Personally, I think this is a great thing to do. It's a way to expand our horizons as artists, incorporate new and different techniques and to include new styles in our jewelry designs that we probably wouldn't do on our own.
Much as I'm all for collaboration, I've only really had one opportunity to actually collaborate with another artist. My friend and fellow jewelry designer, Sue, is tremendously talented and creative and I've watched over the years as she's mastered kumihimo braiding, metal etching, form folding and working with tiny seed beads. Sue approached me a few years ago about working together on a design for a color challenge and I was thrilled to have the chance to work with Sue.
We chose our color palette, which were the blues and browns of the Blue Tiger Butterfly of Phuket, Thailand.
Sue focused on producing her beautiful kumihimo cords (which is a Japanese braiding technique) of intricately patterned cords that are made by braiding strands of different colors of silk together) and I worked on painting wood beads that would complement the braids.
Once the cords and beads were finished, Sue put them together to create this glorious necklace that combined the best of both of our work. It was when I first saw the necklace that I realized just how much two artists could accomplish together - designs they'd never be able to do on their own.
We went on to take second place in the challenge and sold our necklace for an outrageous price that stunned us both!
Having had such a positive experience, we decided to collaborate on a few other things:
While I haven't had a chance to collaborate since then, I'd certainly welcome the opportunity if it ever comes my way again.
To see what other members of the Jewelry Artisans Community have to say about collaborating with others, please click on the links below:
Cat's Wire
Violetmoon's Corner
