Silver Bee is curious!

Today’s word is curiousity. Well actually it was yesterday’s word too. Come to think of it, I’m sure it will be tomorrow’s word. What the heck, let’s just be honest and declare that every day is about curiousity. It’s a versatile word that takes you places, teaches you things, and inspires questions. My favourite question is, “What if?” Some pretty crazy things happen when you ask that question but this is a blog about silver smithing so I’m going to stick to the program.

I believe I’ve always been creative, but it wasn’t until I cultivated curiousity that creativity became interesting.  Do you remember your first colouring books, and how you were supposed to colour inside the lines? Sometimes I think we learn too well and it becomes difficult to venture outside the lines into the unknown. For myself, I’ve always dabbled in creativity -- mostly colouring inside the lines. It wasn’t until I found something I became passionate about that I wanted to take risks. Of course you know where this is going.

My passion is silver. I love working with it. I describe it as having ‘attitude’.  You have to learn to work with it and not force it.  Silver has very few requirements but if you don’t meet them...well, things just won’t go your way. Silver should be clean, fluxed and the two ends or pieces must have the best possible connection in order for a good solder to happen.  When you ‘get’ this all sorts of things can happen! You can start to ask the question, “What if?” So what were some of my questions? I wondered what would happen if I poured molten silver into or over different things like wet straw, water, snow, and various kinds of beans. The resulting organic pieces prompted a whole new set of “What if?” questions. By the way, all the silver I use for these experiments is recycled from ideas that didn’t work out. I admit that I did have moments of disappointment but once that was gone the silver went into my “dish of new possibilities”.  

That’s just one way that curiousity worked for me.  What happens when you get curious about something creative? I would love to hear about some of your experiences. You may just spark some curiousity in others!

The moral of this story: Lines only exist if you choose to see them, otherwise your curiousity and creativity can take you many places.