More than once in the past weeks, my pieces have been described as “organic”. It reminds me of when I wrote an article for a gifted education periodical and the editor described it as “pithy”. I had to go look that one up and still wasn’t sure whether or not the term was complimentary.
When my work is described as organic, I usually just smile and agree with the comment, but perhaps it’s appropriate to examine this nomenclature more carefully. 
Synonyms for the term include the following: natural, whole, unrefined, untreated, crude and macrobiotic. Most of those do apply to the bracelet pictured on the right, but I’m not sure what to think about the term “crude”. I think I’ll just move on from that one.
The dictionary further elaborates that organic describes something that occurs or develops gradually and naturally, without being forced or contrived. This certainly describes the work on these pieces. I begin twisting the wire in hopes that something unique and palatable will arise. Sometimes it does; yet, more often it does not. I think the important part of the process is knowing what to keep and what to let go with the latter being the most difficult part. Since I know from years of teaching creativity thinking that sometimes great ideas fall upon the design floor, I’m often reluctant to let something go. Lately, however, I find this easier since I now have a “whatsit box”. I’ll bet those of you who design also have one of these. It’s that place where you throw things that didn’t seem to work. When you peer into it days later you say “What IS it?”
Organic also means “being made of parts that exist together in a seemingly natural relationship that makes for organized efficiency”. It is this definition that fits with my belief that the designs that are unique, but flow naturally together may, indeed, be the best. While I attempt to be fluent and flexible creating more than one idea before selecting the best, it is usually the one that is unique yet emerged the most naturally that gets the nod. Forcing the design to work usually brings unpleasant results. 
Both pieces pictured herein are made of sunstone and carnelian from Magpie Gemstones. The schiller on the sunstone, which can’t be seen in these photos, is quite nice and really grabs attention. Are they organic? Is that a good thing? As long as I can leave out “crude” I’ll accept the comments.
These pieces fit your preferred definition well. But I logged in to tell you how pleasant it is to get one of your blog updates in the midst of so much drivel in my inbox today! A nice little oasis for the mind.
That’s a nice thing to tell me and I promise to continue to avoid driveling!
I love your ruminations on the process! And I love that work that it produces or does the work produce the thoughts.
I have a lot to say about this because it is a term that is applied to my work as well. In fact my sister–who is a tremendous grphaic artistis and designer sayes that about my work. She also gave me a term that I use a lot “ancient future.”
More than that I would like to comment that I have been following this last round of “Project Runway,” in the next to the last challenge the designer who came in 2nd pinned his fabric to the dress form and said to the it “talk to me, talk to Daddy.”
At the bottom of it all that is what drives me –the connection–the organic connection to elements of the earth–the same elements that makes human being and everything else on this planet. I love the wholeness of it all.
Thank you for your informative comments to this blog entry. I especially like the term “ancient future” and will have to think about that one. It’s the kind of term we would derive in a Synectics activity when coming up with words that fight each other. Sometimes the tension between the words gives birth to a productive idea.