I hope all of my answers have got you thinking.

These questions came at a great time as I was already pondering the whole issue of art and artists due to other questions I had been asked and some reading I had done.

I am often asked questions by people in my classes or who buy my patterns about my work and they usually seem to think I have some special god-given talent and that because they're not teaching, writing or making pieces that look like mine they're in some way less of a creator or artist.

But I really don't think this is true.

One comment people often make when I teach, especially my geometric work, is that their work looks nothing like mine. Of course it doesn't!

Remember that if you come to one of my classes, see some of my work on show or buy one of my patterns you're only seeing the things I choose to show you whereas I'm getting to see your work, warts and all, develop before my eyes.

Please be assured that I too have many, many UFOs (UnFinished Objects) cluttering up where I bead, many samples of things that just didn't work and have often had to take scissors to my work when it was just too ugly to be let live. You just don't usually get to see all of that.

Check back through these blogs and see all the things I showed you I was starting that just never appeared on the gallery pages as finished items- yep- a lot of my work just fails.

The next comment I get a lot is from people who are embarrassed by following patterns, taking classes or buying kits. They feel they're somehow less of a beader if they follow other people's designs rather than come up their own and often say they wouldn't know where to start.

Never be embarrassed by any of this- I took- and still take- plenty of classes, have beaded many kits and read every beading and jewellery making book, magazine and set of instructions that I can get my hands on!

As for not knowing where to start with your own designs- again- don't worry. When you're ready to make your own designs they will come. It's a simple as that.

There's nothing magical to beading that separates it from any other task- think of it like cooking.

You weren't born being able to cook so why imagine you should be born to bead?

When you first began cooking you followed recipes or other people's instructions all the time. Same with beading- just kits and magazines rather than the words of Gordon Ramsay.

But think about it- once you've cooked enough times you begin to know what results you'll get by putting certain ingredients together. You know that some things take less time to cook than others, you can even predict what something will taste like or if it will be any good- and if not what you can do to fix it. 

None of that came about by magic - you simply put all the work and hours in to get to the point where you can open the fridge after a long day at work and before you know it you're pulling things out and dinner is being made.

It won't always be the best thing you ever made but sometimes the combination works and you love it.

Just the same with beading. Put in enough hours, read enough instructions and experiment enough and you'll be pulling tubes of beads out and combining them without even having to think about what will and won't work- it will come naturally to you.

Now for something completely different:
Here is a picture of some sand I psychically predict I will see tomorrow. 

Ok, I'm typing this up after the date and forgot to take any pictures today- having too much beady fun!