In my last post I talked about the value of working with intention. The only intention I didn’t address was
- Do something else with the cane in addition to making kaleidoscopes
To do that I had to give myself permission to play. When I make my kaleidoscopes there is freedom to make each one different, but at the same time there are rules I must follow if I want to obtain the precision I desire. My intention is to make them as flawless as possible. I have to remind myself to pay attention, to not get so caught up in the beauty of the design that I forget to line up the edges properly.
For me, coming up with something new requires the absence of pressure to perform. It is not the time to be making judgements; it is time to explore the “what if’s?” Working with the scraps from kaleidoscopes and the few pieces of cane that were left, I tried a lot of different things. I collaged pieces to make freeform designs like those I made in my Impressionist’s Garden post, I worked with individual components to make asymmetrical but more planned designs, and I used a single component over and over to create visual texture as I did with my river rock beads. The thing that captured my interest the longest (until my cane ran out) was bilateral (mirror) symmetry. To be able to play, however I had to let go of the idea of lining up the elements on the two sides of the “mirror” perfectly and look at the bigger picture. These are some of the first beads I did.
The bead on the left was somewhat planned but aesymmetrical while the other two exhibit (relaxed) bilateral symmetry. Dropping the requirement for the elements to line up perfectly was very freeing. It allowed me to focus on other aspects of the design and the forms of the beads. When all the cane and scraps were gone this is what I had:
I actually believe the lack of perfection adds a primitive charm to the necklace. To me it looks tribal. It works because the halves are so mismatched it is clear that they were not intended to line up perfectly. If they were just slightly mismatched it would seem to be just carelessness. What do you think?
