"Amur Maple" - Exploring Component Connections

Amur Maple Necklace

Sometimes, something outside is just so beautiful!  There is a little tree in my neighborhood, an Amur Maple, that has beautiful color each fall.  It's primary color is nearly indefinable.  Somewhere between cerise, claret, and burgundy, with hints of rust, and it has touches of creamy gold here and there.

Here's a closer look!

When I went the Gem and Lapidary Workers Show a couple weeks ago here in Minneapolis, I found at my favorite cabochon supplier, a "Cherry Creek Jasper" which reminded my of the glorious color in this tree.  I bought some ovals and tiny rounds and could not wait to play with them!

I have developed a passion for Miyuki 24k Gold Delicas.  I had some Dark Gold Rainbow, and they brought a beautiful bronzy rust to the color palette.  I bezeled everything and played around with embellishments.

I decided that I wanted to feature the beautiful stones, and also, wanted to continue playing with connections between components, with those shapes playing a starring role in the piece, so removed all the picots and began to connect the elements.

Oh, and one step back, when thinking about a neck strap, I remembered my "spoils of war." Going to "war" in the Battle of the Beadsmith brought an AWESOME set of dog tags to my home as a token of participation.  Along with the tags were some wonderful 6mm Czech brass tile beads.  I got them out and played with them until they looked a bit antique, and wove up two straps.  You can see the progression of my design, step by step from right to left, with a change in each generation, until the final one, which became the strap. Oh, those fantastic 6/0 beads are Czech too, I've been saving them for something special, and this seemed the right time!

 

 

I attached them to check the drape of my connections, and to be able to see how the strap and the focal piece worked together.  I am really interested in an airy look to my beadwork, and negative space that creates lovely shapes.  But once the strap was in place, I decided that some of the connections needed amplification to work effectively with the substantial strap.  So, with a stronger edge in mind...

 

The black background really helps focus the negative spaces and the improved relationship to the neck strap through the added connections at the edges and between strap and focal piece.

I am not going to list this piece in my Etsy shop right away, for two reasons.  First, I really like the thing, and maybe I don't want to sell it!  And secondly, I have to take good photos of many of my pieces for an upcoming project, and I don't want it to sell until I have it carefully archived.  So, on to the camera work!   One final glance, and then, off to clean my beading counter, and walk the doggie.  Happy beading to you!

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By The Dawn's Early Light

 

Dawn's Early Light

I enjoy being a member of the Etsy Beadweavers team, and the best thing about the Beadweavers (aside from the wonderful, world-wide beady friends I have made there!) is the monthly challenge opportunity. Not only is there inspiration provided, but a deadline encourages work to be completed, photographed, and listed for sale.

This month's theme was "Misty Winter's Dawn" and I found it very inspiring.  I wondered if I'd feel like creating winter in the midst of my favorite season, but I got into it and loved it.  The fact that acorns are falling like rain here helps! In Minnesota, that is always an indicator of an early winter fast approaching.

I began with Swarovski rivolis, in Light Sapphire, Rose, and Rose Champagne, and bezeled them in 24k blue gold Miyuki delicas.  I wanted to make tiny stars of the rivoli's, and play down the sparkle factor while featuring the amazing blue gold bead bezels.

Detail

I kept the centers of each component clean and simple, and added pearls and magatamas as texture and density at the edges.  I wanted an impression of stars winking out as the sunrise begins to color the sky.  I muted and narrowed the colorway to keep the results soft and misty.  I rarely use grays, or silver, so this was a true challenge for me.

I also ran into a mathematical challenge.  Since I wanted to feature a star shape in the center of each component, there could only be numbers of beads in each bezel that would be evenly divided twice by two.  So, 24,12,6, the smallest stars, 32,16,8, the medium stars, and 40,20,10, the largest star.  But I had purchased 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18mm rivolis.  So, I had to cheat repeatedly with technical control of tension to make this work.  Yeeks!  Much of what you see here is structural netting.  The rivoli's are only about half of the width of the component in each case.  Here's a peek at the back, which gives a better sense of how where the rivoli stops and the structure begins.



I also wanted the piece to have an organic, natural quality.  I found that in my stick pearl tassles.  For me, the sticks look like newly bare branches, glistening in the dewy dawn. 

