Process and Progress

I have been working on the coral piece, and managed to make a little progress before the holiday weekend.

I had beaded the corals or anemones in the foreground (I am not sure which, I guess I could just say “sea life”) earlier this fall when I was giving some one on one instruction to a friend.  The ones in the back are embellished with Kreinik braid which I couched as well as used in the bobbin. 

You can see the detail of the gold braid in this picture.

And you may have noticed that I decided to put the yellow angel fish lower in the composition.

I tried making another angel fish for the upper left corner of the image.

But he’s a little too pale for the rest of the piece.

I used some of my friend Diane Eyerman’s hand-dyed fabric for the blue stripes, and couched the outlines with Kreinik #16 braid.

You can see how well the sparkling braid complements the blue stripes.  I guess this little fellow will end up getting his own quilt after I’ve finished this one :)

Drawings Drawings Everywhere

I have been reading The Confident Creative  by Cat Bennett , which is a different kind of drawing book.  Unlike most books, which go through the mechanics of drawing, this book talks about the spirit of drawing, with a few prompts and suggestions at the end.  She talks about embracing drawing as a daily practice, similar to a daily workout or yoga routine, as a way to connect with yourself and your world in a deeper way.  Product isn’t as important as process, though, as with any practice, daily application will show results over time.

With that in mind, I got out the giant clipboard and pad of paper from art school and drew this:

Jumbo red crayon on “Biggie” sketchpad, it is about 18” high by about 16” wide.

In this detail you can see the rough quality of the crayon on paper.  Sometimes drawing is as much about the tactile nature of the process for me as it is about the results.  Cat talks about this in her book, suggesting that the artist vary the drawing instrument or the surface on which one draws.

Birds are also showing up in my journal drawings.  This is pen and ink in a Moleskine sketchbook.

Another prompt talks about drawing objects from your daily life.  I still love exotic beads and have made several necklaces for myself in the recent past.  These offer portable still lifes, and I can sit at Donkey Coffee and create a new world.

 

You can see my to-do list under the drawing.  This practice isn’t about Art, it’s about seeing and focus.  Later I can develop Art from these beginnings, if I choose.

 

I made this necklace for myself for my 40th birthday.  It’s made with cool blues and greens, like so many of my necklaces.  The sticker is from an organic cucumber I purchased at Whole Foods.  I just love the farm’s name.

This year’s birthday necklace, including a note where I just phoned in the shape of the bead rather than giving it my full attention.

Whether or not these drawings turn into larger pieces isn’t the point.  My intention with them is to spend some focused time doing something I love.  So far I’ve really enjoyed it.  Sometimes the simplest tools give the best results.

You Gotta Give A Little

But sometimes you gotta do something for yourself.  Yesterday I met up at the local bead shop with two of my NaNoWriMo buds and we played beads.  I was a little apprehensive going in, as I was on quite a limited budget and there is nothing more frustrating to me than to find something absolutely fantastic and not have enough cash to buy it, especially when it comes to beads.

However, flow was with me and the piece came together as if it were already waiting out there for me to find it, and within budget.

 

The entire necklace, about 16” long.  The frog sits high up on my neck, hiding like frogs often do.

Most of the beads come from the local bead shop, but the frog is something I bought several years ago from Green Girl Studios.  I had strung the basic necklace with the flowers, coral and yellow beads.  When I showed my daughter, she said “It looks like a pond and needs a frog.” 

I remembered that I have two amazing Bali silver frogs in my stash, and when I got home I set out to find them.  They eluded me, but this fellow showed up.  I looked for the other two beads, but this is the only one I could find yesterday, so I figured I’d try him out and see if I liked him.  I think he fit perfectly.

Here is a detail of the coral and the yellow glass beads from China.  I had planned on using some Thai silver from my stash as spacers between the large yellow beads, but I came across this tube of mixed beads I had bought several years ago at another shop, and the red discs fit perfectly into the look of the piece.  It’s a perfect example of what can happen when you let go and trust and go with the flow.

Happy beading!

Ain't We Got Fun

Here's a sampling of some of the necklaces I've made this week. I'm really liking the graphic quality of the Mexican ceramic. I've been reading "Learning by Heart" by Corita Kent and Jan Steward, and the glaze on the ceramic beads reminds me of some of the serigraphs pictured in the book.

I've also been digging deep and using some of my button collection as well as some of the more unusual African beads that I've been hoarding for over ten years. I figure it's time. If what I make doesn't make me happy, what is the point after all? Another lesson I'm taking away from this week's explorations.

