Bead Journal Project ~ My July Page

July's "page" is so different than June (see here), and yet they seem closely related, and I think deal with the same subject. Before I delve more deeply into the meaning, here is July.


When I went to Minnesota mid-June to visit my Mom (and teach in Chicago), I didn't really think I'd have time to work on my bead embroidery much. I took with me a small box of beads and prepared fabrics for my June page. To my surprise, I actually finished June and still had a couple of days with time to bead.

My sister-in-law (also a BJP member, but not yet active in the blog world) and I went fabric shopping to a great fabric/textile shop in St. Paul (Colorful Quilts) where I bought several fat quarters and quarter-yard cuts.

For July, I selected three of the fabrics that appealed to me at the moment and layered them on interleaving paper. The top layer is organza (from JoAnn Fabrics). It's quite reflective at some angles, but held at a different angle, you can easily see the pattern of the fabric under it.

Since the only beads I had with me were the ones for my June page, I had to go ahead and use them for July as well. Maybe that's part of the connection between the two pieces, although the fabric colors are opposites on the color wheel.


Here's a picture of how it looked when I got back home. Something about it seemed incomplete... One morning I woke up with a strong awareness that I wanted the layers to be less flat. So that day I sewed a bunch of branch (or kinky) fringe at the edges between the layers. Below is a closer look at a bit of it.


One of my goals for the BJP is to use different materials, such as the organza fabric. For this piece, I also included some Angelina fibers, fused together as per this tutorial. Fun!!!! I used a small piece of it behind the rabbit charm, as you can see below. By the way, I believe the rabbit is one of my totem animals.


Both the organza and Angelina were a stretch for me, because I'm the Matte Bead Queen... as in, puleeeezze spare me from any bling or glitz. And since this time I was going for the glitz anyway, why not add more? So the last thing was to use some of my vintage aluminum seed beads to make shooting stars.


Looking at the piece now, I see earth, water and air. This was not conscious... I only see it now that I'm finished with the piece. The whole piece is improvisational, and so the meaning stems from some unconscious source within me. As I've mentioned previously, sometimes I can find an understanding of my improvisational work by writing poems. Below is the poem I wrote while looking at both June and July at the same time.


I am layers.
I am looking through the wall to the other side.
My big heart glows with simplicity
and tries to catch a glimmer
across the deep chasm
of the flowers on the other side.
I don't know where my pathway will flow.
The clock is ticking.
A river of time ~
misty, unpredictable.
I am seeking something intangible.
My beads and my rabbit will guide me.