Stuck in a rut

Pyro Beads · #1 2008-12-30, 3:12pm

Is any one else out there feeling stuck and not know what to do/make?? I'm sure every one has been in this place at least once. How do you get out of it?? I have been looking at glass and different things trying to find something to inspire me, but NOTHING!
It's not just with the beads either. It's with everything. I also make and sell bath and body products and crochet items and astrology... I just feel stuck with everything. Is it because the months of November and up till Christmas everything was so crazy I didn't even have time to sleep and I'm totally burnt out??? I just do not know what to do and I feel so lost because I am not one of those people who can just sit down and watch tv and relax. I have to be doing something at all times... that's how I relax...
Any advise on how to get out of this would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

kirrakat123 · #2 2008-12-30, 5:07pm

Hi, Sorry to hear your in a rut. Maybe trying a brand new bead design or different
colour glass brand (like Cim, Ask, Double Helix etc.). Or buying a new ebook tutorial
that will challenge you. Or maybe a totally new hobby to try, like silver clay. It goes great with handmade glass beads & would really open up a new creative pathway.
As you said, you may just be burnt out & feeling abit lost after the hassels of Christmas preparations. Perhaps if for a few days or weeks you put bead making & anything to do with it out of your mind & spend time doing something else you usually enjoy, like shopping, go to the movies, catching up with old friends you haven't talk
to in a while, etc.
Hope these ideas help, thanks, Cynthia in Australia

lillianw · #3 2008-12-30, 5:22pm

Gorgeous colors, great inspiration, Thai inspired beads, Africa inspired beads, Carribean inspired beads. Indian. Reds and Oranges, Browns, sunset colors. Inexpensive subscription--beautiful magazine

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/

Kym · #4 2008-12-30, 7:26pm

Someone said that when they felt stuck, they pulled stringer and twisty for a while and then did scroll work on the same base color and melted it in over and over until they felt some inspiration. I need to go and make some beads but it is too damn hot today to think about.

Good luck

Kym

Kalera · #5 2008-12-30, 7:50pm

I feel ya... it sucks to be "stuck". It definitely happens to me from time to time, too, and what I usually try to do then is just spend some time with my glass, touching it, organizing it, and looking at some of the things I haven't used in a while. I'll also look through my books, old glass magazines, and even go through old pics of my beads, just letting it soak in and seeing if any inspiration will bubble up to the surface.

Usually, I find that being "stuck" just indicates a plateau, and after just messing around with my glass for a while without any particular direction, something coalesces out of all the skills and techniques I've been sort of just sitting on, and I feel inspired to move in a new direction. I hope that happens for you too!

artwhim · #6 2008-12-30, 8:32pm

Who said the muse could go on vacation?! One thing I have tried in the past was to force myself to make 10 to 20 spacers of every color I owned. After 4 or 5 colors, (and beating my head against the wall), my muse came back. LOL! Something about making boring spacers gets my mind working on more creative beads.

Pyro Beads · #7 2008-12-30, 9:04pm

Thanks every one!! You would think with it being -15F with a wind chill of -32 that would be enough to get me on the torch... just to keep warm tonight. I am glad to know that this does happen to other people too.... normally my mind is constantly working and I am coming up with so many idea's I cannot keep track of them all.

I guess maybe I need to try to get into my shop tomorrow and do some cleaning and organizing.... maybe that will help. (normally when I go to clean in there I'm usually sidetrack with some idea I got for a new bead)

Right now I need to get busy making beads for valentines day and also start on stuff for spring. (hard to think spring when your freezing!!!)

Thanks again!!!!!

bexrox · #8 2008-12-30, 9:32pm

Oooooh boy, do I know the feeling well! I also do a few different creative activities. My glass / jewelry and my music / songwriting are the two most prominent of them, and they suffer the worst. Sometimes I go for stretches of mind-boggling prolificacy, and I think I'm amazing, then I go through longer stretches of dusty-brained confusion, and nothing comes out right, and I start to think I'm a phony "artist" or a "has-been" (even though I've never really "been"). And, if I sit down and try to do nothing, like watch TV, I fall asleep.

