Inspiration? Where?

I take a deep breath and stare into space.

"Experiencing nothingness for a moment." Inspiration is like breathing in, breathing out, letting go and doing nothing. Inspiration is actually touching something inside so that you become aware of what you are doing. It gives you a new insight and sets your mind to work. For me, it also gives me a feeling of happiness. It turns on a light in me so that I see things in a different perspective. And then the cogs of my thoughts take over.

Puzzling instead of struggling

Work doesn't feel like work to me, but more like I'm playing and developing myself further by combining my fantasy and thoughts well. It's great to puzzle in your head with the possibilities of shapes and how you can place an invisible, magnetic closure between them in a surprising way. So that not only the shape appeals and inspires, but also the way the jewelry opens and closes and how you wear it.

As a child I was always crafting with cardboard, paint, glue, clay and beads. We built huts in the forest opposite where we lived. In the winter we did the same in the attic with the cast-offs and old furniture, a few old blankets, some bedding, rope and especially a lot of clothes pegs. By "freely combining" materials I not only got dirty but I also discovered during my messing around that it gave me a lot of satisfaction to mindlessly tinker with shapes and materials. Sometimes something nice came out like an earring with the time on solar cells or a piece of jewelry made of cardboard covered with transparent glue and gold foil. I made a hairpin that also hung around my neck as a pendant. That time of aimless experimentation and combining has in retrospect been of great importance for my personal and creative development.

Recording shapes
I stood still at every shop window and took in all the shapes there. I also scoured all kinds of magazines and books. Mainly to take in many shapes and to see what had already been made. During exhibitions and trade fairs I looked at everything and took it in like a sponge. Next to my bed was always a book so I could quickly sketch whatever idea came to mind.

More on experience
Over the years, that has changed completely. I have found a unique style for the CLIC by Suzanne jewelry collection. The choice for my own signature came about very gradually, but has its origins in the Bracelet A1, in which two C-shapes interlock with magnets. That also makes the collection a clear whole. I often find inspiration while working in the workshop, where we saw and mill material into different shapes and combine them into a new, surprising shape.

My best moments for inspiration are just before or during waking up or just after and, maybe very cliché, when I'm in the shower. Designing is not something I sit down with pen and paper and sweat on. It comes in and then I look together with Chantal, my goldsmith who has been testing all new ideas for years for technical feasibility for the collection, whether the idea works. Then a process of weekly adjustments and refinements begins and the best designs emerge. We then put them back into the collection.

My tips for inspiration
Define what you are looking for. Think about it actively but also let it simmer in your head for a while. A solution or answer will come automatically. Maybe not even in your thoughts but through something you experience around you. You will notice it automatically when you get inspired because it makes you happier!

Inspiration is everywhere!

Love,

Suzanne