Wisdom and Beauty from Synergy

I actually got to see Kathleen Dustin wearing this amazing work of art while I was in Baltimore. Not only that, but, I got to meet her and take her seminar on earring design. She couldn't have been nicer! When I went downstairs to see a bit of the ACC Show, I was in awe of her booth and seeing so much of her artwork (most of it marked with SOLD signs) in one place was almost overwhelming. Her talent can't be described in words, it needs to be experienced by all the senses simultaneously. She is truly a remarkable lady.

I wanted to share some tidbits of wisdom and a few fascinating facts from the seminar presenters. My first seminar was "Beyond the Blend" with Dan Cormier. I was blown away by the material he presented and amazed at the amount of time and work he put into developing this revolutionary blending method. Here's a bit of trivia he discovered during his research: After 20 passes through the pasta machine, a two-color blend will actually exhibit 1,048,077 different colors. He's promised to unveil a new website very soon so keep your eyes open.

Next was Judy Kuskin's "Silver Bezels" . She did a wonderful job presenting information in a way that those of us with little or no experience in metalworking could understand. Her handout was excellent and so well thought out. She gave me the confidence to attempt this on my own and as soon as I order a few supplies, I'm jumping in. Thanks Judy for this very valuable gift!

I mentioned Kathleen's "Earring Design" seminar above and I have to say that I learned so much from the examples she presented. She spoke from the perspective of a juror who would be evaluating your work and I appreciated her honest and critical feedback. Wisdom from Kathleen: Every aspect of design should have evidence of decision making. There should always be some relationship between the finding and other elements.

I was quite excited about "Polymer Clay Blogging" with Cynthia Tinapple, Susan Lomuto, and Alison Lee. They each offered us their "top 10" tips and they were charming, witty, and wonderful, as always. From Cynthia: Know what you care about. Know your audience, respect your readers. Write simply and often, be authentic. From Susan: Bank your posts. Edit, edit, edit. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. From Alison: Be ready to stay up late. Be ready to give up American Idol. Restart is your friend.

"Dancing to your own MUSEic", presented by Robert Dancik, was a true eye-opener. I've taken a workshop from him before so, I knew he was fabulous but, I got SO MUCH out of his talk and his wonderful handouts. From Robert: Learn to relinquish control. When you're not in charge, it's freeing to you and you can be more creative.

I really admire Dayle Doroshow and I was looking forward to "Creative Sparks". She is the queen of simple creativity exercises designed to lead you down new and exciting paths. From Dayle: Take a universal symbol (such as a heart or a spiral) and see how many ways you can apply it. Her examples were wonderful and it was great fun to interact with all of the people who were sitting around you.

In yesterday's post, I asked for you to comment on the most bizarre thing you've ever used as an inclusion with polymer clay. So far, only one person has actually mentioned what they used and, although I'm sorry about what it did to her hands, I adore her sense of adventure. You have until 8 AM eastern standard time on Friday to share and don't forget, there's a prize involved here, people!