Design Decisions

Beki Haley of Whim Beads has a way of asking just the right questions on Facebook and the answers can be enlightening. This weeks Have you ever forced yourself to complete a project that you just weren't liking? Maybe the colors were off, or the original idea had morphed into something you really couldn't wrap your mind around. Or maybe it was a commission and the customers idea just wasn't working for you but you persisted anyway? And if you did do this, what was the final outcome?

Ah yes....all the time....Well maybe not all the time. There are those times I sit down with a vision and the beading all goes well and the piece comes to life the way I hoped it would and then....

There are those times where you have a vision and then you decide to 'play' with the piece and maybe this curve would be good instead of a straight piece. It seems each design decision then undoes the previous step. If it's not going to be straight and I won't be adding more rows then the chains of crystal will be needing more crystal at the top, and if I'm going to go with a curve should I put a flat band across the top to hold it and then, if I put 2 mm crystals in the spaces, the inside curve is not big enough, so perhaps I should put the crystals on the edge of the weave instead....and on it goes.



All of this is fine in the world where you have plenty of time, although really who ever has plenty of time? It is after all the part of design process that I enjoy, sometimes. This is the second to last piece that needs completing for the book. It's so close....but just not exactly how I want it to be. I find these kind of challenges really must be met in the studio. If I were to take this with me on my upcoming plane rides I would inevitably think of the perfect bead required to really finesse the design, and it would be at home. Perhaps I can carve some time out of this weekend.

How often does your design process work from start to finish without a major turn of events?