This is going to be my last Battle blog until after 1st June when I can reveal my piece and the thinking behind it. I finally finished the piece earlier this week, much to my relief. I’ve also started the photography process and hope to submit my round 1 photos next week. I’m still a little concerned as to how I convey the necklace in just four photos, but having started taking them, this is beginning to become clearer. I will just have to hope that the first four photos are sufficiently tantalising to allow me to pass through to another round or two and submit some more. If not, they will all make their way onto the internet somehow!
It’s strange how all big projects seem to go through the same kind of stages. Stage 1: excitement! I’ve spent many hours planning the idea in my head, sometimes making sketches, or sometimes not and finally I get the beads out and make a start. At this point it’s very hard to tear myself away from the beads as I just want to keep stitching and stitching to see how the beadwork is going to turn out in reality. The length of this stage is variable and largely dependent on the complexity of the piece and how well it works out. I’ve had pieces in the past for which this stage has barely lasted an hour as it soon becomes apparent that the brilliant idea in my head actually has some terrible flaw that only the beads can expose! Happily, with the Battle piece, the brilliant idea in my head just kept working out and I was in this heady stage for days.
Then comes stage 2: reality bites. Now it can be that the reality is an unforeseen problem that means working out something different from my initial plan. This was certainly the case with my Battle piece. I had a couple of issues – one I was expecting and one that was simply an oversight in my head planning phase. These problems tend to take me down one of two paths: utter despair and frustration as I struggle to find a solution or more excitement at the challenge of re-modelling my ideas. I have definitely experienced the latter with this piece and I managed to overcome the problems pretty successfully, so I’m hoping that’s a good omen.
Stage 3 is tedium! At some point every big project reaches the stage where there is still a lot of work to do, but it is simply repetition of an idea that has been established, rather than creating something new. This is just hard graft and it can seem never-ending and however much I love beading, there are always those days when I crave the excitement of a new challenge, but know I must force myself to complete a task that has become a little bit boring! And yes, I did reach this point as I was making all those beaded beads I’ve been mentioning.
Stage 4 is light at the end of the tunnel: the excitement returns as the project finally takes shape and all that hard work seems worthwhile. Those last few beaded beads certainly felt a little more exciting as I was able to start assembling the first batch and see it all coming together. I had a ‘second wind’ feeling at the start of the week when I once more spent hours and hours beading in peace as the end approached.
So now I can reflect. I’ve spent somewhere in the region of 120 hours beading, plus design hours which I haven’t even thought about counting – it would be impossible as I’m not even aware of much of the design process as my brain quietly reflects whilst I’m doing other things. I could calculate the number of grams of beads I’ve used, but I haven’t done so (yet!) and I’m afraid I lost count of the number of reels of Fireline involved, but it wasn’t too horrendous! I set myself a personal challenge to try and use as many different techniques as possible within the scope of the design and to make sure I challenged myself by using some techniques that I don’t use so often. I’ve managed in incorporate Peyote stitch, brick stitch, herringbone, Right Angle Weave, bead embroidery and bead quilling (totally new technique that I wasn’t even particularly aware of until a bead group meeting back in March!). I’ve also included a couple of obligatory ‘spirit beads’ by way of a good omen…I’ll leave you to try and spot them!
I really wanted to stick to a strong design philosophy that I hold: design is not just about being clever, but about being practical in the sense of ‘fit for purpose’. A piece of jewellery is something that should be worn, so whilst I have huge admiration for the amazing techniques that some people use and the beautiful structures they create, I do sometimes question how practical it would be to wear some of those works of art. Not everyone will agree with me here and I’m not saying that a piece of jewellery isn’t valid as a work of art, but for me, the point of jewellery is that somebody wears it, not just hangs it in a gallery to be admired. So I challenged myself to try and create a piece that is dramatic, creative, beautiful and clever, but also wearable. Having spent the whole of Tuesday evening parading around at home in my newly finished battle piece (I confess to a little self-congratulation there and hope that pride doesn’t come before a fall in this case!), I can testify that it is very wearable. Whether it is also dramatic, creative, beautiful and clever I will leave to all of you to decide! It is all of those things in my eyes, but then beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say!
So, final reflection, I’m satisfied that I’ve fulfilled my personal challenges. I know I’ve pushed my beadwork to a new level for me. I’ve had a lot of fun and it’s a wonderful experience to be a part of the Battle. What happens next is out of my hands and, to be honest, it can only be a bonus since I’ve achieved all that I set out to do, so let’s just see how my gamble pays off!
