Recharging - Suzanne Tate

This month I am asked to talk about ‘Recharging’ – how do I refresh my creativity and recharge my batteries?  As a hobbyist, I guess burn out is less of a problem for me to begin with.  One of the things I always consider in relation to my bead business is ensuring it stays fun, that it does not become too much like hard work.  I often go a few weeks without torching, as I get too busy, and life gets in the way, so I am generally chomping at the bit to torch.  I did have a bit a creative lull earlier this year.  That seems to relate more to my morale about the online auction sites being so very slow at the moment, than it is about how I actually feel about torching.  Often, when that happens to me, coincidentally it seem sot be a time where I need to focus on my historical beads for awhile, so I don’t have to stress about my lack of creative flow too much. After a few weeks of making fairly simple medieval beads for an SCA event or focusing on research, I am generally happy to ‘play’ with more contemporary designs.  A change is as good as a holiday, so they say. 

 

So, for me, I try not to make to many demands on my beadmaking – that’s why I don’t do wholesale orders for shops, as I don’t want to ‘have to’ make a certain number of beads a week.  As long as my glass is self funding, I am generally happy, although I am trying to fund a trip back to the states next year. 

 

Keep it fun – it would be a terrible thing to me, to let my joy in glass be damaged by burning out, or too many demands re sales etc.

 

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