1/24/2011

art & patience (part 4 in a series on the roots of design)



A few weeks ago, we began this series by asking artisans about the seeds of their inspiration and the roots of their design.

(photo above, of Monica's rustic silver heart necklace - all photos that follow are from moonovermaize as well)

In part 4 of the series, Monica from moonovermaize shares beautiful insight into her own creative path. And the patience required to find her way. I love this quote about patience by Edward Bulwer-Lytton: "Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength." Indeed.



"For me, it was not a specific moment, but a conglomeration of artistic attempts gone wrong. I was always trying out different forms of art growing up from drawing to painting to sculpting to making mosaics and sewing. Seeing as my Mom is an incredible seamstress I thought it would come naturally....I was so wrong on that one!"

Monica is pretty sure she "tried nearly every art/craft under the sun and I was always left a bit disappointed as the final product never came out as I had envisioned it. It has never stopped me from searching though and then I tried out some metalsmith techniques about a year ago and I had finally found what I'd been searching for!"


"It felt right. My hands could manipulate the tools and supplies to form exactly what was in my mind. Now that I've found what I love it is a matter a perfecting techniques and allowing myself to grow in this line of work. Seeing as it took some patience to get to this point I believe it has also taught me patience in my art of metal work."

8 comments:

Monica said...

Thanks so much for the feature, Jen!

I wish I had photographs of some of my earlier artistic attempts gone wrong as it makes me smile to see how I have progressed.

Dawanna Young said...

Monica's work is inspiring~
Great article!

steinschmuckdesign said...

Jen, like always a great article!
Monica, I adore your Jewelry pieces and to know a bit more how you came there, is just wonderful!!!
Thanks so much for sharing you to :)

Lee Wolfe Pottery OneClayBead said...

So wonderful to read about the creative journey of such a talented jeweler!
Lee/ OneClayBead

Viktoria said...

wonderful, love to read this!
It´s so satisfying to find a way of expressing of your own!

Jennifer Cowgill said...

Okay here is my official comment in the right place! I really enjoyed reading your process monica!

Waterrose said...

Seems we all follow the path of trying out other things....even when we know they aren't going to be the "it" for us. I really resisted turning embroidery into my art form even though I love doing it. I thought I wanted to do something more substantial...but I always came back to embroidery.

belinda marshall said...

you must be so happy to have found something you love, that feels right, and can pour your creative soul into.
beautiful work :)