Artfully Meandering: How do you create? Are you messy or organized?

I was reading through last year's journal and trying to pull out the creative ideas and designs for this year's journal. I ran across this little thought: how do you create? Are you a messy artist? Or are you an organized artist?

I go both ways. My artistic breakthroughs come from a messy desk, from serendipitous moments where things that I wouldn't consciously place next to each other somehow end up next to each other and create an unexpected "aha" moment for the creative side.

On the other hand, productivity comes from a clean desk. My most prolific moments come from a nice, neat, freshly cleaned desk and workspace.

So, I try to make room for both...embrace my messiness for a while and then take time to clean up to embrace productivity.

Explorations

I don't have the space/money to invest in seed beads for now, so I've been purchasing some of Beverly Ash Gilbert's dreamy bead soups and medleys. Here is my first practice at one of the projects. I need to wait for the official thread, needs, etc., but I've enjoyed playing with her medleys. They are so rich and deep, I can't wait to do more and include gems in these pieces.

Polymer Clay

I've been seriously dabbling in clay. It's nice because you don't need a ton of tools. Unfortunately, I've had to sacrifice many pieces as I figured out that my little toaster oven was way too hot. I think I have it on its lowest settings and it still burns things from time to time.

Below are my first efforts. Kind of messy and splooshy. And toasted. But, every little ugly experiment moves me forward.

I really want to make beads for jewelry, so here is a first attempt at beads. I'm trying to figure out if I want to make holes before (so far, they're very messy) or drill after curing. I'm undecided for now. Another struggle I'm having is making the decorations clear and crisp. They're very smushy.

Eni Oken started a sister site to Jewelry Lessons called Clay Lessons. I've purchased some of the tutorials (particularly the ones by jkayjewelry) and I've been learning the exciting side of slicing into cane. Below is the first attempt at cabochon. (All pieces are unfinished as I still need sandpaper and varnish.)

Second cabochon. I really like this one and want to finish it off.

These last two pictures are my latest batch...I'm progressing! I love how a simple technique like the Skinner blend can really make a basic piece look much more sophisticated. I'm learning some cane techniques that I would love to experiment with and try in glass at some point.

The same pieces as the above picture, but the back side. I've decorated both sides of most of the pendants.

I'm beginning to embrace working between mediums to see if I can cross-pollinate some of the techniques and move my overall skill forward. Funnnnn!!!!