"Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act, falls the shadow" T.S.Eliot -From Idea to Reality

As the Eisteddfod (A annual Welsh festival, held in different locations around Wales, celebrating the arts culture of Wales) festival looms, I always want to get my creative juices going and make a series of new pieces...

So during my usual studio making hours I make and package online orders. But in the lead up to the Eisteddfod I get all exited but usually panic, what to make first.

So my goal this year, was make each piece, one by one, without butterflying around from one project to another and having set times i would answer my e-mails/instagram/facebook messages (sorry if i don't answer everyone- i have so many messages, It's really hard to answer everyone, but I have some ideas how to tackle this but will do after the Eisteddfod!)

And i thought It would be nice to show you the process, I'm very indecisive so I'm always moving/changing position of certain pieces and also for me to stick with a project until I finish, I usually loose confident in a piece and leave it on the side.

So yesterday I made the following brass plate with an enamel bird flying through a starry night.

The thought behind the piece (and to the series of work that I'm finishing this week) is a mixture of capturing a moment of calmness in a world of noise and busy-ness, a fantasy of a story I have in my little head that I can't write into words and of illustrations of nature that are sometimes overlooked when we are so busy.

So in reference to the quote used as my title, I always give a hard time to myself for not creating what i really set out to make. Coming to terms with what I have made and even though It is different to what i initially thought, that the "shadow" is something great and to celebrate. Some people would think a shadow would be a negative idea possibly a dark thought, but i don't want to look at it like that, it's just something that happens and i find a beauty in that. In this case, not achieving my initial thought actually opened a can of worms to the possibilities I can make and ideas I can convey next.