If you are in Athens OH tomorrow, we will be vending at Boogie on the Bricks. I will have jewelry and other small works, both old and new, and Izzy will have his awesome polymer clay work. After that, I will be posting more of the jewelry to my 1000 Markets shop. Fun times!

Have a great weekend, wherever you are!

Winner!

Thank you to everyone who commented and entered for the drawing. The winner of the signed copy of Beading With World Beads is Upper West Side Writer. I will be emailing for details. Thank you again and happy beading!

Check Out This Site!

There is a profile of me and my work today at Layers Upon Layers . We have been hit by the big snow/ice storm that travelled through the midwest, and I have not had electricity at home since 5:30pm yesterday. Days like this I am glad I am a mixed media artist, because I can knit even without power! (My poor Pfaff, I had just started sewing something new on Tuesday, too). I hope to post again soon with pictures of the fairyland the area has become. It is really beautiful, but you don't realize how many trees there are until they become dangerous.

Beaded Voyages

After a bit of angsting I was able to "hang" my show at the Athens Public Library yesterday. The person who had been scheduled cancelled with two weeks' notice, and Lanna Galloway, the person who coordinates the exhibits, contacted me about showing in the display cases. I said yes, hoping I had enough work to fill the spots, and knowing I had two weeks to finish anything in progress.

Little did I know Izzy would bring home a cold that basically left me unable to do anything but knit (sounds silly, but knitting for me takes less concentration and fine motor skill than beadwork). I started feeling anxious about the show, not sure that the cases would be ok, but trusting in the process.

Late last week I realized I could merchandise the shelves as if they were display windows. I was inspired by the HGTV annual show on the Christmas display windows for merchants such as Macy's and The Bay, and I knew as I talked it out that it would work. I came up with six separate "windows" and picked the work accordingly. I still wasn't sure it would be enough, but I felt really excited about providing something fun for the library patrons to view.

Imagine my glee when I walked in and realized there were exactly six shelves (even though I have often admired others' work in the cases, I never really paid much attention to exactly how much space is in them). And that the fabric my MIL had sent me earlier this month was the perfect base for the windows. With the help of my children, Aisha and Izzy, we set to work setting up the display.

Blogger is not cooperating, so I will caption from the top: the first picture is "A Walk in the Woods" and is in the bottom of the display case on the left of the doorway. It contains Pink Houses, a bead embroidered piece that I stitched to a canvas that I painted in complementary pink and beige polka dots. The dolls are peyote stitched on a base of a vinyl cake doll which has been painted with Pinata inks , and the trees are styrofoam forms cleverly disguised as trees. Izzy's snowman peeks out from the right hand side of the scene.

The second image is "Summer Day" and contains my bead journal piece from last July, titled "Waiting for Harvest", two beadwork popsicles that I made just for fun (well, as part of a larger beaded picnic scene that is still in the theoretical stage ), bead embroidered fairies, and more of Izzy's wonderful sculptures.

The last image for this post is the full view of the right side case. It contains, from the top "Back to School" which has a beaded baby dress I made after coming across a wonderful yellow and black striped button while cleaning the studio (sometimes chaos does facilitate creativity), the beaded pencil purse which was in last year's Beadwork competition, some beaded pencil earrings (also at my Etsy shop), a larger beaded pencil, a peyote stitch pyramid vessel, and my beaded milagro pins. "Under the Sea" with a bead embroidered and peyote "Water's Edge", multiple beadwork corals, a beaded coral necklace, Izzy's volcano and a scuptural peyote fish necklace. The bottom shelf on the right hand side is "Wearable Fantasies" and has a selection of beaded necklaces and a little purse that I have made over the years.

I will upload an image of "Space Odyssey" in my next post. It is the top shelf in the left hand case and contains the moon I posted earlier this month and other fun pieces.

It is funny, but I am grateful for the cold Izzy brought home because the show worked out perfectly without any extra finished pieces, and I really had a lot of fun with the knitting (which is a whole new post, probably after the new year).

In Between

I have been gifted with a last minute show at the Athens Public Library so the theory is that I've been sitting on the sofa madly finishing up beadworks in progress. The truth is that I started out madly beading work, but then Izzy came home with a cold and generously shared it with me, so I've been lying on the sofa madly knitting. I hang the show on Tuesday, and hope to have some photos of the process up soon afterward, but for now I should head back to the sofa and see if I can madly bead for a few more days. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

If the Moon Doesn't Come to You

You go to the moon!

