Need help, Thanks to those who help get my creative juices going again.
Camaro
Hotbox creativity block
Moderators: Brad Walker, Tony Smith
Hotbox creativity block
Well I have been doing jewelry and would like to do other things in my Hotbox, but have hit a creative roadblock. Any suggestions as to what I could do? Also do they make a mold for light switch covers? That is about as far as my creativity took me. I am an artist, and creative blocks do come and go, but with the Hotbox I feel limited. Am I? Or are there really cool things to do in it, and I just don't know what they are?
Need help, Thanks to those who help get my creative juices going again.
Camaro
Need help, Thanks to those who help get my creative juices going again.
Camaro
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Tony Smith
- Posts: 1037
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 5:59 pm
- Location: Massachusetts, USA
- Contact:
You can try small combings, different surface treatments like micas or enamels, metal inclusions, open face casting, kiln carving, turn your hotbox into a vitrigraph for making stringer, bracelets, tiles, candle shelters...
Tony
Tony
The tightrope between being strange and being creative is too narrow to walk without occasionally landing on both sides..." Scott Berkun
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Jackie Beckman
- Posts: 475
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 5:01 pm
- Location: Arizona
- Contact:
Try thinking of components you can make in your small kiln. For example, make up 16 interesting small pieces with an outter stand and drill holes to connect them with wire in a 4/row by 4/ row square. Suddenly you're not so limited at all - you can make pieces as big as you'd like. Thats just an example - but it will get you thinking out of the box - or I should say, out of the "hotbox." 
Hi Camaro,
Here is what I do when I hit a creative roadblock. Three things, which I find always, generate a spark. First I experiment... a lot. I mean I do stuff that I don't even know why I'm doing it. Start small, pile a bunch of frit onto of a 4inch square piece of clear. Use colors that you never would think to use. The more "out there" the better. Next step, smash it! Use a hammer or a rock or shoot it with a BB gun, what ever, but smash it into pieces that you can put back into the kiln and add more frit or other smashed pieces and fire again. And that's just for starters. Go wild enough that someone will call you a crazy artist. You have to break out of your creative routine. Shock the system and wake that part of you up that has those great ideas.
Second, if you don't do this, then start tonight, keep a journal/sketch book. Number the pages and date each and every entry. Then fill the thing with every idea that you have, no matter how outrageous or boring. Keep drawings, sketches, notes, thoughts, numbers and addresses but never ever edit it or judge it's contents. This is very important to the creative process, as we all need a safe place to put out those ideas. They don't have to be good, most of them won't be, but that's OK. Just record them, however minor.
Finally, I go through magazines with an exato knife. I find a lot of inspiration from ceramics and jewelry magazines, but there are tons of ideas in any other venue. Home interior, landscape, antiques, health, whatever. I cut them out and then glue them into my sketchbook with rubber cement. Not only do I like the smell of rubber cement, but also it keeps my sketchbook cleaner
Also, I go to the library and photocopy art books of artist whom I admire or enjoy and put those in too.
Sorry that I’m so wordy, but I hope this helps you. You are not alone in this quest for new ideas. It is never ending. There are some good ideas already given, I like Jackie's idea of components, I'll be entering that in my sketchbook tonight! Thanks Jackie.
Good luck,
Rob
Here is what I do when I hit a creative roadblock. Three things, which I find always, generate a spark. First I experiment... a lot. I mean I do stuff that I don't even know why I'm doing it. Start small, pile a bunch of frit onto of a 4inch square piece of clear. Use colors that you never would think to use. The more "out there" the better. Next step, smash it! Use a hammer or a rock or shoot it with a BB gun, what ever, but smash it into pieces that you can put back into the kiln and add more frit or other smashed pieces and fire again. And that's just for starters. Go wild enough that someone will call you a crazy artist. You have to break out of your creative routine. Shock the system and wake that part of you up that has those great ideas.
Second, if you don't do this, then start tonight, keep a journal/sketch book. Number the pages and date each and every entry. Then fill the thing with every idea that you have, no matter how outrageous or boring. Keep drawings, sketches, notes, thoughts, numbers and addresses but never ever edit it or judge it's contents. This is very important to the creative process, as we all need a safe place to put out those ideas. They don't have to be good, most of them won't be, but that's OK. Just record them, however minor.
Finally, I go through magazines with an exato knife. I find a lot of inspiration from ceramics and jewelry magazines, but there are tons of ideas in any other venue. Home interior, landscape, antiques, health, whatever. I cut them out and then glue them into my sketchbook with rubber cement. Not only do I like the smell of rubber cement, but also it keeps my sketchbook cleaner
Also, I go to the library and photocopy art books of artist whom I admire or enjoy and put those in too. Sorry that I’m so wordy, but I hope this helps you. You are not alone in this quest for new ideas. It is never ending. There are some good ideas already given, I like Jackie's idea of components, I'll be entering that in my sketchbook tonight! Thanks Jackie.
Good luck,
Rob
I've made oil burners in mine from pre-fused/designed disc's of glass as well as the fridge maglesses. Some even having wire inclusions to hang keys from. As stated before the best use is for experimentation and production of design elements for bigger projects.
Mine is parked up at the moment waiting for a new element, just when I was getting into a vitrograph frenzy. So for me it's design elements all the way. -Haydo
Mine is parked up at the moment waiting for a new element, just when I was getting into a vitrograph frenzy. So for me it's design elements all the way. -Haydo