Fringe detail



This piece grew as it developed.   I had created a piece with linked rivolis earlier this summer in a hex pattern, which was supple and flexible, and I loved the feel of it.  I wanted to explore what other shapes would be stable as negative spaces.  I found that each opening I created required structural support from its neighbors and that the strength and suppleness of the whole was very dependent on the ingtegrity of each connection.  I want to explore this further in the future!

 



Early assembly detail, which really emphasizes the negative spaces and connections, before I finished the star picots.



 

 Please visit our Etsy Beadweavers Team blog and view my teams beautiful work and varied interpretations of "Misty Winter's Dawn."  Please choose your personal favorite from the array, and give it your vote on confidence in the right hand column.  Thanks!

So Much!

I have been a neglectful blogger this summer, and find there are several things I should address before I move on to new work. 

First, I want to mention the Battle of the Beadsmith, still going on as I write.  We are down to three "semi-finalists" and there is a final battle yet to come.  I managed to get into the top 20, but my "Missing" lost the battle with this splendid "Armadillo Blossom Purse" by Mikki Ferrugiaro.

It was structurally complex and elegant, featured beautiful color and unusual details (Butt hairs?  That really made me smile!) all of which came together to to make a spirited and beautiful bit of beaded art.  I am super fond of the tail/strap... I love it's connection to the bag and artful way it contrives to be the strap.  I also think that the title of artwork should help me understand how to see it, and "Armadillo Blossom" is super descriptive!

Congratulations to Mikki!

The final battle is scheduled to begin next week, so stay tuned and check it out.  For participating, each artist was given dog tags.  I LOVE this!  Battle of the Beadsmith has been a fantastic celebration of beaded art, and I look forward to next year's battle!

I remember that I was thinking about my work as a sort of "demonstration of competency," the kind of thing that might have been required a few hundred years ago to get into a professional guild.  I can't claim I made a masterpiece, BUT,  I managed to complete my work in the midst of personal chaos.  It was not exactly what I planned to make, but I am trememdously proud of the results!

"Missing," honoring the absence of my mother in my life, with her death in June.

Moving on...

When I arrived back in Minneapolis after over a month of my mother's funeral and the cleaning out of her house in preparation for sale, I needed some theraputic beading to do.  I chose some Aquamarine nuggets and chips, and participated in the Etsy Beadweavers "Lunar Obsession" challenge.  I visited a bead shop I had not been in before, J Ring Glass, and the Aquamarine just seemed to fall into my basket for purchase. I highly reccommend this shop, by the way.  I believe they have the BEST SELECTION OF SEMI-PRECIOUS BEADS in the Twin Cities. I later looked up the metaphysical properties of Aquamarine:

     "Aquamarine stones are beautiful crystals that heighten courage... and aid clear communication with the Divine source of all that is.
     They have strong metaphysical properties that help you to let go of old emotional issues you may be holding on to. By assisting you to release anger and reduce stress... it may help you to make positive changes in your life.
     These lovely stones help to heighten your courage when you are handling grief, and are powerful to assist self healing."

They were the perfect thing to be fondling in August!  Here's the result of that bead therapy.

"If Crystals were Craters, and Turquoise, Blue Cheese"

With the Aquamarine, a few tiny turquoise chips, and a little Swarovski Crystal, I embroidered four moon phases, and then created a interchangable system of three neck straps, each with a unique and interesting clasp.

Waning Gibbous Moon

Full Moon

 

Waxing Crescent

And my personal favorite the Quarter Moon.

Conveniently, August 2012 contained an official Blue Moon, a rare occurrence with two full moons in a month, which make the Aquamarine doubly effective! 

 

These little pieces were excellent and inexpensive therapy; a perfect anodyne for dragging 940 pounds of wine boxes, bottles, and magazines (belonging to my sister, and filling, literally, my mother's lower level) to the Helena recycling plant.  I'd love to show you pictures... but I think that might count as slander... or maybe libel.  I'm never sure which is which.  Or maybe, defamation of character?  Well, whatever the really good reason, I will just not do that. 

 

With all that behind me, I was ready to pick up my needle seriously again, for the Beadweaver's October challenge, "Misty Winter's Dawn."  You can see the results in my next post. 

