My name is Hannah Rosner, I live in Grants Pass, Oregon, United States. My journey to my design work hasn't been a quick one - some of our current designers show up 100% able to put together a piece that screams of THEM. I had a lot of time working before I finally got it together. So when Zoya asked me to write a little article for her, I thought I'd take you on a little journey on what has inspired me.
The best way to start work is to learn from the beadworkers and artists you really admire. So, take classes and buy tutorials and kits! However, it becomes more and more important to credit your teachers. I didn't spend a lot of time working small - I went pretty immediately to large scale necklaces and loads of fringe after just a very short stint at stringing semiprecious together.
I suggest two really easy ways to find inspiration. The first is to find a color palette that you really admire and work from there. You can find color palettes in a whole bunch of ways. Margie Deeb has written a wonderful book called "The Beader's Color Palette (available on Amazon.com) that gives a whole bunch of design choices that can inspire you.
In addition, interior design books are a good source of color inspiration, as are paint chips at any home improvement store. Finally, a wonderful website www.design-seeds.com is a beautiful tool. A multimedia covered box is made in one of my favorite color palettes.
The second is to look at lots and lots of famous art. Museums are the best, but if you don't have a good one available, Janson's History of Art (also available on Amazon.com) is a fantastic book with large color pictures. It's expensive but really worth it.
The third way I recommend isn't quite as easy but it sure is fun. I suggest traveling! During grad school I visited Prague (which incidentally has a bunch of wonderful museums - SCORE!) and New York City (another bunch of fantastic museums). After I finished grad school, I did a lot of travelling in the Southwest, decided that the scenery and artwork was really inspirational, so finally moved to Taos, NM for a few years. There is a photo of a piece inspired by the Southwest in my gallery.
Much of my inspiration these days comes from deadlines but that doesn't work well for everyone. Some people really freeze up when they've got a looming deadline. A number of years ago, 1 Stop Bead Shop in Columbus, Ohio asked me to create an advanced level piece for their seed beaders. The beaders were getting bored with beginning and intermediate level classes and had asked for something really challenging.
So I created a beaded necklace that used multiple stitches and a ton of beads and crystal. The piece was later redesigned to be the winning Advanced Sculpture Piece for the Treasures of Toho 2012. The inspiration behind this was an earlier design. You'll see that your work leads to other pieces. The original design in cream and red is on photo 1, the beaded sculpture is on photo 2.
Another wonderful source of inspiration are challenge kits. I started doing these way back when a design contest called "Use the Muse" was being offered. The idea was that you purchased a kit with a "surprise" element. I love these things because they really get you out of your usual coloring box into new territory. "Use the Muse" allowed you to add beads and you didn't have to use all the beads in the kit, but you did have to use the surprise element.
I tried to always use every bead given to me in addition to augmenting the piece. This lead to the Toho Challenge Pieces - of which I took part for three years. We were given identical "kits" and were not allowed to add any extra beads. Kim Tamarin from Tambrook Beads picked the colors for the first one I entered. I loved it, but olive beads had not previously been on my radar so it really changed my color sense. The finished purse later became a Bead & Button class.
Brand new beads are also really a challenge. As a Starman Beads Trendsetter, I get to play with some of their newest designs before they are released. It's really like piecing together a puzzle before you even know the overall picture. I adore it. There are some new pieces in my gallery (the last three) I've been working on using brand new two and three-hole beads...
Have a wonderful inspirational spring! If you'd like to see more of my work or purchase tutorials, check my Etsy store.
My gallery on MyLovelyBeads.com
About author:
| Hannah Rosner, Grants Pass, Oregon, USA | |
| Email: | goodrivergallery@aol.com |
| Website: | GoodRiverGallery.com |
| Etsy Shop: | hannahrachel.etsy.com |
| Facebook: | facebook.com/HannahRachelRosner |
