do at the torch when the weekend gets here, it may change two or three times before the weekend gets here. Then when it is finally here I go back t what I am most comfortable with.

I have been purchasing some of the tutorials out there and am really trying to push myself to try new things so that there is more that I'm more comfortable with. I'm just wondering how long or how many times I need to do something before it becomes part of my "tool box".

jaci · #12 2008-08-13, 5:12pm

it does not work when I am stressed... or have been making jewelry... I can make beads and then make jewelry, but not the other way around.. its a total different kind of concentration and thought process. I find that a good tutorial or tips and tricks section gets my juices flowing

and a latte!!

bbnana · #13 2008-08-13, 7:47pm

As a newbie I am always nearly overwhelmed with the options. I have an idea and then I get distracted by another bead I saw and want to try that. I am wth you Jan. I am so inspired by so many awesome art beads that it's hard to decide what to make. I try to make a challenge bead or 2 and then I do my own thing and go with the flow.
I usually find myself asking: What colors? Which size mandrel? What size beads?

Carolyn M · #14 2008-08-13, 8:54pm

I plan almost my whole session. I have to make at least two sets for ebay, and at least two sets for jewelry. If I achieve that, I play.

jaci · #15 2008-08-14, 11:13am

I envy you carolyn... I could never just sit down and make something planned... It just would not come out as good as it could be if I don't play first... I have to be in the right mood to make certain things. I mean I CAN sit and do SOME things.. just not many

Jackiesdesigns · #16 2008-08-14, 12:22pm

Carolyn I am so envious of you, what great work ethics! I am still a newbie so I am still abit overwhelmed by the options and wonder of glass in general. I can't seem to figure out how you guys manage to churn out an entire set, I manage to do one or two beads and then I'm wandering off trying out other things, colors, shapes....

Jackiesdesigns · #17 2008-08-14, 12:24pm

I just realized that my post is almost exactly the same as Theresa's, I hadn't read it until after I posted mine, great minds think alike

simvet02 · #18 2008-08-14, 2:37pm

Boy do I feel a whole lot better. I thought I was the only one who had a hard time deciding what to do. The problem for me is that I only have two weekend days to play and not much more than three hours each time to do it in so I have to make the most of my time. During the week I dream. Last week I labeled all of my rods in the evenings during the week, this week I have put all of my tutorials in plastic page protectors and am organizing them in a binder. I'm hoping that with the tutorials down there in some kind of order I will be able to go right to the little tip or trick or whatever that I want to incorporate into my own design. There are just so many beautiful, mysterious things out there to try. Glass is intoxicating to the point of pure bliss.......

scoutycat · #19 2008-08-14, 6:16pm

I have to say too that having a fresh clean workspace really helps keep my brain on track. If I have just the colors I want out, and just the tools I need, I do much better & stay on focus. And I like doing the same thing more, too. If my bench is a mess, I get distracted when I see the stringer I wanted to do x with, or that color that would've been perfect for y... and then I start to think about that stuff & get off track.

simvet02 · #20 2008-08-14, 6:59pm

Thats an interesting concept Jen, I have a large painters round that holds tons of rods, I have them separated out by color but they are all there in front of me. All of my stringers are on my left in little tubs. Maybe that's my problem, too much sensory input all at once. My brain can't light on any one thing and stay there. I'll have to try moving everything except what I want to work on and see if it helps.

Thanks for sharing that.

Carolyn M · #21 2008-08-14, 7:49pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackiesdesigns

Carolyn I am so envious of you, what great work ethics! I am still a newbie so I am still abit overwhelmed by the options and wonder of glass in general. I can't seem to figure out how you guys manage to churn out an entire set, I manage to do one or two beads and then I'm wandering off trying out other things, colors, shapes....

That's what you should be doing as a newbie!! I was exactly the same when I started and it's the only way to develop skills in a variety of areas. I think the worst thing for newbies to do is to try and sit down and make something they want to sell. It restricts creativity IMO, and often seems to encourage imitation. (I'm not implying copying here folks) I still try and make a large variety of styles even when I know what sells best for me. Sets certainly aren't everyones forte, and I have to admit a set for me stops at a max of 7 beads, I get bored after that.

BTW I didn't start selling on ebay until I'd been making beads for at least a year. Play kids, it's how everyone learns!

WILDFYRE · #22 2008-08-14, 8:13pm

I am falling in love with transparents and some of the reactive glasses with them, too. Steel grey, pale lavender, pale blue etc but that Taxco..... oh my lord it is COOL beans ! Not to mention lt Silver Plum and Black Pearl. Gosh some days I just go wild with frit and make tubular beads then next day do only round .... it's nice to have time to do what I want when I want. I just wish I could get better at stringer control~ Patience is a virtue !

