Artists Studio Tour... June 4 & 5... More Letting Go!

It's been about 5 years since I participated in the San Juan Island Artists Studio Tour as a guest artist in Ev Tuller's weaving studio. This year I've been invited to join fine artist, Cinda Sue Dow, in her studio. I'm excited about this opportunity, as I haven't shown my jewelry for quite a while. This is my page on the Studio Tour site.

And this year, something new! Continuing with efforts to let go of things, I've decided to add some of my more artful pieces, ones that have been featured in books and magazine articles (some are shown below).

Location: from town of Friday Harbor, going toward the fair grounds on Argyle, take a right on Spruce, and then a right on Alder Ct. to 545. Cinda Sue's art will be shown in the garage studio, mine in a detached studio accessible through her garage studio.

Time: The open hours are 10 am to 5 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

Drawing: Both Cinda Sue and I will be giving away a prize, so be sure to sign up when you come!

The pictures below show some of my typical jewelry... fibula pins, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, key chains, zipper pulls/cell phone fobs. These are moderately priced ($14 - $75), yet are made from quality materials - sterling silver and gold filled wire, lampwork beads, Swarovski crystals, silver charms, vintage beads and charms. These items make lovely accessories and gifts. I offer free gift packaging.

Earrings and fibula pins featuring beautiful lampwork beads.

Fibula pins and wire-worked pendants on variable-length silk ribbons featuring special lampwork beads.

Finger-woven necklace featuring hand-made, one-of-a-kind raku porcelain beads.

I decided to put some of my long-hoarded sterling silver pendants from China, India and southwest USA on silk ribbons. These are definitely unique!

These are vintage glass (lampworked) beads from China. They are a unique lusterous blue color, not available in today's bead market. I've paired them with sterling silver beads from Thailand.

Below are pictures of some of the art pieces, most of which were made to showcase a technique or design/color element for publication in books or magazine articles. I haven't decided on prices for these one-of-a-kind items yet. If you, as a Beadlust reader, are interested in purchasing one of these prior to the Studio Tour, please contact me and we'll figure it out.

I love working with Margie Deeb, author of The Beader's Color Palette. I made 11 pieces which showcase specific color palettes for this book. The 8 pieces shown below will be for sale at the Studio Tour and are page referenced to Margie's book, because her pictures are WAY better than mine!


Air Currents ~ What color is air? How can one make a necklace that represents the nature of air? I chose vintage beads with various finishes in clear, white, light grey and pale blue with a beautiful swirling lampwork focal bead, real pearls, and silver bells on the tassels. Pg. 17

Ring of Fire ~ Inspired by our spring-time, giant burn pile, this off-loom woven bracelet, is a blazing ring of flames. Pg. 20 (I don't seem to have a picture of this piece in my files; I'll take one and add it later.)


Stained Glass Tassel ~ My assignment for this piece was to create a piece using the color palette of Medieval or Byzantine stained glass church windows. Fun! All the beads are transparent, so hung in a window, the light will come through it and pass it's lovely colors into the room. Pg.44. (Note: This finger-weaving technique is featured in my book, Beaded Treasures, on pages 36 - 39.)


Sea to Sky ~ The color palette for this necklace is based on a painting by Claude Monet (Morning on the Seine near Giverny) I loved blending the greens to blues to pale lavenders to whites giving close to the same affect as Monet with his paint brushes! This piece features a large, one-of-a-kind, vintage, sterling silver fish and butterfly clasp from northern Thailand in the Golden Triangle area. These two silver pieces, alone, are worth a lot as collector, possibly even Museum-quality, pieces. Pg. 55.


Courtesan ~ The colors and emotional content of this nine-strand necklace are inspired by a Japanese kimono. Many vintage pressed glass, lampwork and gold-filled beads are included. Because the strands are graduated, this necklace will sit comfortably on the chest. Pg. 91.


Emperor Penguin ~ The shape and colors of this bead-embroidered pin are inspired by a photo of an emperor penguin with its head tucked down on its breast. I loved the way the yellow feathers showed under the lower edge of the wing. Pg. 129.


Fancy Dangle Bracelet ~ Everything about this piece was inspired by a colorful sea anemone, the vibrant fuchsia, chartreuse, lavender and ivory colors and the fluidly moving tentacles. Pg. 132.


