Earring Challenge

I am loving these design challenges! here's the latest:

Each of us was given an 8" strip of off-white, 1" wide aluminum (e.g. Levelor) window blinds. Like the second of the above photos.

The assignment: make a pair of earrings, using all of the material. Other metals, plastic, and color were permissible additions but nothing else. I decided to add sterling silver spacers and earwires but no color (I could use some white earrings) and no plastic. The first photo (above) is what I came up with.

"Creative" Problem Solving

These are two examples of my "coffee bean" bracelet. The one on the left is the original, made a long time ago, which is still the bracelet I personally wear most. I've made it a number of times over the years for others, always with the simple hook-and-loop clasp you see here.

But when I made one for an old friend recently, she had trouble working the clasp and sent it back. After my adjustments were still not enough to enable her to wear the bracelet, she sent it back again. This time, I decided to cut a big hole in the last "bean" and created a toggle on a short chain to go through it. Here it is on the right. Much easier to manipulate and I think it looks better, too!

Ring Challenge

In Gretchen Raber's classes at the Art League School, she often hands out some weird random "thing" and challenges each of us to make a particular item out of it. Past challenges have included: making a necklace out of a sheet of window screen, a necklace out of a pencil, earrings out of a piece of gray packing foam, etc. This week's challenge was to make a ring out of 2 popsicle sticks, using all of the popsicle stick material and adding only glue, metal and paint.

Here's what I came up with. I could say it was inspired by all the ruins I saw on my visit to Rome earlier this month, but the truth is it just came together this way. Not fabulous, but it is a ring and it does fit!

The Ladysmiths Art-A-Day Project

The idea is to take a moment every day to share something creative that relates to the creation of a form of art.

What have you created today?  Is it tangible? Is it a ring, a poem, a painting, a sketch or a motivating thought?  Are you re-imagining over and over a finished piece as you move around in your day? Is it a work in progress? Something you’re thinking about creating? Or what have you seen (or heard) that sparks a creative idea?

By making sure we think and act creatively each day, we challenge ourselves to step out of a comfort zone and into a lovely area where anything is possible.

Through this process we will encourage each other on a daily basis.

 Blog posting guidelines:

• Post a photograph of your piece or concept on the Ladysmiths blog.
• Identify each posting as part of the “Ladysmiths Art-A-Day Project” both in the blog area and in the Label area of the blog post
• Describe what this image means for you today. What process did you go through and how did it make you feel? Are you pleased with your results?  Are you looking forward to moving to the next step of your unfinished piece? If your image is not something you’ve made, explain what about it intrigues you.

• Post something new every day – or as often as you can!