Before Susan Lenart Kazmir’s Ice Resin class, I worshiped only at the church of beads. Basically I was a stringer. In those days, I would find a way to highlight textures or shapes in my necklace design, add a focal centerpiece and count as done another fun necklace for posterity. (In my world, any worship at the church of beads is worthwhile. Remember, I never meet a bead I don’t like.)
Privately, I yearned for more, to be recognized as an artist, to be sought after for creative design. But I was torn between doing what I thought others expected and giving myself over to activities that made me feel good. Then one day I realized art was about expression. Light bulb moment: I could give myself permission to experiment.
In spite of my beginner position, Susan Lenart Kazmir’s Ice Resin class exposed me to creativity and possibility. Because of it, my entire approach to studio time changed. Ice Resin experiments were seriously pleasing. At first, I called members of the Collaborheartists (a creative group that meets monthly to make things as described in this earlier post) together and “we” poured resin but because of our stimulating discussions and my overwhelming flurry of ideas, I found I had to add more resin play time.
My love for found objects took hold and I began to combine elements. I took apart discarded and vintage jewelry and designed charms and whimsical pendants. When Ice Resin called, I’d return to the studio and produce a new set of expressions. I kept notes: “this worked, this did not. What if I tried…?”
Several months later, I found myself lucky enough to take another Susan Lenart Kazmir class. This time my focus was open-backed bezels. Again, the learning pushed my boundaries. Paint, heat gun, inks, wire, crafted shapes and more spoke to my muse.
By theme, by color, by guess and by intuition I played: gifts, sales, comments from strangers, custom orders. The fire of confidence grew until at last I realized my ice resin work had pushed me further and challenged me more than any previous project. It had grown into works of art to bring joy.
You’ll find the same joy in your experiments with Ice Resin. Search for “how-to” videos here: http://www.iceresin.com/iceresinvideos/.
