This is a valuable process that you can harness to find your own unique vision regardless of which art you work in. As jewelry designers, there is a somewhat standard way to work as you learn, in putting various beads, chains and findings together to create your work.
To broaden your knowledge and abilities, seek out artists on Etsy whose work you admire. Try to recreate what they've done - this is a tried and true method passed down from renaissance artists. Before an artist became a master in their own right, they worked as an apprentice to a master, duplicating the master's work and even doing some of the underpainting work for the master's finished pieces. Through this practice the understudy learned the technique well enough that when they were ready they could go and do their own unique work while drawing from what they had learned.
The key is to imitate other artists only to the point that you are learning new techniques - do not strive to replicate the work of another artisan alone, learn from many and continue to do so even after you've mastered many techniques. As you work you will be able to incorporate the lessons you've learned into your own unique style that speaks from your heart.
As always, create what you love and is beautiful to you, and never stop learning!
Amber
