Elements

Design comes not only from inner inspiration but form external stimulus. A passing glance at a shape or object can set off a cascade of ideas. A series of colors or the way the light falls in a certain way can start my brian leaping from one thing to another building an image as it goes. Part of this process is learning when to let go of my mind and let it wander, to be the observer in my own process and leave the role of censor or critic out of things until something more concrete is arrived at. This doesn't happen all the time. But when the mood strikes me its like having a small child running around exclaiming over every shiny bit of nonsense that presents itself. Sometimes they are good concepts that I set aside for another time, so I take notes, gather a few images and put them in a holding pattern. Sometimes these ideas really take hold and I have to set them all down all at once. And I really know why these things are called "brain storms" - they begin with a brilliant flash and then blow everything else out of their path until they are done. The real work of it is to get the "dazzle" out of my inner eye and get the elements sorted and arranged - to take a design from a jumble of good ideas and marshal it into a harmonious reality of color and content.

The particular inspiration for this week is boxes. Since I've decided to do a series of box lids with matching accessories, getting the boxes first is pretty important. A painter has to have a canvas that's suitable for the painting - and sometimes its that blank canvas that demands what will be made of it. An artist can start with one idea, but if you let the idea unfold itself, it has the potential to become far more than the original. And I really can't just look at pictures and imagine how things might go. Its really important to have them and hold them in my hands. To turn them over and over, feeling how their shapes lend themselves to various concepts, and letting them tell me what they want to become. Yesterday, a sample arrived in the mail that fulfilled my best artistic fantasies. At the urging of a friend I had ordered a set of nested hexagonal boxes. Even before they arrived the ideas started. I woke up one morning a couple of days ago and knew what it would be. It was a real pain having to wait for the boxes to arrive to make sure they would be suitable, but I got started anyway just knowing that this was a really good one. And when I finally got the actual item, it was the perfect size and shape. This is really better than good.

So now to spend the hours at the computer drawing, designing, taking notes, getting the concepts lined up. This is what happened with the square box I bought at the craft store a few weeks ago. The trouble is the time it takes to make the prototypes. Its hard to remain fresh and spontaneous with a project when it takes 2-3 weeks just to do a sample. But this one - oh, I definitely know its going to be worth it. And the little elephant that was the brain storm of 2 weeks ago to adorn the square box is not forgotten. The sample for that series is almost done, the color palette decided on, the forms set up so that the rest will be variations on a theme. The trick is getting all the brilliant flashes to line up and take a number so they can each shine in their own time. Well, one step at a time.