StOrM · #23 2008-08-15, 8:58pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoutycat

I have to say too that having a fresh clean workspace really helps keep my brain on track. If I have just the colors I want out, and just the tools I need, I do much better & stay on focus. And I like doing the same thing more, too. If my bench is a mess, I get distracted when I see the stringer I wanted to do x with, or that color that would've been perfect for y... and then I start to think about that stuff & get off track.

I am exactly the same way. When i get torch time (maybe once a week) I will lay out a series of rod i am going to use that day. usually monochromatic colors or colors that i will try to make a set of beads with. But i find if my table is covered with rods i find myself lost in what i am doing. too much going on and too much to think about. so i find keeping it simple is the best for me.

carolyn- 7 beads.....good for you, i find after 3 i start getting bored of the set i am doing. lol oh well i guess if i sold my stuff i might be more interested in making more of one kind of bead. I think once i have been torching longer i will try sell my stuff. i started torching in october last year but i don't torch everyday. once a week if i am lucky so i think i will have to torch for 2 years before i sell anything

Torch&Marver · #24 2008-08-16, 10:10am

Almost always, I approach the torch with a goal.

Almost never do I achieve that goal LOL. I'm hoping to be able to have my hands produce what my head offers one of these days. I feel that will demonstrate real "progress" in my beadmaking abilities...

MelanieG · #25 2008-08-16, 11:27am

I'm still new at this, so maybe this is rotten advice, but when this happens to me it's an emergency because I only get access to a torch for about six hours a week. If I blow it, I have to wait a whole week before I can have a 'do over'.

What I do is start out by just melting stuff. Pull stringer. Make twisties.

Once I've done that, my brain can't leave them alone and I come up with things to do based on the pulling I've done. I can't bear for those pulled bits to go to waste or languish in my supply box.

If that doesn't quite work, I just calmly give myself permission to make some mistakes and have what I call a 'fingerpainting' session where it's ok that I have no ideas. I tell myself the beads are supposed to look wonky and messed up, and I create this way until either it passes or it's time to stop.

It's funny, but after I do this, when I go back the next Saturday to get my beads, I usually find out I've done the best work I've done so far.

Sitting down with a plan and defined colour selections, so far, gets me nothing but grief, block and fugly beads.

theglasszone · #26 2008-08-16, 2:27pm

I get so little actual torch time (yet I spend most of my "mental" time there...), I have a billion things I WANT to do when the opportunity finally arises, but I usually know EXACTLY what I'm going to try! If it doesn't go well within the first few minutes (or tries) I usually switch quickly to a Plan B (and C, and D - I got a million of 'em!)

~De

simvet02 · #27 2008-08-17, 3:46am

De, Storm-sounds like we are all in the same place. Only a bit of time to play and too many ideas to get done in that time. I have been purchasing tutorials lately and I try to at least go throught them once to try all the different pieces involved. What I have found is that even if I'm not really into what the tutorial is making it is usually full of useful information about heating the glass or pulling stringers or the reactions of one glass to another. I have gleaned so much from them and gotten so many great ideas.

One thing I have started doing is to keep a little notepad with me at work, when I have a throught or idea about something I want to try I write it in the notebook so when I have time at the torch I can try it. I leave room to notate the date I tried it and maybe the outcome, whether it worked or not. If not I can go back and try it again AND maybe go back to a tutorial and retry a technique that I need practice on.

Other than that I am all grabby with the rods when I'm down there. I have started cleaning off my workspace and pulling maybe three or four rods that I want to try working with on a specific day. It does seem to help.

Atelier-I'm loving so many different colors I can't mention them all here. Right now my favorite is Leaky Pen, love that color. Ooooh and Kiwi, cool multi colored streaky lime green yummy. I had a transparent orangish yellow rod that I couldn't identify, the name was smeared so I looked it up last might and discovered I had Honey Crunch Odd, can't wait to try that today.

StOrM · #28 2008-08-17, 10:36am

I get to play on my torch today. and i have a request from a client of mine for a book mark on blue tons. So i think i will play with some blues today. and i know i have to try out my old luna today for another thread so off i go to play downstairs.....have a great day ladies (and gents)

Firebug · #29 2008-08-17, 4:31pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by simvet02

I've been having a lot of trouble with focus lately. I am so inspired with all that I see here that when I get down to the torch I almost don't know what to do first. Even when I go down with a plan. So, that being said, here are my pole questions.

I'm exactly the same way! I only get to torch on the weekends, and by the time the weekend arrives, I'm overwhelmed with ideas and eye candy that I see in the Gallery. I try to have a plan, and sometimes I follow it, but I always get sidetracked. Good know this happens to others too!

Cheers
Kathy

simvet02 · #30 2008-08-17, 4:39pm

Yep Kathy, your in really good company here. Today I cleaned my space, got out the rods I wanted to work with and decided at the last minute to try something else first. What a mess I had. I did do the two things I wanted to do but didn't feel in control of either one of them.