Five years ago I wrote an introduction to this project which now, unsurprisingly, feels very out of date. (If you like, you can read that first, now that you know).
I started Fifty Projects as a way to work through ideas I had planned, and even bought the tools and materials for. And it worked - I have learned, and put new skills in to practice, and have finished pieces to show for it. But last year I felt like I’d lost my way. I hardly took on any new projects and those that I was working on... I'd lost all motivation.
Years ago I read Barbara Sher’s book ‘Refuse to Choose’ - a book for people who are curious and passionate about many, many different things - and the one paragraph that stuck with me was, of all places, in the epilogue. It reads:
‘You need to do something extraordinary or you will never be satisfied.’ ‘You need to throw yourself heart and soul into something you love and give it your very best effort. You need to push past your boredom barriers and take at least one of your passions to the absolute limit you’re capable of’.
Unwittingly, I’d stumbled on the one thing I wanted to focus all of my attention on. When random projects collided - glass wafers, abstract painting and colour - I realised that I wanted to take this idea and go deeper than before. Investigate, explore and see what I could do with it!
So, glass wafer abstracts are taking up most of my time but I’ve also realised that side projects still have value - although I am trying to do one at a time! The timescale for getting to fifty is ever changing, but the original idea to use it to push myself to take on new and exciting projects is still there.
Gilded Pate de Verre Vessels - An online course with Alison Lowry and Warm Glass
Worcestershire Camera Club has been a part of our lives since 2013. It started as an interest for my husband and I just tagged along...
I've had a great time learning how to screen print images on glass...
We spent a couple of hours having a play with cold epoxy resin with limited success.
I’ve always loved the bright colours and satin finish of anodised aluminium...
This is the original introduction I wrote for this project of projects, back in 2018...
At school I was always the arty one; now I’m a graphic designer building websites (because I enjoy the techy side as much as the visual design). I’ve tried jewellery making, sign painting, knitting, drawing. I’ve sewn costumes for my daughter, made birthday cards for my family and knitted a shawl because I wanted to see how ‘short rows’ worked. More recently I’ve ventured into photography and I have a small kiln to make fused glass (whilst learning Korean and going to Tai Chi on Fridays).
Being interested in so many things has it’s pros and cons. New skills are always useful and I like to combine techniques to come up with new ideas, but I’m so addicted to the instant gratification of attaining a new skill that I tend to dabble and rarely make a finished piece. With this in mind, over the next year or so, I'm taking on fifty art and design projects where I aim to complete some of the ideas I’ve had for a while and not got around to finishing.
I will still be learning, with a couple of courses already booked, and I look forward to meeting some new people and maybe even try a collab or two. Words and pictures will be shared here and on Instagram. Hope you will follow along :)
*Credit: The picture behind the books (in the header image) is the 2018 Inktober print 'Travellers of the Five Kingdoms' from Mr Jake Parker.
Contact Me
I live and work in Worcester in the UK. If you'd like to email me sayhello@karendewson.com
