Creative Ideas from your own "Artist Eyes"

If you are looking to be inspired by art or just want to see it more readily... try to look around you with an "artist's eye". Let me elaborate:

I went into a local quilt shop to pass time as I waited for someone else in a hair salon nearby. I was warmly greeted by the quilt shop owner and because they were busy, I was also left to have browse time without interruptions. It was great to look around freely at all of the vibrant fabrics. There was such variety in bright and vivid colors and patterns. Many prints reminded me of the beads that I already create but, I was inspired by different color combinations. Time passed by and I had apparently been in the quilt store for about twenty minutes. By this time, the crowd had died down and the owner had time to approach me. She asked me if I was a quilter. I replied "No, I do not even sew." To her surprise, I should not have even had that much interest in looking around, let alone stay for the amount of time I had. I explained that I was an artist merely admiring the prints and patterns, she then understood that my focus was going to be an appreciation of the store's visual merchandise. I did end up buying some items though.

What would I buy at a quilt shop if I am not a quilter? The items that I did purchase were items for quilter's needs specifically but, I saw them in a different light. I saw the items with an "artist's eye". The buttons there, I saw as potential beads and connector shapes in my jewelry. The pattern for a purse, I saw as another way to incorporate my beads into the handle of a finished project. Within the mini wall hanging display, I imagined it being a great backdrop for a jewelry display with a beaded hanging string. There were other ideas that flowed into and out of my mind, so the notebook that I keep in the car was useful when I left the store. I'd store those ideas for later use.

When you are looking around, try to think of other ways that you can use your jewelry in a different manner. Why hide your necklaces in a jewelry box? We hang our earrings on a screen window hung on the wall. The screen holes are perfect to keep the earrings with their match. They are on display like a framed piece of art. We also hang glass necklaces around a lamp shade and the colors "light up" when the shade is lit. Bracelets and necklaces are on hooks and wooden plaques as well as on behind-the-door clothing hooks so that the art can be seen once the door is closed. I am looking for a large screen door to prop up in a corner to add even more earrings, bracelets and necklaces from. It will all be in one place and also serve as a central spot for color and artistic display. I use my bracelets and necklaces for curtain tie backs, to decorate a candle holder base and to wrap around bows for gifts. What ideas do you have?