Not About Beads

Today is my kitty Samantha's 23rd or maybe 25th birthday. She has been with us for so long, we are no longer sure whether we adopted her in 1987 or 1989, when presumably she was about 8 months old.  We counted back and found ourselves approaching the end of August and decided, "Hey, we both have birthdays on 24th days of the month, the cat should have one too."  So we chose it for her.

I want to preserve her story in my blog today, because this summer, she has declined, and I don't know how much longer she will be with me.  She has always been a beautiful cat, and very petite.  At her prime, she weighed just over 8 pounds, and now, I think she has slipped under 5.  See the curled whiskers on her right side?  That is her sleeping side.  She has not groomed herself for years.  I do my best for her, but she does not like her legs or tummy groomed, so those parts get ignored as much as possible.  She does love to have her head rubbed, washed and combed, and her ears cleaned, so those things we do often.

We have gradually adapted her home, as her age has limited her movement.  Her food and litter box used to be in the laundry on the ground level of our split level home, but she has always liked to sleep on our bed, and the stairs got to be too much for her a couple years ago, so the box moved into our bedroom.  The food came up too, but to keep the dog from eating it, we had to build an enclosure that only Sam could enter.

And her sight is failing, so she needs a night light to find the castle door and her food inside.

Last fall, her arthritis made it difficult to get into the litter box, so we put the box on a waterproof bed pad, and began to put puppy training pads around the box for her to use.  Over the course of this summer, that group of pads has become an ocean of pads.  This is my side of the bed, this morning.

So, this is her life.  She demands one brand of cat food (the chicken pate flavor only) 8-10 times each day, by yeowling.  I can hear her from my studio, or anywhere in the house.  Occasionally she leaves the bedroon in quest for food, and sometimes, even manages to negotiate one short flight of stairs to find me, if I do not respond immediately.  The can of food is divided into sixths,

...because no more that a couple tablespoons are eaten at a time, and the rest goes to waste.  The food must be warm to be considered edible, so I soak the dish in hot water before putting the food in.  Then it is smashed with a fork to fully encorporate the stool softener/bulking agent that is her only medication, hopefully to the texture of fluffy mashed potatoes.

YUP.  That is a 101 Dalmations bowl.  The food must be oriented to only 1/2 of the bowl, because she can't reach the far side and I always like the dogs peeking at her when she eats.  She adopted this bowl after my son, who turns 20 this year, out grew it.  SO... she eats, but only as much as she can stand and bend over for, and then, off to the water cup (which she has had longer than the bowl) for a drink, and maybe, if her balance holds, a quick swipe of the paw in an attempt to wash her face.

She might then toddle to the sea of pads, but more often, she is just too tired, and curls up for a nap on the floor, no longer able to jump to the bed.

She is not in pain.  She is not sick.  But today, getting to her feet is a challenge.  I have to demonstrate for the Upper Midwest Beading Society at the MN State Fair this afternoon, and I feel badly leaving her.  But my son will be here with her, and can call me in a emergency, and keep her fed and comfortable.

She has been as faithful a companion as any cat chooses to be, for nearly all of her life.  It's hard for me to imagine how she ended up at the humane society, because she is an easy-going little creature.  If she has a fault, it's that she was only rarely a lap kitty, but many are not, and she has been affectionate with us on her own terms.  I know she has lived a full and long life, and it pleases me that she is still happy to purr when her head and face are groomed and petted.  But I also know she will not be with us much longer.

For my beading friends, yes, this is certainly a departure.  But I was told to use my new camera in preparation for my first photography class next week, and have done so for this post.  Indulge me.

POSTSCRIPT:  Samantha experienced a sort of feline stroke and was unable to swallow without choking.  On Sunday, September 16th, we took her to the emergency vet, where she was euthanized to end her suffering.   

Foto Skilz

Photography is such an important part of (for want of a better term) Competitive Art!  I like applying to shows and sending images to be considered for publication.  I like competitive events for beaders.  It pushes me to produce my best work.  To dig a little deeper to find a solution to a design problem.  To meet a deadline.  To place my work in the world for others to see.  To see the work of other artists, and to be elevated and inspired by that work.  But none of this is possible, if all you have is your art; in my case, beadwork.  You need a means to send it out to be looked at.  And that means, photography.  Something I fake my way through.  This must stop.  So I have made a committment to buying a new camera, with more than the 4.1 megapixel capability of my obsolete Kodak.  And taking a class (or maybe many classes) to learn how to use it.

