The final word on my 2017 residency at Arteles Creative Center in Finland. This residency wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of Arteles and it’s welcoming staff and funding from Creative Scotland.

This blog is an edited version of one you may have read on my previous website.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

I discovered a lot about myself and my creativity whilst I was in Finland and I’ve been reflecting on my experience for 6 months now. It’s taken me a lot longer to process the experience than I expected. It's still ongoing and I’m enjoying learning about myself and my creativity.

I reignited my love for meditation and discovered a love for yoga. I enjoyed listening to my fellow artists and hearing about them and their lives. It reminded me how much I love talking to my clients and listening to the stories behind the jewellery that they're commissioning from me.

The sense of home I was looking for is not necessarily about where I am, more that it’s a sense of belonging. Which comes from feeling welcome, instantly at ease and understood by other people. One important thing for me now, is to have people around me whose company I find nourishing and that I enjoy spending time with.

I’ve more confidence in myself and my decisions. As soon as I arrived back to Scotland I tried to put these things into practise. I stopped second guessing myself and seeking permission for my actions.

I’ve realised that trying to achieve this “work/life balance” in the traditional sense of sticking within a framework of 9-5 doesn’t work for me. I’ve spent years trying to fit my creative practice into an 8 hour work day, or around a full-time job, and while I agree you need time off - in fact I’ll be the first person to tell you to take an extra day off work (!) - I actually enjoy doing some admin work or planning in the evening when the mood strikes me. That’s the thing, - when the mood strikes me - some evenings I enjoy working until 10pm, other days I want to get up and go to work early and finish early. My creativity is not an infinite resource and sometimes I need to do other things to top it up. I also can’t expect it to fit within what is essentially a made up timeframe. If I can be my own boss, then I can choose to follow my energy levels. 

Another important thing for me was recognising that the things I love doing, like yoga, walking, and cooking are all part of that, they allow space around my work to enable me to work better. They can't be separated from me as a creative person just as I can't separate being a jeweller from my personal identity. 

I have noticed a difference in my usage of social media in the 6 months since Finland. I try not to go on it, other than for work, especially after realising how quickly time passes. I found it can really hamper my creativity especially if I start comparing myself to others, which is so easy to do.

I want to keep learning, about myself, about others and what makes us all creative. This will no doubt help me lean into my life-long desire to learn.

WORKING STYLE

I’ve become more confident in myself and my jewellery. Perhaps it was thanks to my funding from Creative Scotland, being recognised and awarded funding felt like confirmation that what I was trying to achieve by being a jeweller, was what people want to see. A balance of creativity and making jewellery that everyone can appreciate and enjoy.

My working conditions in Finland is something I still aspire to. Living and working in the same place, with a community of artists around me that I can dip in and out of would be ideal. I love the idea of having a distinct work environment at home, perhaps a workshop in the garden. It's not necessarily achievable at the moment, but it's still nice to have goals.

Now when I notice my focus is waning I stop and change what I am doing rather than forcing myself to keep going. I have always been one to persevere, even if I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing. This is a massive revelation to me and it seems like something I should have known. So rather than leaving the workshop when I’m tired and things aren’t going well, I leave at the point where I still want to do more. This has reinvigorated my love for making. 

I work with more focus and efficiency now, slower in some ways. I am better at prioritising and listening to myself. I know when it’s time to stop working, or move on to a different task in order to re-focus. I enjoy making jewellery when I have long intense periods of focused work - flow experiences. I don’t like the rush of some work, I like creating slowly and taking time over pieces of jewellery.

CREATIVITY

I’ve realised that my creativity and therefore my ability to produce work had actually been needing recharged for a long time. Creativity is finite, not that it will run out, but that it needs recharged. I had to try to make things in Finland in order to understand my creativity. What I did, designing a sculpture from start to finish, was part of understanding this process.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of learning more about creativity as a subject, it's fascinating. This has led me to look into studying creativity.

I enjoyed immersing myself in trying new skills such as welding in Finland, and I really enjoyed exploring the culture albeit only slightly as we were in a bit of a bubble. Having a Finnish Sauna after a day of work and snowy forest walks is something I can highly recommend. Walking has become part of my creative process. It's a wonderful place to purge your thoughts, process the day and recharge your creativity.

Exploring creativity by talking with the other artists, and reading more about it was something I really enjoyed doing so I’ve added it into my working life now. I've been taking time to talk with artists, pushing myself to meet more artists from a range of fields by joining local groups and I've started meeting up with creative friends, going to more galleries and shows in order to absorb more art. It's a huge privilege to live in Edinburgh and be able to do this so easily.

HOW TO AVOID CREATIVE BLOCK

So this is the end of my creative journey in Finland. Here are some bullet points to remember, mostly for me but also for any creative who might be stuck in a rut or feeling the effects of creative block.

• Time - The time to create pieces, also time away from the thing you make. Down time, contemplation time, sauna time.

• Balance - Balance in all aspects of work and life. Balance doesn’t necessarily mean equal time. Balance your work, balancing marketing with making, or accounts with designing, viewing art with producing it.

• Accretion - Being constantly open to influences from everywhere. Keep consuming art in all forms to allow your brain to fill up with ideas. Read, write, visit galleries, go outside and look at the sky. Do the things that bring you joy and fill you up.

• Writing - Writing everyday while in Finland enabled me to process my thoughts and it gives my brain the space and downtime to create.

• Walking - Being active in my environment allows my creative brain to release, also gives space away from work. Take long walks, go on adventures, be in nature, do something you've not done before, push yourself. 

• Making - Relinquish control, free your creativity by not having an end in mind, enjoy the making process.
  

• Variety -  Mix up your days, blog in the morning and make in the afternoon. Listen to yourself and work out what you're in the mood to do. This could be to a weekly timetable but only once you’ve worked out when you work best on what.

• Learn -  Develop new skills - even if they’re outside of your practice, challenge yourself, read a lot and widely, improve your practice, embrace the process, challenge yourself, work hard.

• Socialise - Connect with other creatives and friends in order to stay mentally healthy. Have nourishing conversations, join a creative coffee morning or virtual group of creatives online. Chance meetings lead to new things and hearing other people speak passionately about their work is nothing but inspiring.

• Paper models - Creating ideas in paper before committing to them in silver makes it easier to play around with an idea. It’s also a lot cheaper.

• Create - Create for fun outside of your creative practice, something you enjoy doing but don’t “have” to be good at. I like sketching, cooking, baking.

THANK YOU

My time in Finland and the invaluable support of Creative Scotland and Arteles has opened my creative life, far beyond what I imagined. Your support too , by reading these blog posts, letting me know what you think of them, and following on my journey has been invaluable. Thank you so much.