Bead Journal Project... A Few Thoughts

Well, first I have to hang my head in apology about not posting for so long. Family health issues and various obligations have gobbled up my energy (and creative flow) for the past 2, almost 3 months.

The only thing I've beaded during this time is the header for my blog, which I then turned into a little, quilted wall hanging just in time to enter in our County Fair. I'm not experienced with hand quilting (which is obvious if you click to enlarge the picture and examine the stitches), but enjoyed sewing this piece very much and will probably work on getting more skilled at hand quilting.


Bless the BJP and everyone posting their plans, goals and excitement about getting started... It's catching! I'm starting to feel myself being lifted from the doldrums by all the enthusiasm! I'm almost to the point of checking out my fabric stash and bead boxes... Almost...

Another thing improving my spirits and pushing me toward the track again is what Lunnette Higdon-Hertel did with her BJP buttons from last year. Since she isn't into digital, I took the picture and am posting it here. The buttons are fastened to the cards with toothpicks on the back so that they can easily be removed and pinned to her sweater, hat or purse. She intends to frame them as a group... the cards will hang on "pegs" so they can be removed. Clever, huh.. and don't you just love her calligraphy?!

Sherry Markovitz - Exhibition - WOW!!!!

*****

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.

Bead Journal Project - Finishing Solution Found!

I watched a friend, Sondra Bayley, artist/photographer, handle my BJP "soul cards," gingerly trying to pick them up without rumpling the edges. I could tell she was concerned that her hands might not be perfectly clean, that she might get finger prints on them... She was clearly uncomfortable and so was I, not that I was worried about my pieces but that it cut into her enjoyment of them.

She asked how I intended to display them. Display them? Well, cards don't display very well... either they sit out on a table flat, and you can't see the backs... or... or what? She then spoke very strongly in favor of them as "art" and as such, she said, I needed to figure out a way to show them. She suggested framing each one separately.

Yes, I thought, you're right. But how? And what about the painted backs? So I took them to my studio and started playing around with grouping them. Three groups of four, but not in chronological order, looked good to me. Now what?

Traditional framing wouldn't work. I couldn't put a mat over my pieces because of the beaded picot edges. They would have to be glued to something. What? Not just plain old mat board...

Well, I love to paint decorative papers. And it was great fun to paint the papers I used for the backs of the cards. So why not try to paint papers as a background for each group of four?

That's what I did. And happy it makes me... happy painting and happy with how my pieces look on the painted papers. Whooohoooo! Now, what about the backs of the cards? No way to save them. I'd have to sand off the wax finish and some of the paint in order to glue them to the papers. But what I COULD do is to scan and print them. Yes, and glue the prints to the backing in the frame.

Voila! Here they are. You won't be able to see the painted papers very well unless you click the pictures to enlarge them. Hope you like them...

front and back, group 1

front and back, group 2

front and back, group 3

The groupings are by intuition, not logic. I just like them that way. There you have it! Finis!

By the way, I never, ever in the whole world thought I'd be framing something I'd painted. Never! (I guess we should never say "never," eh?) I only started painting a few years ago when I took a hand made book class and a painting class at ArtFest.

I was like a child... didn't know the first thing about paint, acrylics, brushes or any of it. Words like glaze and pounce were a mystery to me when applied to painting. But at the same time, I was like a child in Disneyland. And, though I was lost in the techniques department, I had a blast in the get-paint-on-the-paper department. Enough of the techniques stuck that I kept on working with it.

Several years later and you do not want to know how much painting stuff I've got crammed into my studio... or how MUCH I love it!

Bead Journal Project... If At First You Don't Succeed....

What to do with my 12 months - 12 pieces, each 4" x 6" and finished with the picot edge stich all around??? That was the question tormenting me for many months. If I had a dime for every idea that passed through my mind, I'd be a rich woman!

About 3 months ago, at a retreat with some beady friends, I finally decided to make my BJP pieces into soul cards, like tarot cards, with hard backs. I painted papers for the backs, rubber stamped each with the date and name of the piece, covered book board (heavy, dense cardboard) with the papers and glued my beadwork to the boards. Nice... or so I thought. Here are paired-pictures of each month's beading and painted/stamped back. All are click to enlarge.













