Swimming in Ideas

"I equate inspiration with desire -- the desire that moves us to be artists in the first place. To attempt to make a painting without this motivation is a waste of time." ~ Nita Engle


     Ok, so I don't paint, but I like the quote all the same. Been a while since I prefaced my post with a quote. I guess I got lazy for a while. Anyway, this post is about various assorted things, some art-related, some not.


     My head is swimming with inspiration lately. I feel like I'm drowning in it. I have so many ideas and very little willpower to actually make them realities. Nevertheless, I get up every day and try. Maybe it's just hard for me to choose a direction since my heart is pulling me so many different ways. Maybe you guys can help me narrow it down some. I just purchased Méav's "Silver Sea" album at the Midsummer Night's Eve Festival, and it has me wanting to make a lot of really elegant sea-themed jewelry. I mean come on... her songs are just full of inspirational imagery. Then I went and saw the Lord of the Rings extended editions on the big screen the past two weeks, so I've got elvish jewelry on the brain. If I could, I'd live in Rivendell and wear gowns and circlets every day. Not really sure how I would go about making elvish jewelry though, since it's mostly metalwork, not beaded. Also, I've had this Harry Potter quidditch necklace in mind for a few months and so far I've only managed to start on the quaffle charm. Way to go, right? I want to make Luna's radish earrings too. Then I have a TON of steampunk components lying around because I really wanted to expand my Pistols and Pearls collection after being inspired by all the people at TimeGate. I have keys, locks, gears, found objects galore... Then I've also had the urge to work with some of my high-quality materials like gemstones and freshwater pearls... but that drives up the price of the pieces and means that I won't sell them until I find an appropriate venue where people are actually willing to pay for the good stuff. I was also inspired by Kerry over at Fantastic Visions to take some of my undrilled stones and make them into pendants by wrapping polyclay figures around them. I'm not sure I have the sculpting skills to pull it off, but it'd be nice to finally be able to use all the polished stones I have lying around. 


     So all of that is floating around in my head. Anyone have preferences or other ideas? 


     Anyway, in addition to working on my jewelry, I've been trying to make plans for DragonCon. My friend Heather is dragging me to it, so I'm working on costumes. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the Arwen Dream Gown from The Two Towers. I love Arwen's costumes, and the Dream Gown is the only one that I'd be able to pull off comfortably in the Georgia heat. I already have elf ears, so now I'm just working on putting the gown together and getting the Evenstar pendant just to make it a little more Arwenish. And if I decide to go for multiple days (it's looking like I might), then I'm going to try a Harry Potter themed costume (quidditch robes or Beauxbatons uniform) and a Star Wars themed costume (Senator Amidala or... God only knows what... Lots of ideas that probably won't work). Or maybe I'll just try something steampunk. I don't know. It's hard to costume in a place as hot as Georgia. So anyway. That's happening. 


     Also still looking for conventions and festivals where I can sell. Thinking about Geek Media Expo, HallowCon, and Hurricane Who. Don't really know much about any of them, but they look like they might work well.


     Now I'm going to go sing some Celtic music and practice my ballroom dancing in the living room before my parents get home. Woohoodle!

A Fan's Dilemma

     I've discovered that there's a problem with my idea of working at conventions and other geek events... I want to go to these things and have fun. Take this month's Midsummer Night's Eve festival in Flovilla. I was planning to go with Heather in the evening, have a few drinks at the bar, and wander around having fun while dressed like a fairy. Solid plan. Now I find out they still have space for vendors. Not only do they have space, but it's affordable space! And it's fantasy geeks, so my stuff might sell really well. But then I'd have to be there all day, outside, in the heat, stuck in one place, not participating in any events, etc. How lame is that? So now I have to choose between money and fun. I need more minions to help me run my booth at these things. Blah. Also have to decide if I want to journey down to Florida for Time Lord Fest... can't decide if it's worth the drive.

     So yeah, no idea what I'm going to do yet. Everything is kind of falling apart on me at the moment, and my head is an absolute mess. But the good news is that I've started sculpting a quaffle for my quidditch necklace. That counts for something, right?