Festive Time ~ This nine-strand necklace is bold and architectural. It features vintage lampwork and pressed glass beads, some of which can slide along the strand (fun for busy fingers). Bright and happy, it's all about summer fun! Pg. 152.

I guess that's enough to give you an idea, but there will be more, I promise! Hope you can make it to the show!

Bead Jewelry! Holiday Shopping on San Juan Island!

If I have a reputation in the world of arts and crafts, I'm pretty sure it would be for my bead embroidery, which is my first love and passion. But like many of us, I started with stringing beads - making jewelry. That was in 1985. Before that in the 70's I was a metalsmith, fabricating gold and silver jewelry. Making pendants, earrings and fibula pins with wire and beads followed naturally.


I could never do production work - making jewelry to sell in galleries or shows. For me that would involve too many compromises to keep the cost and time down. Yet, every now and then the urge to pick up my pliers, hammer and files taps me on the shoulder. I get out my stash of lampwork beads, silver elements, sterling and gold-filled wire and get to work.

Lucky for me, an opportunity knocked on my door a couple of days ago. Rhonda Scott of Vital Elements, leased a store-front in Friday Harbor, the totally-decked-out-with-Christmas-lights, little town on San Juan Island and invited a dozen or so local artists to consign their art for the month of December. OMG! It's so cute in there... so many totally wonderful things!

Here's the info:


Here's my little area. I set out 156 items - necklaces, earrings, bracelets and fibula pins!


The necklace below features antique, Chinese, glass, lampwork beads in a gorgeous, soft, translucent blue. I accented them with a Thai silver pendant and beads.


A few years ago I bought a strand of hand-faceted, man-made rubies in graduated sizes. It was a rather extravagant purchase. What can I say... I love them! This picture doesn't do them justice at all. They look so lovely... not quite bling, but definitely people would notice if you were wearing this necklace. I always try to make a couple pairs of earrings that can go with each necklace.


For 20 years, I've been collecting unusual, silver pendants... India, China, Tibet, Nepal... Some are very old. I decided to put some of them on silk "ribbons" and let them go...


The silk "ribbons" also work very well for some of the beautiful contemporary lampwork beads I've been collecting. Below are dichroic beads in the shape of shells. They are so striking and lovely, I decided they needed to be "strung" in a very simple, yet elegant way.


The same goes for these amazing heart-shaped, lampwork beads I found at a conference a few years ago.


The center necklace on the stand below features an antique Chinese pendant that I found at a market in Beijing in 1991. It's a beauty!


In the black and silver necklace below, I used a small collection of vintage, hand-carved, jet beads from the early 1900's. Each is different. I found them in an antique shop in Germany.


I've hoarded these treasures for long enough. It feels really great to make them up and put them out where somebody else can enjoy them for a while! I also use long-hoarded beads and silver elements in my fibula pins and earrings. No two are alike!


Designing and stringing bracelets is lots of fun for me! I try to make them comfortable to wear and easy to clasp, yet durable and attractive. Shopping for bracelet beads is always a joy!


Over the years, I've made and sold many finger-woven, treasure necklaces like the one below. It's a technique I developed inspired by ethnic necklaces from Tibet and Nepal. If you're intrigued, you can learn this technique from my book, Beaded Treasures. This necklace showcases raku ceramic beads by an artist in Hawaii.


If you live in Western Washington, why not visit and shop in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island for a day?!!! Our merchants go all-out with the decorations... it's a sweet place to be during the holidays. Be sure to stop by Vital Elements, just a short walk from the ferry dock.

Shhhhh.... ladies only.... you can show Rhonda what you wish Santa would bring you and give her your sweetheart's name and phone number. She'll call to tell him what's on your wish list! I love that idea.

Well, wish me luck... I hope some of the jewelry I've created will be gifted with love this holiday season.

Thougths about Beading, Money and Self-esteem

Today was the second day of a little holiday market here on San Juan Island. My neighbor hosts this two-day event in her studio in December every year and for the past 5 years I've joined her to sell my beaded jewelry... earrings, fibula pins, bracelets, necklaces, key chains and zipper pulls. Here's one of my recent fibula pins.


Business wasn't good this year. Not many people came and only a few bought. I know... it's probably the economy...