However... after getting them all finished, and showing them to a few friends, I just didn't feel good about them. Handling them rumpled the picot edges. And, I didn't like stacking them one on top of the other, crushing the textural elements on many of them.

So, in the spirit of "if at first you don't succeed..." I'm on to a new plan and the backs are going bye-bye. You'll see... next post!

Bead Embroidery - May Bead Journal Project Finished!

Now I understand what some other Bead Journal Project members are saying about getting the blues when their May piece is finished. Yup... Actually, it's a mixed bag of emotions, because I'm also feeling lots of joy and satisfaction.

Speaking of joy, my May piece developed along those lines...


Here are the fabrics... I had recently bought 6 new fat quarters and these two were on the top of the pile, slightly off-set so I could see both of them. When I went to my stash to select fabric for May, there they were, right on top, calling me loudly.

I cut two pieces with irregular shapes from the multi-color leaf print, and one from the sun flower print. Without any concept of what I wanted to do for May, I just arranged the three fabric pieces in a pleasing way and stitched them together onto my stabilizer paper. I couched lengths of #8 pearl cotton over the seams, trimmed the extra fabric around the outside edges and selected some beads - ready to bead!


Here's the finished piece! About 2/3 of the way through beading it, a name came to my mind and stuck - Climb Every Mountain! I love this piece as the last one of the year... great sentiment and full of hope and joy.


I have to comment about the golden-yellow beads I used in this piece. The Czech and Japanese yellow beads (left) have an acid look to them, not a color I like very much. Yellow, in my opinion, is better when it's warm and glowing with friendliness (right). Only the French seed bead makers got it the way I like it. I understand they aren't making seed beads in France any more (boo-hoo). But you can still get back stock (like the ones pictured on the right above) from some suppliers. I recently bought some from Storm Cloud Beads in St. Paul, MN.

What now? Well, I think I'll go ahead and make a piece for June, July and August, just to keep in practice for when the 2008 BJP begins in September. And, what is really making me happy is my plan for displaying my pieces for 2007. More about that in the next post!

Ten Years Ago...

I rarely do memes… yet always enjoy reading them. So, when Janel tagged me last week, it seemed to be about my turn. Janel, a knitter, yarn dyer and expert, just released her new book on knitting socks, pictured above… If you’re a knitter (or just smitten with color), you’ll love looking at this one. Ok, so here’s the meme…

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

1998 is certainly a year to be remembered! Head-over-heels, totally-bonkers, jump-up-and-down in LOVE, I floated through the entire year, not in the least troubled by selling my business (Beads Indeed) and packing up the cozy Seattle home I’d bought 24 years earlier.

I was 55 years old then and had never been married. Although a few special men had earlier crossed my path, I wasn’t ready to settle into a permanent relationship until I met Robert, who also had never previously tied the knot. But 10 years ago, I knew I’d met my future husband, as indeed I had. We married Jan. 12, 2001… Some things are worth waiting for… I know, because it just keeps getting better and better! Here he is... during a silly snow storm we had this April...


2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

• I get about 15 legitimate email messages per day. One of my bad habits is to let them go for a few days, and then have to spend several hours getting caught up. That’s the situation today… so it's number 1 on my list.
• Kits. Akkkkk! Can you imagine what it’s like to put together 150 kits? That’s what I do every time I teach at a conference… order supplies, print handouts, package beads and other materials for days... and days... and days. Alarmingly, just around the corner is the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach. So, today, getting started on kits is number 2 on my list. I'm making this public commitment right now... I WILL get the kits for at least one class ready today.

Geeeest, that’s enough for one day… I already made the bed, fed the cat and took a brisk 2-mile walk, for goodness sakes.

