Respect for Designers

I really admire those artists and crafters who sit down, take their time and meticulously plan, sketch and design their work, well before the production actually starts.

 I suppose that comes from loads of studying for art degrees and qualifications.

 Me on the other hand, I have  no degree or training, not even an art O level. My designs all develop "organically" I very rarely know what is going to happen when I sit down and start, whether it is a fascinator or a tiara or anything at all really.

If I decide  in the morning when I open up Coccuveda that I am going to make a headpiece that day, I will first stick the kettle on and have a cup of coffee then i will rummage through my materials until wham something jumps out, it may be the colour that provides inspiration or the fabric or perhaps a texture. I then sit down and play and sew maybe manipulate until I have a piece that works, or in fact it may not work then it will get shelved for another occasion.

I think at the moment I am fascinated by the randomness of working with wire. I have always loved jewellery, especially unique one off pieces, so when I am playing with wire and beads, especially nice sparkly stuff, my fingers and pliers work in harmony until my eyes tell me "that'll do!"

I would love to go on a proper training course so I can master a lot of the techniques I find a bit tricky from the lovely books I have. Linda Jones is a real inspiration so doing one of her workshops would be
a real education for me. I think I will start saving my pennies now!

Below are a couple of my  pendants. I think I am better with the wire than I am with my camera, the real thing looks better than the photograph!