Someone asked today how I designed pieces. She wanted to know if I designed a piece and then worked out the sizes and ordered those sizes or if I just had a bunch of rings and kept working with them until I found a combination I liked.
Here’s a confession: I can’t draw to save my life! What usually happens is I “see” a design in my head and then I have to work out the sizes as I go along and try to bring my visions to life. For this reason, I have to have a bunch of rings in various sizes. I also like working with colors – this means I need different sizes in the colors, too.
For those times that I want to try a new weave, I’ll head out to either MAILLE or CGMAILLE to check out the tutorials there. Knowing that I probably have the rings sizes on hand to at least try a weave I like is great for spurring creativity. Sometimes I just go on those sites to get a little inspiration. I may see two or three different weaves that I like and may then head off to see if I can use parts of them or combine them in some way to do something different. It all depends on my mood.
Obviously, having several thousand rings on hand isn’t for everyone. For some people, working with what’s on hand to figure out a new design or weave is preferable. Then they can figure out what they need and order rings like that. That’s great too because then you’re not as likely to be overwhelmed with choices – like I can be sometimes!
Whichever means you choose to experiment and design with, keep experimenting! Half the fun of designing is being able to experiment with the different ring sizes and see what you can come up with. Design is inspiration, experimentation, and fun. So, grab some rings, a couple pair of pliers and experiment!
An Xquisite World 