"Gwen Carillon? She does that fantasy furniture...right?"
As a designer I feel it's really important not to box myself into doing just one thing. I love that people like my furniture! When I first entered Second Life, I had about 15 years of jewelry design experience in Real Life. I was tired of jewelry. When you are tired of something, and force yourself to create anyway, nothing really good manifests. So...I took up furniture design. (Yes, I see the connection there...don't you? Jewelry-furniture...ummm...) I felt renewed and ready to create good things. It was a vacation from what I was familiar with and I liked it. Months later, I felt refreshed enough to bring my jewelry designs into world. I found myself pidgeon holed into being a furniture designer. "Gwen makes cool furniture and art...Oh! I think she just started trying her hand at jewelry."
Aaa! How ironic! *laughing* I'm still really glad that I took the break I needed from jewelry, though. I love what it did for my creativity.
I have always seen jewelry as wearable art. In Second Life I was not only able to recreate some of my RL work, I was able to experiment with particle scripts and animated textures in my jewelry. Why stop at silver and gold? Why not have a flame inside of a pendant? It was fun again and the ideas kept coming. My friends got used to my IM's saying "Hi:)I'm dropping a new set on you. Can you just try this on please and let me know what you think?" And truthfully, it's much easier than dropping a couch on someone and saying "Here. Sit on this for me." *laughing* I do have a confession to make though. I HATE preparing vendors for new sets. I have at least three sets ready for sale that I never prepped vendors for. In that respect I'm lazy! *sigh*
The important thing in design isn't *what* we create, as much as *that* we create. The process is as important to us as the finished work. For me it's like tasting light. The work fills me and I can't stop till it's complete.For designers and artists, it's that feeling the goes into a piece that makes it ours forever. And...it doesn't matter if the piece sells as long as it's loved by its creator from conception through manifestation. It's ours. When I finish a piece that I'm happy with I get a sense of completeness and joy that rivals chocolate! That piece has bits of me in it. There's a feeling of accomplishment that is overwhelming. It's a high! When I get an idea for a piece, I have to start it right away. I want to drop everything to create it. ...
And I often do, at the oddest moments! *laughing* The next thing I know, I'm in "the zone" and blind to everything but the work. An hour can feel like five minutes! This process of creation is a meditation that is so immersive, I can forget to eat.
The act of creation is the difference between a designer and a retailer.
Anyone can learn retail marketing. Design is reaching into yourself without fear and using your imagination...your
vision to express yourself in new ways. I know some would argue that point. They can get their own Blog. *laughing * My Blog-My Opinion. So
There. :P
