“… from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web… We must pick out what is good for us where we can find it” Pablo Picasso
Where does that creativity come from? What was the inspiration, the spark? Do you go somewhere to get inspired?
Here is our featured HandmadeMN artist Candyce Fitzloff-Westfield from Connected Elements where she creates unique jewelry using beach stones, silver, copper, bronze, recycled glass, resin, and enamel. You can also check Candyce out on her Facebook fan page.
Lakes and PinesCandyce says, “I created my first piece like this one for a friend and former co-worker who was moving from Minnesota to New Mexico. Her co-workers wanted me to come up with something they could give her to remember Minnesota. Of course I knew the piece needed to have beach stones… she is a Fisheries Biologist and the lakes of Minnesota were a big part of her life.”
Candyce then created the other elements from casting leftover silver into pine needles… another element of Minnesota! Candyce says, "this casting process took some time, I melted down the silver and then poured it into a bundle of needles. It took several tries to come up with something that was usable. I took the resulting pieces and arranged them with the stones…soldering it all together. The result was an organic talisman of what makes Minnesota special… the lakes and the trees!”
This project led Candyce to create several other pieces from this theme using the same elements…the stones and trees of Minnesota! “I love how that works…when one project leads to a whole new body of work!”