Despite understanding the situation, I still feel a little rejected and hurt, stood-up by my friends and the community. It's gotten me to thinking about the past and what I'm doing... also about a selling-our-art conversation I had with my brother, Thom Atkins, a couple of days ago. Rather than mope around this evening, it occurs to me that I could blog about it... so here you go... some thoughts about beading, money and self-esteem....

Over 20 years ago, I quit my day job and began beading and bead-related pursuits to make a living. I named my mini-micro-business Beads Indeed in the spring of 1988. Like many people into beads, I began with stringing... making multiple-strand and knotted, single-strand necklaces. Here's an example showing the center part of a multiple-strand necklace.


Earlier, in the mid-70's, I pounded, sawed and soldered sterling silver and gold sheet and wire to make rings and other precious metal jewelry. Below are a couple of scanned photos of my work during that time. My best friend, Liz, and I had a shop together. We sold our work at home shows and a few craft shows. Although we did pretty well, I hated and dreaded the selling part of it.



Thick-skinned, like an actor always auditioning for the next part... that's what one has to be to sell and promote one's art. It didn't come naturally to me. I could organize selling events and felt OK about promoting the events. But, when it came to tooting the horn about my own jewelry, I became tongue-tied and stupid-seeming.

So, when I started my bead business, I looked around for other ways to make money... I taught workshops, sold beads, gave slide lectures and eventually began writing books. All the while, my creative needs were largely met by making beady things as examples for my workshops and books, gifts and just for fun. Other than accepting a few commissions, I didn't try to sell my beadwork, which was just great for my personality.

Then, after I moved to San Juan Island, someone asked me to be a guest artist in the Annual Artist Studio Tour, to share her studio and sell my beaded jewelry. I had been cutting back on teaching and felt the need of a bit more income, so I agreed. For a month I produced beaded jewelry like a mad woman to accumulate a sufficient inventory for the event.

It went reasonably well. Yes, I was still tongue-tied, but people bought my work anyway, bless them. After calculating the proceeds, my self-esteem level was pretty high and I readily agreed to do it again the next year... and the next... and the next. Plus a friend in Seattle hosted a show, which I also enjoyed doing.

However, the only way I can see to fully support myself by making jewelry is to sell through galleries and shops. And that, for the most part, only works if one gets into mass production, giving up the luxury and fun of one-of-a-kind pieces. Not for me... the designing part is the most fun... take that away and it would get boring pretty fast.

So I continue to teach and write books, keeping my jewelry production minimal and one-of-a-kind. My studio tour hostess moved off-island, which ended that opportunity. So now I only do this weekend's Christmas-season show and next weekend a studio show in Seattle.

Which brings us to the present again...

One day during the past two weeks, while I was happily creating more beaded jewelry for these two events, I happened to get a phone call from my brother, Thom. He's a beader too... and a quilter... and, in my eyes, quite an accomplished artist. He had just completed a 3-in-a-row-weekends Artist Studio Tour in Santa Cruz, CA where he lives. So we were talking about the good, bad and ugly of selling our work.

He was explaining to me how he needs to sell his work, that it gives him a sense of completion. Anything he makes that is not sold is incomplete. When people buy only the least expensive things and want to bargain with him for a lower price, he feels they don't appreciate his art. His sense of self-esteem is tied up with selling his work and its value is tied to people buying it at a fair price.

While I understand his feelings and have felt this way at times in the past, on that particular day I tried to convince Thom that the journey is the destination... that the payoff for making beaded jewelery is the pleasure of creating it. It doesn't matter, I said, if we sell it or not, if we keep it in boxes or give it away, if everyone buys it or if nobody buys it... none of it matters at all... because we've already received the big payoff!

I felt very noble talking like that. Yes, I thought, it is conceivable that nobody will come to our week-end show and that I will not sell any of these new pieces I am creating. But it doesn't matter... I am having a blast making them and therefore earning the payoff right now!!!! Did you notice my halo?

Well, tonight I am here to confess... the above is a hard position to maintain in the face of very few sales... Somewhere, on the intellectual side of my brain, I still think it's true. But the emotional side wonders why some of my friends didn't come, and why some who did didn't buy anything. The emotional side wants to climb under the covers and never make jewelry again...

