I've always been afraid to share my thoughts through writing/keeping a blog.
It was so much easier for me to maintain a blog when I was living abroad because all I had to do was write about my travels and what I saw/experienced. But with jewelry it feels so personal that it's been very difficult for me to get into the swing of it.
I don't know why over the years I've developed a fear of writing and giving my creativity a voice. What could I possibly write about jewelry that you don't already know about, or would seem even remotely interesting?
But since I'm even worse at speaking in video format, and I'm much better at writing, I'm eager to share my process and ideas with you in this blog. I think that it gives more weight to the work when you're also able to read about the thought-process behind someone's creative journey.
Creativity has always been very important to me in my life. I've explored many different forms of creativity from music to dance to painting and drawing to beadwork and it shapes how I see and interact with the world. Art is my language, it is the way that I can understand others around me, it's how I learn about history and travel and culture, and it's my mode of communication.
Writing and finding the right words for why something 'came' to me doesn't come naturally. Sometimes when I'm writing captions for a social media post, I will sit there and just stare at the screen. Some people are very skilled at expressing their thoughts but it takes time for me to finally form a sentence around what it is I'm trying to say.
This doesn't mean that I'm at a loss for words, but the truth of the matter is that when I work, I work in silence. I keep all of my thoughts in my head and because I draw inspiration from so many different topics, by the time it comes to writing about my inspiration, I get stuck.
And I think about so many different things from current events, to reflecting on my purpose, to wondering about the history that I'm trying to highlight, to things that are more personal. All of these topics weave their way into my work and I'm very careful about the intentions behind each piece. If I'm having a bad day for example, then I walk away from the piece because I don't want that feeling to go into the work. What I make is meant to be worn and absolutely no one wants to wear someone's bad juju.
So this will be my attempt at seriously writing and giving shape to what goes on behind the scenes. I haven't announced this on any platform because I want to make sure that I can uphold my end of the promise. I need to practice and get better at writing and expressing myself so it's better if I start quietly.
Thank you always for your readership and support,
Caitlin