Digging Deep to Grow
Author’s Bio - Angela Benjamin of Ange B Designs, is a jewellery artist based in West London.
In addition to creating architectural jewellery, she makes bespoke one-off commissions and teaches jewellery making workshops for beginners from the comfort of her cute garden studio.
It’s been way too long since my last blog post - after ‘Make It At Market’ aired on BBC One in December of 2023, I was blessed to have a wave of new visitors to my website. Exposing my style in such a public (and slightly scary) way and the interest that followed, gave me the opportunity to make some exciting work in the form of several bespoke commissions.
Everything seemed great until Spring of this year, when I was hit with a serious case of creator’s block. Whilst I loved the pieces that I was making for my clients, I felt stuck with regard to my own work - I had lots of ideas in my head but couldn’t figure out how to make them happen.
Never one to sit still, I signed up for a wood carving course. I’ve always loved wood and timber (I think I would have loved to have been a carpenter) and I thought at the very least I’d enjoy learning some new skills.
Working with a different material (and new tools), without the pressure to create ‘something’, was so liberating! The first thing I realised was that as a maker, I enjoy problem-solving. Figuring out how to put things together AND make them look attractive, really fuels my creative fire. Getting fresh eyes on my existing and newer work from other creatives, was also invaluable in helping me to re-evaulate the direction in which my work was going.
It was a really useful exercise to look back at some of old designs, as well as spending time immersing myself in things that inspired me - I pushed myself to take my sketchbook with me on gallery visits, and set myself the goal of sketching everyday (even if it was only for 15 mins)
I’ve had some fears around the way my work has developed: what will people think of it? Would I alienate my existing customers? Where does my work ‘fit’ in the jewellery world? In the end, it boils down to whether or not I am enjoying what I’m doing and how I feel about the work.
With 2024 coming to an end, I can honestly say that I’m proud of the new work I’ve created and continue to be excited by the ideas I have brewing. This year has helped me to realise that being a creative, doesn’t mean that you always have to be producing work: development and growth can also come from taking a little sideways step or even a few paces backwards.
