Finding Inspriation

There are times where all artisans have trouble finding inspiration. Today I am having one of those days, so I have decided to write about it.

One thing about me is that on days I don't feel inspired, I also feel blue. Not depressed, not anxious, just a little blue, like some of the color has come out of the world. These are the days that I feel like I am just going through the motions and doing what has to be done. When this feeling extends for a long time, I think most people would call it burnout. I have been to that stage too, but today is just a blue day.

I need customers to keep me inspired. I don't think I could be an artisan that turns out work and uses a sales force to sell it. I need the interaction with the end user to help me come up with ideas and to help me keep pace with what is desired in the marketplace. This helps me always evolve my business each year. I already have 8 suggestions for new products/fragrances for next year and I am sure that list will be twice as long by the time I have the chance to start developing the 2014 line.

As for that, I do think of my products as a "line". I try and keep a cohesive feeling and story to everything. My best sellers in soap, you can also find in fizzys, and soaks, and lotion bars. New soaps for this year don't have any accompaniments as I test out the fragrance popularity. When a fragrance is discontinued, the entire line is dropped, so even if it is a wildly popular bath fizzy, if the soap doesn't sell well, it is dropped from the entire line. I am primarily a soapmaker, so it is soap that determines the rest of the product line. Popular soap = more products using that fragrance.

But inspiration hits from odd places if you look for it. Today we tried to save some time and make Dragon's Blood soap at the same time as Egyptian Cotton. The fragrance of those two mixed together instantly got me thinking about how to combine them. This will go on my list of things to research for sure. It also made me want to break out my case of fragrance samples, over 200 small vials filled with samples I have acquired over the years. Time to sniff them again and see where they lead me.

There isn't much time for all that fun right now as I head into my last few weeks of long hours getting ready for Chriskindlmarkt, but i have taken the note and I will get back to it later. Right now it is time to put my head down and work hard. I can enjoy my inspiration later.