Sometimes the most fun pieces come from simply cleaning in the studio. I came across these white buttons while straightening up the mess ("creative chaos" ) from a previous project, and I wanted to do something that was a bit more button than beady. This started on a 5" square piece of Peltex (heavy duty interfacing available at JoAnn fabrics with the regular Pellon interfacing) that I covered in some sort of batik cotton. These are perfect projects for those small pieces of fabric that may not fit in any other project, and for something special that you know is beneath the surface, and can function as an underpainting does in traditional oil painting. I also found that the Peltex does not shrink as much with heavy beading as the 30 or 40 weight Pellon does, an important consideration if you are making something to fit in a specific space. I found this out the hard way, when doing my shrine for the Anticraft book.

We missed out on the alignment of the moon, Jupiter and Venus the other night because it was snowing and overcast. I will just have to make do with this for now.

Rockets and Cookies

It is time to change cookie cutters, at least for a little bit. These are some of the cookies I took over to Donkey last night, trees with frosting and non-pareil decors. Someone brought Grandpa cookies like this when we were visiting him one year at Christmas, every time I see these I think of him. :) I am not sure if I will do cookies all month or not, they bake a little different than the hearts, pumpkins, birds and butterflies. All the small tips seem to bake faster and are a little more brown than the inside of the tree. Even at that, they only had 4 left this morning when Aisha was in checking on baking inventory for me.



I also have been making rockets for the upcoming craft show November 29 at the Logan Hocking Community Center. I am working from beady stash here, size 6/0, and don't have a lot of traditional "holiday" colors. But I am really happy with how they are turning out even with the more unusual colors. And if you are like me, some ornaments stay up year round, so "seasonal" color isn't as much of an issue. I could see these strung across a doorway with jumbo planets hanging in between them. We'll see what happens.

What holiday preparations are you making?

Would You Hang This On Your Tree?

I wasn't so much Christmas deprived as Christmas denied as a kid. For a while we attended this really strict sect (some would call it a cult) which did not celebrate Christmas or Easter, and I was not allowed to sing in the Christmas pageant in 3rd grade or make tissue paper reindeer (and don't even ask about the time I convinced my kindergarten teacher that it was ok to draw the face on the construction paper pumpkin; I ended up having a very special talk with one of the ministers after that).

My grandmother and the rest of Mom's side still celebrated Christmas, and we did not isolate ourselves from them, so I did end up having some exposure (ahhh cookies and lights and the little elf ornament with felt hat that I was allowed to take home one time). So maybe not everyone would want a rocket ship or mermaid or fish on their tree. But hey, I'm not the average bear.

I am doing a craft show in Logan OH on the Friday after Thanksgiving, as their "featured artist", and while I am taking some quilts and plush and fancy beadwork, I needed to find something with a lower pricepoint that was also fun to make. While walking uptown this morning, I saw what I thought were rocket ships hanging in the display window of the local funky card/gift shop. Upon closer examination, I saw they were only long ovals that were two tone (silver and red).

"Hey," I thought. "I could make my rocket ship earrings with larger beads and they could be ornaments for the show. Cool!" So today after lunch that is what I did. This is my prototype. It took about two hours and I will probably be selling it for $20. Limited edition :) Over the weekend we are going to Columbus and I am going to see if I can procure some more seasonal colors as well as the little wire hanger things. Nothing earthshattering, but hey at least I am having fun.

Every Bunny Loves Somebunny Sometime

Rabbits have been an influence for quite some time. When I was a child, my mother painstakingly embroidered this lovely growth chart for me, using a stamped kit from Lee Wards.

(Evil Bunny, detail)

While I admired the work and the colors and that it had my very own name on it, the eyes on this rabbit always gave me the heeby jeebies. They just seemed wrong to me and I was very happy when I finally outgrew the growth chart and it went into my mom's drawer of memories.

I forgot about it for a long time, and then late last year I began doing some sketches with a Bic pen in a Canson sketchbook:

Carnival bunny with cathedral window headdress.

Always being a fan of picture in picture stuff, I gave the rabbit a "rabbit on rabbit " look.

The next piece in the progression, a jester stick design.

And combining a rabbit and a bat in a pastoral setting ( I always loved the illuminated manuscripts' images I'd find in our Time-Life collection of history) with a bit more whimsy.

Detail of the memento mori collar and the crown, this rabbit has a secret.

And finally back to fabric, where I drew the rabbit onto a piece of canvas, painted it with Setacolour paints, and then embellished with machine embroidery, beads and sequins. Still in process.

Closeup, Evil Rabbit grows up.

It's funny how I forget about that rabbit wallhanging until I am cleaning in the studio and come across it, but obviously it has never been too far from my thoughts.

