Mary Curtis

Mary Curtis has a the idea of looking back to historical art periods to source visual inspiration for her own work. So she can develop and gather new ideas to explore in her jewellery making practice. This is a great idea, and something I would personally try.

I think Curtis has caught onto a good idea. By looking back in time, and gathering information for new ideas from existing art works, she is developing her own style through the use of others before her. By doing so she is allowing herself to go back and look upon what was probably what interested her in the first place. Whether she is using the historic jewellery to inspire her in terms of form or function, Curtis finds a way to incorporate her findings into a contemporary piece of work of her own.

I feel that this strategy is a very useful way of approaching research and the development of new ideas because not only does it allow you to gather inspiration from other time periods but it also allows you to see what was in fashion then, and if you can relate to the rends an fashions of today.

I would definitely use this approach to generating new ideas and processes in my work because I feel it allows you to draw inspiration from generations before you who were also interested in the same things. Otherwise you would not be looking at them in the first place! If I were to use this process in my work I would be looking at the way text is conveyed through out the different time periods, how the text is composed and how its the letters are formed on the page. I would look at old books, magazines, bibles. I like the way the text in the Bible is composed on the pages, and how sometimes uppercase and lowercase letters are the same size.

I would also go back and look and old graphic design advertisements from the late 70's/80's, as it would be interesting to see how the cultures of then and the cultures of today are coming together in advertising.