*****
Ooooh, I'm still glowing from a happy reunion with beady friends and chance to see an amazing art exhibit this past weekend!
Sherry Markovitz, Remarkable Artist and Beader!
For starters, my long-time best friend, Liz, and I went to the Bellevue Art Museum to see a retrospective exhibit of work by artist, Sherry Markovitz. After spending an hour and a half seeing the exhibition, we joined Sherry in a walk through program. Way, way, way fabuloso!!!!
Looking at her beaded, life-sized animal heads, beaded dolls and paintings, I'm most drawn to the animals. Every one of them seems alive to me with all the presence and personality of a live animal, plus a most compelling inner calling or core message. Unlike other exhibits I've seen of Sherry's animals, this one has them mounted in a way that you can see them up close and personal -- put your ear right up to the animal's mouth, view it eye to eye and examine every little detail. The exhibition runs until September 7th. If it's possible for you to get to Bellevue, WA, this one is a 5 star ++++++++, don't-miss-it show... and the parking is FREE!
This time my favorite was Yellow Bear, with his quizzical expression. He kept calling me. I'd be looking at something else, even in a different room, and he would reach into my heart from afar, bringing me back to stand with him, the two of us together in a quiet haze of some deeply spiritual place. Thank you, Sherry, for that!
I'm sorry I didn't take my camera and don't even know if digital photography is allowed. So I don't have a picture of Yellow Bear. But there is one in Sherry's book, Shimmer, which is available through Amazon here or in the Museum gift shop. I found a few other images of her work on the web... you can see them below. Be warned... these images do not do justice to her work in any way! But if you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you can see the beading details much better than in the smaller versions.
My Mule, above, was also one of my favorites, along with Copper Bear and two of her paintings, Rose and Big Donk.
Puget Sound Bead Festival!
Next on the weekend's agenda was a whole, luscious day of shopping at the Puget Sound Bead Festival. This particular festival also gets 5+++++ stars from me. That's way more stars than I give any other bead and/or quilt festival.
It seems the organizers go miles beyond normal customer service to make the entire festival (classes, exhibits, shopping) easy and enjoyable for everyone. I'm not going into detail here about that, but if ever you'd like to come to the west coast, think bead festival - Tacoma, WA - July... it's the best!
For years and years, I've been teaching at the PSBF, with a full schedule of classes. Always in the past, I've had to squeeze in an hour or two of shopping here or there, between classes, after classes and during lunch breaks... always in a state of complete exhaustion. This year, oh pure joy, I decided to take a year off and not teach... can you believe SEVEN hours of non-stop, take-my-time-and-really-look shopping??? Seed beads, Thai silver, lots of lampwork beads, One-G thread, crystals, fab selection of pressed glass beads from Raven's Journey... ooooh, my bag was so heavy and full... like in the old days of trick-or-treating... ahhhh!
After shopping, I met with four fabulous bead buddies for dinner and beady show'n'tell. We talked and talked, remembering past gatherings, catching up on personal news, enjoying each other's company. Bead friends are such a blessing!
New Header for my Blog
As you can see, I finally got around to creating and uploading a beady header for this blog. About time, you say? Yup, you're right about that. Hope it's better late than never. Do you like it?
I'd been hoarding the lovely flower disc bead by Jenny Fiske-Baer for a long time. That's what got me going and turned the piece into a showcase for some of my favorite flower and leaf beads. The bird fetish, upper left, is by Zuni artist Rosita Kaamasee.
Next my plan is to use some Dupioni silk scraps I have in my stash and turn this piece into a small, quilted wall-hanging. Hopefully you'll see it soon.
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