5 Useful Tips for Jewelry Artists – Because Creative Blocks Happen.

After weeks of productivity and finishing jewelry pieces that make you proud, your river of creative ideas seems to freeze over. You look at your stones, stamped designs and metal patina samples in hope that they may somehow trigger a spark of an idea, or magically convey a concept because you’re making intense eye contact with them. Yet, still nothing comes to mind.

Not to worry! The following are just some ways that can help you get your creative mojo back:

• Schedule time for you and Inspiration to meet.
Don’t panic. This won’t necessarily take more time from your packed schedule. You can get inspiration while on a morning walk/run/jog in nature, listening to your playlist of favorite tunes, doodling or sketching, and going to your local art museum or gallery with a friend. Inspiration is happiest to meet you when you are  in relaxed, fun situations.

• Socialize/network with other jewelry designers.
This has a few different benefits to socializing with other designers. One is simply feeling a mutual kinship over the minor tragedies of bezel wire melted and the triumph of successfully finishing a challenging project. Another benefit is sharing tips that could help each other in your designs and being open to receiving constructive criticism so you can improve upon your skills.
• Keep sane when working with clients. Allow time for good ideas to develop.
While it’s exciting to have client orders, be sure to allow yourself some time between the initial order and the completion deadline. Why? Working under a time crunch typically creates stress that’s not conducive to creative thinking, risk-taking and solutions.
• Make time for daydreaming, and or, meditation
If you must schedule this, please do. Allowing your mind to wonder in the form of daydreaming, or during meditation is how you can access the subconscious. This can be a good time for creative ideas to flow -  when the mind stops pondering your problems.

• Try new things and processes!
This could be something as simple as a slight change of schedule. Maybe you work on your project in a different space. Or, maybe you play with mixing other materials you’ve never used before – fabric, or texture, for example.

Are you feeling more hopeful yet? Try one, a few or all of these tips and you’ll soon be in your creative flow again. You can try one of these tips when you take a Harold Studio jewelry class. It’s a great way to meet other jewelry designers! Learn more here.