But despite my photographic inadequacies, I LOVED working with a skilled model, Jana Merten, to try to capture the essence of "Missing."

I like evocative art.  I want my visual art to take me somewhere.  I want to feel something when I look at it.  I want to be transformed somehow, but I have this idea that my photographic choices are not necessarily the best communicatively, with respect to conveying the beadwork. But maybe creating the right mood and character is equally important.  Hope so!

The series of photos I am showing you, takes me exactly where I want "Missing" to take a viewer. Somewhere "in-between" worlds. Somewhere wistful. Somewhere, lost in a forest. Somewhere not quite precisely here, or exactly there. Somewhere quiet and peaceful, but just a little nebulous. So when we  out shooting at the park, and I spied a patch of dappled sunlight, I thought, THERE! And Jana was willing to wade into the weeds and shrubby growth and make it look amazing.

I realize there are shadows that a professional photographer could and would light differently.  But I like those shadows.  And I like the image above with Jana's face entirely in shadow, because for me, it points to the piece instead of the gorgeous model, while she supports the jewelry magnificently.

 I love this one and the next, below, because "Missing" is actually visible on Jana's face.  Above, there is a reflection on her chin from the Swarovski crystals, and below, on her upper lip.
 

But. enough with this dappled light mania of mine.  I shot first in direct sunlight, which was awful.  There were dark shadows beneath Jana's chin, and stress on her face from the ridiculously bright light.  SO... we went to the shade, and there was still plenty of sunshine to light both model and "Missing" clearly.  But for me, it was TOO clear, and maybe even a little obvious.  And "Missing" is not obvious.  Most people need to understand the title to understand the work, but hopefully, even for those who do not know the full story, it has a an unmistakable quality of emptiness, maybe a little sadness and perhaps, some mystery.

Let me backup a bit.  This piece is my entry in a facebook event, (brainchild of Steven Weiss) Battle of the Beadsmith. It is a single elimination tournament, with 80 beaders from around the world. Please like us on facebook and watch us battle here!  There are just 20 of us left, and the third round of battle is getting underway as I write this. Each round requires a new photo of the work.  Eek! Thankfully, Jana volunteered to help me. In addition to being a client and a friend, Jana is a pro. Her large and perfect features, great body, hair and makeup skills, and modeling experience were a godsend.  She knows many shots at subtly different angles and with tiny changes of expression are needed to arrive a a few good results.

After shooting in the dappled sun, I wanted to try a more casual look for "Missing," with a print dress, and a more relaxed setting at my fire pit.  Again, Jana indulged me, and I'm pleased with the result.  IF I should be fortunate enough to survive the cut from 20 artists to 10, then maybe, one of these is the next photo, but that's a bridge I will cross only when and if I get to it. 

And then, Jana wanted to see the work on bare skin.  She was right, it's pretty splendid that way too!  But I devised a feather boa cover up for her bareness, and I don't love that.  For me, it's too...  well, feathery!  Maybe a little, Old West Dance Hall Girl.  I experimented with Picasa effect tools to try to play down the presence of the feathers, but...  they are still...  feathers.  Feels entirely wrong to me.  How funny that my print should happen to suggest feathers as well.

Whatever the outcome of the Battle, this blog post is meant both to share with you Jana's amazing work, and to thank her for her time, her patience, her flexibility, and her great kindness to me.  I so appreciate it!  Find Jana's website here, and check out her dancing and makeup tutorial YouTube videos here.

Missing...

I am proud to announce that my piece, "Missing" survived the first cut in the 2012 Battle of the Beadsmith International Invitational Beading Tournament on facebook, and of the 80 original entries, it is one of the 40 that will continue to round 2 of adjudication.

Back View - I like to close my bezels to prevent wear.

When I set out to create my piece, I thought it would be a representation of my home, Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes.   I imagined a work with many bezeled Bermuda Blue rivolis, representing lakes, and lush greenery swirling around those lakes in elegant twists like naturally occuring fibonacci spirals.  I had looked at many examples of fractals in nature and mathematics, and I had a sketch that gave a rough impression of what I was hoping to accomplish.  I hoped to suggest a waterfall, like Minnehaha Falls near my home, as the focal component.

