Trying out ideas

My head is always filled with ideas for pieces I want to make. The fully formed ideas are fine, they get made. But what about all those half formed, quarter formed, this-could-be-the-beginning-of-something ideas? The potential ideas. Are they something or are they nothing?

When my head is overflowing with potential ideas, I do a quick making exercise. The goal of this exercise is not to end up with perfect pieces ready for casting. It’s to quickly try out new ideas. Find the ideas you like and want to develop more. Find the ones you don’t like and can now stop thinking about.

This potential seeking exercise has 3 rules.

• You make one type/category of jewellery
• All pieces start from the same basic shape
• It’s quick, you don’t want time to overthink something and just continue making pieces and trial out your ideas.

Preparation

The preparation stage is not counted as part of the exercise, but I don’t spend too much time on this part either. For this sample I’m going to make rings (type) from 5mm strips of sheet wax (basic shape).

I cut my strips of sheet wax.

You don’t want to prepare so many ring blanks that you become overwhelmed with the prospect of having to come up with ideas for so many of them. But you do want to prepare enough that it’s a bit of a challenge. You can come up with 3 ideas for a ring on the spot. But 10 becomes a challenge.

Last, decide how long you want to take with this exercise. I think 30 minutes is enough for this one. With your wax prepared, make sure all the tools you could need are nearby and you’re ready.

Start

And now you just make rings! When one ring is done you put it to the side and start the next one. You have an immediate gut feeling if the ring is something you like or not, but wait with a full evaluation until all the pieces are done.

You start with the ideas that immediately come to you. These are ideas you’ve been actively thinking about and ideas you’ve had for a long time. Try to avoid making something super similar to what you already make. You’re looking for new ideas after all.

With these first few ideas out of the way, others that have been buried in the back of your mind come up. Make these rings next. You can take a few minutes to let the ideas come up, but it’s best to keep momentum going and continue making rings.

When you’re really out of ideas, make something unexpected for you. Love curves? Make something angular. Love precision? Try something organic. Make something completely different from your usual style. These contrary pieces lead to the best new ideas!

Evaluate

With all the rings done you can evaluate. Look at each ring and find the parts you love about it, the parts that need some extra work but have potential, and the parts you don’t like.

When you finish making the ring you already have a gut feeling if it’s something you like or not. But go over each piece again and look at the ring as a whole, the details it has, and the separate elements it’s made of. New things jump out at you you hadn’t noticed in the making process!

My pieces end up in 3 groups: scrap, potential, love.

Scrap

The scrap pile is pieces I don’t like, and where I see no other use or potential for the idea I was trying out with the ring. Sometimes the scrap pile is small, sometimes it’s big. Whatever the size, scrapping ideas is a good thing! Getting rid of ideas that didn’t work out frees up space for new ideas! Even when all your pieces end up in the scrap pile, it just means you’ve made space for new and great ideas.

These 2 rings are a definite no for me.

Love

The love pile is all the pieces that I’m happy to get cast as they are, after making a neater version of it if needed!

These 4 rings are a definite love for me. 4 new rings is great, but what else can I make based on these ideas?

I love how the twisted end parts line up to make it look like one twist. But another ring where the ends twist together, or only one twist but longer, a twist that goes vertically over the finger instead of diagonal. And what about earrings? Long or short twist drops, a mismatched set, twist studs, an earclimber where the twist goes all the way up your ear, and of course twist hoops! This twist will definitely look good as a bangle too!

When I finished the ring I considered it scrap, but when I looked it over for evaluation it moved up to love! It's a simple idea, the wax is squeezed together and loops and waves into a ring. It looks like a drawing. Every ring you make with this process will end up differently. Just imagine a bangle stack like it. All the different hoop earrings and small sections you can use for studs. It's perfect. Can't believe my initial thought was to scrap it!

It's a simple ring, but the way the loop is formed with the edges curving up and the way it sits over the finger is beautiful! It's in a kind of teardrop shape now, but what other shapes are possible? Imagine setting stones in the inside of the curve, or maybe a small racecar to go over the track? The loop will make great pendants and brooches in any shape too.

The construction of the ring needs more work, but it looks great. Bangles, small links to create a chain, hoops. This idea will look good on anything!

Potential

What’s left is the potential pile. The pieces that aren’t there yet, but with some changes to the design can become love pieces.

These 4 rings are potentials for me. I like the details of each ring, but not in this version.

I like the way the wax bunches together in every curve and pushes out. A thinner version where I can make more bends and get more of this effect might work.

I like the 2 strip braiding, but thinner might be better. Definitely not a double ring either.

I like the technique of cutting slits and opening it up. Thinner and smaller might work better? Also not as much space between the openings.

I like the folded section, but a ring might not be the right type of jewellery for it. Pendant and earrings could be good. The fold technique can be used to form loads of other shapes as well. Maybe a different shape works better?

Result

Including preparation and evaluation, this idea generating exercise took less than an hour.

I ended up with 4 rings that I love and loads of ideas for other pieces of jewellery!

You can endlessly change your basic starting shape and choose a different type of jewellery to keep this exercise fun. But even when you use the same starting shape and type of jewellery, you can come up with new ideas! For the sake of the blog I used new wax, but when I do this for myself I use scrap pieces of wax.

Comment below and let me know if you’re going to try this out!