Being artsy and creating original art is exciting. It feeds the mind, body and soul with inner joy and peace.
Glass fusing has broad appeal due to the ease at which plain sheet glass can be transformed into flashy pieces of art. It’s this facet that makes this medium attractive to artists and crafters who love hands-on immersion.
But glass fusing is different from other mediums. Kiln operation and following firing guidelines make glass fusing science as much as art. Of course, you can ignore that reality. Stay in the safe zone, using pre-programed kilns and adhering to standard firing schedules. Copy and make the same reliable projects that everyone else is sharing. But the real exciting creations are inspired by stepping outside the box. To stretch your imagination and take your art to an all new level of amazing, you must take your work more seriously.
Approach your hobby like a pro.
Get organized. The best way to master the technical aspects of science, and benefit from your process is to take notes of your work in progress. Once the technical aspects are under control, the artist is free to focus on the creative development of the art.
You argue, why stop the creative flow to take boring notes?
Here’s why the pros take notes.
1 Creative inspiration.
We’re human. We forget intricate details. Remembering the big, broad strokes is easy. It’s the tiny nuances that drift away like fluffy dandelion seeds on the wind. These seemingly insignificant concepts are what make your art your own, unique creations.
Pros take notes even when making routine pieces. They know that new design ideas come from recycling and reorganizing old tried and trusted design ideas. Often, my groundbreaking innovations are the product of combining an unlikely variety of tiny concepts. I pull minor techniques from previously made art and merge them to develop a single new creation.
Plus, if you’re consistent and establish good note talking habits, you’ll free up mind space previously dedicated to remembering your methods. This open-air gives new ideas room to live and grow.
2 Find encouragement.
A notebook is black and white proof you’re making progress. No matter how small, every entry is positive reinforcement that you’re learning new things, trying new techniques and growing your creative style. It’s a tribute to hard work and an ego boost whenever you need encouragement to forge ahead.
Success is a terrific confidence builder. When you have a notebook full of great success stories it promotes cheerful production. At any time, you can flip through those messy pages and marvel over all the beautiful pieces you’ve made.
It’s a thrill to revisit simple projects you thought you’d outgrown. You remember how much fun it was to lose yourself in the creative zone and consider remaking old favorites for the joy of it. That’s priceless.
3 Build self-confidence.
By taking detailed notes of a project’s progress as its made, it’s easy to repeat successful projects with confidence. I consult my notes when I want to quickly and easily repeat projects with accuracy.
Notes are also a great reference for new project development. With them I can plan new design directions knowing what outcome to expect from certain advanced techniques. This knowledge frees me to focus my full attention on creating a revolutionary new design.
4 Learn from your mistakes.
Another, huge benefit to cataloging your methods is you can retrace your steps backwards when disaster strikes to pinpoint where it went wrong. It’s a valuable teaching tool you can use to learn from your mistakes. With notes you can efficiently repeat your successes and avoid failures in the future.
In my experience, taking notes drastically improves the overall quality and success of my projects. Documenting assembly and firing methods minimizes problems and gives me the self-confidence to experiment.
5 Trail blaze new ideas.
Pioneering new design concepts is exciting and scary. When I’m commissioned to design original art, I consult my fusing notebook for guidance. I look up projects that are similar in size and thickness to the new job. I study projects that are larger and projects that are smaller. With that information, I develop a custom firing schedule for the new job. I write a program that’s conservative, to avoid breakage, and yet gives me the desired results I promised the client.
Like you, I don’t want to waste time, money or material on failures. We all want to start a project knowing that the finished artwork will bring our beautifully imagined vision to life. If it doesn’t, the failure is devastating. By taking notes, you can approach new design ideas with greater confidence. By knowing the parameters that have worked successfully in the past, you can take on more challenging projects and enjoy success in the future.
Pros make it a habit.
Taking notes is the best thing you can do to improve the quality and increase the complexity of your art. Good habits are as hard to break as bad habits. Form good habits.
Be a pro.
Happy fusing!
Lisa
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Upcoming Class
Sculptural Fused Glass, 4-Day, Hands-on Workshop, October 15-18, 2019
Join me for this intense workshop held in my private studio in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Class size is limited to 4.
Sculptural fused glass is the creation of three-dimensional forms that rise above a flat plane. Artists create 3-D works by using multiple methods and techniques with complete freedom of materials and process.
In this class, you’ll push the boundaries glass imposes. Students will use innovative approaches to design and combine multiple advanced techniques to construct original sculptural art.
You’ll enjoy: the one-on-one instruction, making large scale projects, the well-equipped classroom, and the intimate class size.
Its hard-core fusing in a nurturing, relaxed environment.
You’ll love the concentrated, in-depth study and creative momentum you’ll gain while actively producing nonstop, for four consecutive days.
You’ll leave class with a working knowledge of kiln operation, custom project specific firing guides and the inspiration you’ve been craving to go sculptural!
Excellent idea. A little more information about how you organize your notes would be helpful. I organize by date and sometimes it is tough to find the notes I want to refer to. How do you organize yours?
Mine are organized by project and date.