A friend was recently visiting me while I was making some jewelry. She noticed my inexpensive hand tools and asked me why I wasn't using more expensive/professional grade hand tools instead of the thrifty "economy" versions that I was using. Some of my favorite and most used hand tools – and even some of those I use in my books – are inexpensive chain nose pliers, round nose pliers, and end cutters.
I guess I never really thought too much about it. I've always just been busy creating. It's true that you can buy expensive tools such as pricey pliers that are a bit more comfortable to use because they're more ergonomically correct, which I'm sure would be beneficial if you're doing a lot of repetitive work - but I don't do that type of work so I guess I just never really had the need. I've always been pretty happy with what I have, and never saw the need for buying anything else. I've actually always thought of my hands as my tools, and any pliers or anything else that I used - as just extensions of me.
But my friend's question reminded me of a remark that a fan posted on my Dishfunctional Designs Facebook page a few years ago who commented when I put up a photo of an intricately made artwork that I created out of an old plate. The person said something to the point of, "Wow, what amazing tool did you use to create this beautiful artwork?" to which I immediately (half-jokingly and half seriously) replied, "It was the amazing woman behind the tool that created the artwork!" The person responded with an enlightened "Yes!" And we traded Emoji smiles. :)
It's not the tool that creates the artwork. It's the magic of the person behind the tool. It's their mind and their hands, it's their creativity, imagination, and innovation. It's their personal magic that creates art.
I recently received an email from a fan in Italy who sent me a photo of herself working making jewelry from broken china plates using techniques that she learned from my book, Boho Chic Jewelry. She thanked me for writing my books and for sharing my secrets so that she (and other people) could make jewelry like mine. She said that she didn't have the money to buy some of the tools that I recommended in my book but that she was improvising and using what she had (cruder hand tools) until she could afford to buy some of the tools that I recommended that would make her work easier.
With her email she included photos of some of the jewelry that she made, which was beautiful. In reading her letter and seeing the photos of what she had created, it was clear to me that she had the understanding and the magic because of her motivation and innovation, which was apparent in her jewelry.
Understand that everything you need is already inside of you. The secret is to tap into that magic and use it.
In my books Boho Chic Jewelry and Soldered Alchemy, I suggest what tools are optimal to help you create jewelry. But please understand that YOU are the one ultimately making the jewelry, not the tools!
Some synonyms for tools are: utensil, instrument, apparatus, gadget, device... but please realize that you, your hands, and your imagination are the biggest, most important tools that you have!
Understand this: There are many tools available that can help you work faster and maybe more efficiently, but there is no tool in the universe that will help you work with a higher level of creativity or motivation.
Make creativity your daily practice and make this practice a way of life, instead of thinking about what particular tool, apparatus, instrument, utensil or gadget you need to buy, because all of that is secondary. Tools are merely the instruments of you. Are they helpful? Are they essential? Of course they are. They help you do certain tasks that are impossible to do with bare hands. But my point is this: Focus on innovation, on having a different perspective, and on being creative, because that is the secret to creating beauty.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your voice so please leave me a comment below.
article and images ©Laura Beth Love 2016 all rights reserved.