Reward for Work Well Done

In between completing the projects for Lark (shipped today, instructions and photos waiting to be uploaded and emailed) and vending at Boogie on the Bricks next week, I feel like a kid on the last day of school. These wonderful Herman Munster green beads arrived on Tuesday with a shipment of Silamide and other wonderful beads that are now wonderful earrings and bracelets and... But I waited, carrying them with me in my purse, taking them out in the car and caressing them in the full sunlight, until the bulk of my other commitments were complete. And so today I bring you this:


I don't know her name yet, only that she has gnarly toes and wears a lavender dress. The head is about 2 1/2" high so far, and I am just having so much fun. Yay for last day of class! I also am taking mental notes so that I can teach this at some point (one thing I also need to do in the next week is work on my class proposals for Byzantium and St. Theresa Textile Trove).

Wow

Has it really been six months since I posted? I guess I've been so busy in house that time just slipped past. Also, between Aisha and Ben needing the computer, my time online has been limited, to say the least.

So what is new? Three more books with Lark, due out early next year (and maybe late this year, I am not positive), two current shows (Parkersburg Art Center Red White and Regional '08, opening is next Sunday, and French Art Colony, Gallipolis OH July 1-31), an upcoming museum show (hats! next May-July at the Canton Museum of Art) and a contract with Asher Gallery in Houston. And hopefully the Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Competiton late July-early August (notifications are due to be sent out on the 25th).

I will also be teaching this fall at Byzantium in Columbus, and St Theresa Textile Trove in Cincinnati (beadwork and my turtle purse and possibly my tiger quilt, though I think Angelina Jolie needs to see that one, given her current role in Kung Fu Panda :)

I will post more with photos later, just thought I'd check in and say hi. And that it won't be six months til my next post, I promise!

Sequinized Swimming

I am working on Marilyn, with a goal of entering the piece into the Ohio Designer Craftsmen Best of 2008 show.

Here is a picture of quilting in progress.

And a view from the back, seen a lot while tying off knots. Good advice from Susan Shie, use fun fabric on the back, too, since you'll be seeing it a lot while you're tying knots, etc. I got the floral print from Honey Fork Fabrics, it was one of their bargain bolts. And the purple is from my MIL, Sandy.

And now, dessert. Sequinizing with the lovely new sequins from C Cartwright (they are the iris finish, I just love me some iridescent goodness).

And a wider view of the piece, I love my little ceramic dish and collect different kinds that are great for this kind of work. Once I get the top third sequinized, I will make the sleeve and sew it on, as I always leave that for last and never really like doing it. I figure getting to put on the rest of the sequins will be a good bribe (that, and having the piece done when it's done! Wow! :)

Volume Three

While waiting for the weather to cool, and wanting to make something that was faster than a jumbo quilt, I started playing with the beads again. There is a version of blue iris out there that is almost black, so in the vein of the Cabinet of Curiosities piece I started back in November, I made these.




Coral and shell forms, sculptural peyote stitch and designed to be strung. Done in the blue black iris and a matte white/black stripe iridescent.

I also made a full necklace, still awaiting a good gold clasp. Done in winter whites and champagnes.

Full view, minus clasp.

And detail of coral, this was so much fun!

Anticraft is Here!

Well, I can show you what I've done for it, my copy is still in the mail.

While I wait for my contributor's copy, here is a sneak peek at one of my projects for the new Anticraft book (Midnight Star, made with a vintage Czech glass button, peyote stitch and basic bead stringing; buy the book for more details :)

When I can find where I hid the photos, I will post my other piece for the book, a solidly beaded shrine/Tree of Life piece. Enjoy!

Busy Beader

I have been busy making beaded beads as part of larger necklaces in my ongoing play with the necklace as a wearable art gallery. Here are a few images of pieces I've worked on in the past week. Each beaded bead is sculptural peyote, in Czech and/or Japanese seed beads. I'm using bead shop beads as filler to complement the beaded beads.


The centerpiece is something I received way back when we first opened our shop. His color went just right with the greens in the ovals.

These are the shells and coral I have so far for my cabinet of curiosities necklace. Next up, sea urchins.

Trees, Trees, More Trees

I have a piece with a tree in the upcoming AntiCraft book, and in the meantime, here is another start of a tree I am working on right now.


8"h x 6" w, on Peltex, base fabric is old Lunn Pointillist Palette, and the tree is Dutch Wax Batik from Becky at St Theresa Textile Trove. I finally got to use some old Japanese ceramic bugles I got way back when at Byzantium, as well as newer Japanese 15/0 and some stash French and Czech seed beads. I'm really liking how this is going.

Detail of the beadwork, you can see the colors a bit better in this shot. The whole piece will eventually be covered in beadwork, I like to have a fun base to work on, which is why the choice of base colors for this one. Summer is also in process and I have plans for spring and winter.