Color Challenged

When I'm designing beads, I tend to gravitate towards darker colors and earth-tones. I love black, blue, purple and the chemical reactions that occur with metal foils and enamel powders. I realized the other day that I haven't even touched a red or orange rod of glass in over a year. Somehow I just don't 'think' in those colors. The clothes I wear are also dark and earth-toned... if I wear red, it's a burgundy or maroon, and even that is rare.

I've decided to challenge myself by making beads in bright colors. I know colorful beads are very popular, and they really brighten up a bead display. I'm doing a bead show in September, so I thought that besides the benefits of a creative challenge, having some bright beads would draw people's attention at the show.

So I picked up my red and orange rods and worked with this challenge for a couple of days. That was last week, and so far I've been uninspired to make any more red beads. I do plan on it, though... it feels good to stretch my creative boundaries, and difficulty is part of the growing process. Below are a couple of photos of my color challenge. I feel like a novice beadmaker with my simple beads because I am still unable to think of any fantastic unique designs in bright colors.

You can also read more about myself and other beadmakers in their creative processes at the Watch Me Create blog.