New Work, New Challenges

Lisa and I recently started a new series of work where we are collaborating on the designs and sharing in the construction duties. It seemed like a great idea...and it is, but--there always seems to be a but--things don't always go as planned.

The piece in the first image (Moonscape-now available at our Etsy store) came out pretty much how we both agreed it should. We just love the blend of fused, reticulated silver, Brazilian quartz and brilliant orange opal.

Things didn't go so smoothly on our second piece (Moonscape 2-also on our Etsy). The blue crystal and orange opal are about where Lisa envisioned them in her original design, but that is pretty much where our good plans ended and our misunderstandings began.

Lisa had some strong opinions about this piece (she came up with the original design, after all) and thought she had communicated them to me. However, I also had some ideas, so I asked her, "May I play with this a little?" and she replied, "Yeah, sure." This is where I took a detour. Let's just say that I thought I had more leeway than Lisa thought.

While Lisa was at her day job, I was happily working away on Moonscape 2. Later, when I revealed my progress, she was stunned to find lines of wire running along its surface instead of just holding the blue crystal. I thought they were great, but they weren't in the original design.

There were a few tense moments with me feeling that I had stepped on her creative input and her working past her vision for the piece. So we consulted a bit and realized the design was a nice blending of our styles. It wasn't exactly what Lisa envisioned, but it was a nice design all the same.

Now that it is done we love it. And we both learned a good lesson. Communication is more difficult and subtle, even after thirteen years of marriage, than either of us realized. Be very sure your partner truly understand what you are trying to say.

Peace.

--Joshua **content of this post approved by Lisa ;-)
-- except the title...I suggested "She Said, He Did" for the title...see? *laughing*...Lisa
--LOL. What about "Oops, I did it again!" Seems appropriate since you DID suggest your title before I came up with mine...Joshua