One of my quick fix solutions is to make something simple and repeatable at the torch, then make a set of 'em. Sometimes it's helpful just to be productive, if not terribly artistic. Often when I'm making my set, other ideas will start to come to me then. Not only that, but when I'm done, I can make a piece or a set of jewelry, which may be the point at which inspiration hits.

The main thing is not to be too hard on yourself. Your muse is traveling, searching for inspiration. When she returns, look out!

Becky

KEW · #9 2008-12-30, 9:35pm

I take a break for a while.
OR
I make myself work with colors that I really don't care for, eventually the creative juices start flowing.

twiggyinaz · #10 2008-12-30, 11:16pm

I clean my studio. I hate cleaning, I am usually cured before I actually get it clean.

tammydownunder · #11 2008-12-31, 3:10am

I buy a tutorial. I also look at fabric for color inspiration.

Pyro Beads · #12 2008-12-31, 10:07pm

I've decided that if I get my house in order (had to do some redecorating after the x-mas stuff came down) then maybe that will help me get back on track. Normally all of my beads are tucked away in my shop, and I decided that is kind of stupid when it is such a big part of my life. So as I was digging through all my junk wondering what to put out decided to use some of these objects to display some of the beads I have left. This is what I came up with so far.....

This is where my Gods & Goddess now live on my fire place. Sure I'm going to hear about it from all the people who think I'm a perv. for making these beads......

I don't really like any of the beads on these so I know it's going to drive me crazy and make me want to go work on the torch to come up with something different to put on these..

And he's just hanging around on a funky tree that sits on my fireplace and he needs some friends so hopefully that will get me moving. He looks really stupid being the only thing hanging off that tree.....

Hopefully once I feel like things are in order in my house everything else will fall into place.... it's amazing how much of a mess I end up with in my shop after the holiday crunch, not to mention the rest of my poor house.

JetAge Studio · #13 2008-12-31, 11:09pm

I'm an interior design magazine junkie...so much so that hubby hates my 'piles'

, but I constantly look for color combos there for my glass work too. Often times, the best color combos come from the ads that are in the mags! Look at advertisement ads and look at why they look good to you...color wise. Every magazine has colorful stuff they want to sell you...usually it has a lot of color, or a great color scheme to it, perhaps there's something to it. Maybe you can then go to the bench with those colors in mind. When all else fails, look at other artist's websites and their fabulous work they're putting out, not just lampworkers, but other 'glass' workers! I always get inspired by other artists work. Bead workers, lampworkers, fusers, blowers, it's all glass and all good! Not only that, but 2d artists...painters! I often find inspiration in the pallet painters have, and try to work out color schemes I see. I also get inspired by food! It's funny but it works for me, I look for tasty color combos in a great colorful food book or magazine!! Something very multi-scentual happens to me when I see color and flavor descriptions, yeah! Ok, more than you wanted to know I'm sure, but it works, for me. Thankfully, ruts are usually short lived! I wish you much inspiration in the new year!!!

Renee Wiggins

margaret · #14 2009-01-01, 9:00pm

me too! can't seem to come up with anything I like so I just decided to practice stuff- dots, encasing and stringer control. I would like someone to give me a list of a few colors and I will take the challenge of working on them tomorrow- anyone game?

Pyro Beads · #15 2009-01-01, 9:46pm

I did work on the torch today. Not really thrilled with anything I did. Mostly made a bunch of hearts for Valentines day. Did get excited about anything I did...... But I guess it's a start.

Deb Hopeful Journeys · #16 2009-01-01, 11:10pm

I just thought of an idea. When I get in a rut. I select 3-4 colors and torch the whole session with just those colors. Then when I'm done, I hope to have a handful of beads that match.

truegem · #17 2009-01-01, 11:22pm

Kym...hot? Where are you from?

Anyway, I get this rut feeling every so often. I usually just have to wait for it to pass because when I try to work during this time, I usually make sucky stuff. Or, I make stuff that I already do well.
:::sigh:::

Kym · #18 2009-01-01, 11:44pm

Patti, I am in Queensland, Australia. Yesterday was like living in a sauna ECK! I can't lampwork on those days. Y'know sometimes I think everything I make sucks...it probably doesn't, but on those days I find something else to do. Sometimes I draw beads and colour them in for inspiration...

