 |
| I am totally unembarrassed about owning and repeatedly listening to all these tapes. |
There are many, many reasons why I make jewellery. Every stage of the process of creation is enjoyable and satisfying to me, from dreaming up a new idea to the problem solving involved in the metalwork, to the contact and manipulation of the materials, to seeing my creation become emotionally connected to a person. It's an all-around awesome art to have become involved with, and I can't imagine myself not doing it. So what does it all have to do with the Smashing Pumpkins and Mariah Carey?
Music is something that I love, and it's something that, if I'm fully engaged and listening properly, provokes an intense emotional experience. In my opinion, music is best listened to alone. There is something vaguely embarrassing about being caught listening to music. That embarrassment increases tenfold if you are caught singing. If someone walks into your bedroom and you are standing in the middle of the room belting out "Vision of Love" and you get an eyeroll, well, that's mortifying.
THAT HAPPENED.
This is where the jewellery making comes in. For me it was a smokescreen for listening to my music. People were popping in to my bedroom all the time. There was no door, I just lived in the basement of my parents' house and I shared a room with my sister. I found that if I could keep my hands occupied while listening to my tapes, and yes, singing along, getting caught was a lot less embarrassing. I was obviously engaged in doing something, so I couldn't be accused of lollygagging about, but I felt as if I was almost completely zoned out listening to music, as if my mind and body were doing two different things!!
Flash forward several years to art school. Our instructor expressly forbade us to use our music players while in the workshop. I wonder, can I do it without the music? It seemed like a bummer at first, but I soon realized that there are different types of concentration, and that some of my design and fabrication work requires mindfulness instead of the mechanized repetition of my earlier beadwork and wire designs.
Now that school is done, I usually rock out to music in my workshop. Once in a while I'll even listen to some of the music I used to play way back when I started this journey. And yeah, I sing loudly and don't care if someone walks in.
 |
| All I Wanna Do is Make Lovely Jewels. |
My fellow Etsymetal team members have a bit to say on this topic. Please visit their blogs:
No comments:
Post a Comment