About half way through my project, my mother passed away.  My parents were both very supportive of my artistry, encouraged me to pursure a degree in theater, (when many might have suggested learning to type) and my mother gave me my love of handcrafts, teaching me to knit, crochet, embroider and sew. For Christmas of my Senior year of High School, they gave me a sewing machine.  It was an astonishingly expensive thing, and competely out of line with what Christmas gifts usually were, but it was also a confirmation of their support for my chosen career, and it meant the world to me.
Suddenly, my work was not about Minnesota any more.  It was about my mother, or more important, the absence of my mother.
The lively, curling greenery idea disappeared.  The beautiful blue components rearranged themselves into a soft circle of life, with a smaller supporting outer ring for me, and a larger inner ring for her, which merged into one single line at the base of the focal, as I realized I am now the family matriarch.  The negative space in the center of the focal created a soft heart impression.  Then the waterfall became a curtain of tears, falling from the circle. 

The blue was just the perfect color.  My mom's kitchen was always blue.  And I associate her with that room.  She loved to cook and bake, and so many photos of her were taken in that room.  She owned a set of beautiful, cobalt blue dishes.  Let me show you!  These were in the kitchen, but I moved them to the dining room while I prepared the house for sale over the the last month, because I thought they were so beautiful in the china cabinet she was so very proud of. For Mom, preparing and sharing food was an act of love!

And here's the kitchen. See the blue gingham curtains she made?  The pale aqua figure on the  backsplash tile she chose?  The adjoining wall has paper with a delicate blue figure on it.

And the dining room chandelier?  Gold, of course.  And there have always been golden yellow accents in the kitchen too.  Mom had beautiful blue eyes as well, but she was legally blind when she began to fall, and the third fracture of her pelvis was just too much to recover from at 89.

I think although it began as something quite different, this is the most personal and deeply felt work I have done as a beader.  I always create with wearability in mind, and have worn each piece I have made at least once.  Initially I din't think this particular piece would get a public wearing.  But I did put it on... and asked The Best Man Ever to take a shot for me.  I also thought I would never sell it, but a time comes to move on through life, and it is now listed in my Etsy shop.

So, there you have it.  A very personal piece, about an empty space in my life.  I tried to make the empty spaces, the negative shapes in the work, (the "missing" bits if you will) speak as loudly as what is there.  I wish I could share it with her.  I think she would approve.

Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry

I have SOOOOOO much to write about that I hardly know where to begin.  It's been over a month since I have held a beading needle, and the explanation for that will be a separate post.  I have three exciting bits of beady news to share, and I will begin with this one:

I was absolutely over the moon to find that three of my works were included in the new Lark 500 series book, "Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry."  You can check out the book here:

http://amzn.to/z6tZH2

on amazon and even place your order to see all the really splendid and inspirational work.  Many of my beady friends and heroes were also included, and I am so honored to be in this spectacular publication.

In 2007, when I first discovered beading, it was because of another Lark book.  For my birthday, I was given a book store gift certificate, and a handmade bracelet that was too large for me.  I went to the bookstore to find out how to shorten the bracelet, and next to "Beading for Dummies" was "500 Beaded Objects."  I opened the book, and was instantly hooked, knowing that I wanted to DO that!

Now, 5 years later, I feel like a circle has been completed. I got my copy of this wonderful book in the mail and was totally thrilled to open it and see my work there with the "big boys and girls of beading!"

I will confess, I am not pleased with my photography for the book.  There were myriad requirements, like, "NO EDITING" and "SHOOT IN RAW" and all kinds of things that my photography simply does not approach, and my ancient camera is simply not capable of.  I borrowed my husband's camera, and at least got enough ppi to satisfy the most basic requirements, but just didn't know enough about using this new camera to make my work look its best. I am afraid I rely on being able to crop and adjust exposure to compensate for my lacking photographic skills and when those options are not available, my work really suffers. 

I have promised myself that this fall, I will get both a new, state of the art camera, and take a photography class, to learn how to handle the next opportunity when it pops up.  Please feel free to take a look at my work and then chew my backside off over the quality of the photos, and hold me accountable for the new camera and classes!

The pieces chosen for the book were "Bollywood Beauty," "Raindrops on Lilacs," and "Persephone's Return," three of my favorites.  And incidentally, another of my lilac series pieces, "Persian Lilac" is featured in this month's Your Work section of  Bead & Button Magazine.  Happy dancing here in Minnetonka!