Cheers
Kym

Pyro Beads · #19 2009-01-02, 12:07am

Yes, I'm doing the same old thing, a little bit of a different twist, but nothing that thrills me. In the summer it's not so hard to get out of these ruts, I just grab my camera and head to the river or out to my garden and relax and take photos. That normally gets me jump started. But here the winters are long and cold and nothing but white snow..... Maybe the winter blues are just setting in. It's hard to say.

twiggyinaz · #20 2009-01-02, 12:12am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deb Hopeful Journeys

I just thought of an idea. When I get in a rut. I select 3-4 colors and torch the whole session with just those colors. Then when I'm done, I hope to have a handful of beads that match.

Deb, I do this! It works, I have come up with some really fun sets. I try new techniques when I do this, too, I cruise the tutorial section and look for something that I haven't done yet. The last time I did this I made triangle petal beads. They turned out OK, but the rest of the beads came out well and I had a good set.

Cherine Perrin · #21 2009-01-02, 3:13am

What a great idea to surround yourself with your beads on display.

I find when I am stuck in a rut, I just melt glass. I don't think at all about what I am going to make. Just have fun and ideas will come to you!

Good Luck.

maroli · #22 2009-01-02, 7:20am

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetAge Studio

I'm an interior design magazine junkie...so much so that hubby hates my 'piles'

, but I constantly look for color combos there for my glass work too. Often times, the best color combos come from the ads that are in the mags! Look at advertisement ads and look at why they look good to you...color wise. Every magazine has colorful stuff they want to sell you...usually it has a lot of color, or a great color scheme to it, perhaps there's something to it. Maybe you can then go to the bench with those colors in mind. When all else fails, look at other artist's websites and their fabulous work they're putting out, not just lampworkers, but other 'glass' workers! I always get inspired by other artists work. Bead workers, lampworkers, fusers, blowers, it's all glass and all good! Not only that, but 2d artists...painters! I often find inspiration in the pallet painters have, and try to work out color schemes I see. I also get inspired by food! It's funny but it works for me, I look for tasty color combos in a great colorful food book or magazine!! Something very multi-scentual happens to me when I see color and flavor descriptions, yeah! Ok, more than you wanted to know I'm sure, but it works, for me. Thankfully, ruts are usually short lived! I wish you much inspiration in the new year!!!

Renee Wiggins

Renee reed you make me realize something, since a began this activity, my way to look things really change. What inspire me most is Nature Photography Books.

Feeling suck, for me it is time to clean or just read and find something to experiment.

Have a great day
Lise

samandsha · #23 2009-01-02, 7:42am

I LOVE your little frames with your beads hanging in them. I think that is a great idea.
When I get stuck, I do a couple differnt things, usually one of them works
I'm a total fabric junkie and I either pull out a piece of fabric or go online and look at fabrics and make something inspired by a piece, colors or pattern on one of the fabrics.
I also have done a silly exercises and pick someone from famous (alive, dead, mythical..what ever) and make them a bead. I made one for Ava Perone (sp)...it's just silly fun.
I also sometimes pick a place and make a set for jewelry, I'd wear if I were going there. I "went" to Galapegos to see the giant sea turtles and made a necklace to wear...lol.
Sometimes, I'll pick 3 or 4 colors that I DEFINITLY am sure that won't go togeter and "try" to make something really ugly...sometime I get surprised by a reaction or color combo that I would have never though of eg: Momka's violet hue...LOVES to play with exotic citrus.
Hope you get past being stuck...it's not a fun place, huh?

crystalflipz · #24 2009-01-02, 8:43am

I feel like I've been in a total rut for several months now, so have spent my time working more on the mechanics of making my beads - working for more balanced shapes, even ends, crisper edges, neater stringer work and things like that. I figure eventually the muse will show up again and I'll be able to mix new creativity with stronger skills. You can never go wrong spending time working on technique.

LaurieBSmith · #25 2009-01-02, 8:51am

I've been in a rut so long, it's become a trench. Unfortunately, my remedy isn't working...

silverstone6 · #26 2009-01-02, 10:18am

This idea is similar to the suggestion to look at fabrics. I like to browse through the linen and china departments at stores. There are some really great colour combo ideas there. I am feeling uninspired also, bought an e-tutorial yesterday in hopes of discovering something new and exciting.

Susan