I don't know how it will go next Saturday for the studio show in Seattle... I'm a bit scared of another let down... Yet I made a commitment... I will show up and try to remember the golden rule of beadwork... the journey is the destination.

What do you think? Is the real payoff the creative process? How do you deal emotionally with a disappointing sales experience or being rejected by a gallery or for a show? Maybe a few of you could post about this... If/when you do, will you leave a comment here with a link to your post?

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PS. If you're in the Seattle area and would like to come to a fun studio show, with several well-known artists, it's next Saturday, December 13th from 3 to 8 pm in the Lake City Way area. Email me for the exact location.

Bob Dylan in my Dream Last Night!

Dream:

I am on the street outside of a cafe, milling around with a group of people who are attending a beading conference. I get tired of waiting, leave the group and enter the cafe, where all the tables are empty.

After taking a seat, I look up and see Bob Dylan entering the cafe. He's young, looking like he does on his Freewheelin' or Blond on Blond album cover. Dual emotional response: 1. Wouldn't it be cool if he sits with me! And, 2. OMG, I wouldn't know what to say to him if he did!

I'm so shy that I put my head down and wait. He comes and sits kitty-corner from me at my table. Slowly I look up at him. Bob Dylan smiles slightly and asks, "What are the important influences in your life?" I freeze with shyness. I don't respond, and the next thing I know I'm back outside with the crowd.

End of that segment of the dream. However, I wake up soon, envisioning Bob and his question. A one-word answer snaps into my mind: teachers! My teachers are the most important influences in my life. All kinds of teachers (not so much the ones from my formal school years)...

Let me name, honor and thank a few of them here:

Andrew Dale ~ My tai chi teacher during the early 1990s, Andy taught me about physical balance and it's correlation to emotional balance. He taught me to walk with my weight back about 1/4th inch (I had been leaning forward slightly). This saved my feet and enabled me to walk normally again!

Shelley Tucker ~ My poetry teacher during the same period as above, Shelly taught me how to by-pass my controlling and frightened brain, and allow words to flow from my heart. I was already doing that with bead embroidery, but this was an entirely new thing to be able to do it with words. I still use her wonderful writing models, and have shared one of the best with you, here. If you want to introduce poetry writing to young children, Shelley's books are super!

Ferne Cook ~ My mother, Ferne, taught me many wonderful life skills, including strong work ethics, ethics in general, how to sew, the value of quality craftsmanship, and good grammar.

Robert Demar ~ My husband, Robert, teaches me significant things nearly every day, including the most valuable lesson of all... that it's only money... you can see my progress with this concept here. He opened the door for my recent insight about respecting my body, by taking my legs (the heavy ones I've always hated) out to dinner one night in appreciation for all they've done for me over the years. He has changed my habit of swearing when thwarted or frustrated, by showing me how it creates a negative aura. There's lots more.

Liz Chenoweth ~ How can I pick just a few things to mention about what I've learned from my best friend for 34 years? Among many other things, from Liz, I've learned that under anger there is fear, that love is all there is, that acknowledging love is hugely important, to give time and money, and to honor commitments.

Mary Oliver ~ Although I've never met her, poet Mary Oliver taught me an extremely important lesson... that I do not have to be perfect. The powerful healing medicine of her poetry is beyond compare. On Monday, Feb. 4th, thanks to a gift from Liz, I get to hear Mary Oliver read her poems, live at Benaroya Hall in Seattle!!!! OMG, I'm so looking forward to it!

Bob Dylan ~ I've listened to Dylan's music since the 1960's. The man can write! And through his songs, he taught me to investigate everything, to look beyond the surface of people, and to care.

Lori Talcott ~ Metalsmith and friend, Lori taught me about how flat is boring, especially with wireworking. I used to make fibula pins with loops and spirals that were flat... pounded metal, but flat. Thanks to Lori, I now use my fingers to curve and shape the loops and poke out the spiral three-dimensionally. There's an example at the top of this post and several below.

OK, these are just a few examples of teachers and their important influences in my life. It's still November, the month of thanksgiving, and so I am giving my huge thanks to these and other teachers.

For the past two weeks, I've been making jewelry like crazy for a Holiday Sale this Friday and Saturday. Yesterday, I took pictures of some of the fibula pins I just made... thought you might like to see some of them...