3. Snacks I enjoy.

This is a tricky question because I’m doing Weight Watchers (on-line). I’ve lost 12 pounds so far and have about 40 more to take off before reaching my goal. I’m a little afraid to mention this, because I don’t want to jinx it… oh well…

My sister-in-law has done VERY well on WW and is a tremendous inspiration to me. She is the one who taught me a very valuable dieting trick. “Snacks,” she says, “are important! But they must be managed.” She finds certain things that appeal to her for snacks and using the package information, she calculates how many of the item is equal to ONE point. Then she counts out the items and puts them in little zip bags to have available as one-point snacks. These are the ones I use:

• Kellogg’s All-Bran Crackers, Multi-Grain. Yummmmy! Crunchy, a tad sweet, a tad salty, a little hint of graham, good fiber count, 9 crackers = one point!
• Newman’s Own Pretzel Nuggets. Not so delicious as the crackers above, but nice for a change of pace, and I get 12 of them for one point!
• Peeled baby carrots. Juicy, fresh and filling! I get 20 for one point!

Before WW, I used to snack on just about everything. Peanut butter, nuts and dried cranberries were my favorites. I still fit a few into my WW days.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

This one is impossible to answer. I simply can not wrap my mind around the concept of a billion dollars. I’ve always lived near the edge of poverty (by US standards), and am quite content to do so. I would hardly know what to do with a thousand dollars if it fell into my lap, let alone a million. Whoeeee… a billion? Ha!

5. Places I have lived.

• Los Gatos, CA – born nearby in San Jose, CA.
• Sutter Creek, CA – a sleepy little place back then, definitely NOT the tourist town it is today.
• St. Paul, MN – moved there when I was 7 yrs old, moved away 20 years later.
• Seattle, WA – love at first sight, lived on a house boat for several years, then an apartment, then bought a little bungalow home in Ballard, no thought of ever moving again until I met Robert and moved to the island to be with him.
• San Juan Island, WA – close to paradise in every way except high cost of living.

Places I could live? I love Hungary and the Hungarian culture! I would be happy living there, except for the heat in the summer, which is what ultimately drove me away from MN. Robert and I have thought about where we might move (especially every time the price of a ferry ticket to the mainland goes up), but nothing we’ve seen has the appeal of this beautiful island.

6. Peeps I want to know more about.

• Acey
• Pink Moon Hallow
• Arline
• zquilts
• Free Bird Sings
• Heidi Beads & More

I'm tagging the above cyber-friends for this meme and hoping you’ll be willing to do it. By the way, “doing it” means you get to answer the same 6 questions as I have, and then tag 5 or 6 more people. Of course, you don’t have to do it. But if you do, please let me know so I can be an appreciative reader!

Bead embroidery ~ March bead journal project finished

This one was difficult.

I started working on it in March, became cloaked by the darkness of it, and then abandoned it to work on the sweet, gentle new beginnings of April (here). Finally, March called me back... I finished it today.

My initial intent was to make a portrait of my husband. As my beading evolved, it morphed into a look at the part of him that is best described by the title of my piece: His Parents Were Alcoholics.


Today, as I photographed the finished work, a poem began to form in my head. Here it is.

His Parents Were Alcoholics

Always I’m aware of Wall,
built higher during hard times,
separating his dark, prickly fears
and deep, festering wounds
from his lighter, easy-going side.

Holes in Wall,
where pressure builds
and he can’t get them plugged,
let the grace of light in
and the sharp sting of dark out.

Only Beaver, his totem animal,
goes freely back and forth
from one side to the other.
Beaver is keeper of Wall
and fulcrum of delicate balance.

When first I fell in love with him,
a friend said “He’s damaged goods.
Run, run in the opposite direction
and don’t look back.”
She saw the dark.

I see the joyful light
and love every swirl of it.
I see the darkness too
and am trying to understand it,
to caress it tenderly.

He and Beaver are still at work,
mending childhood wounds
inflicted by parents,
altered by alcohol and
oblivious to a boy’s needs.

Robin A.
5-20-08

Today is Beadlust's Two-year Anniversary!

Two-year anniversary!

I've read these words on other blogs, but never thought I'd reach that point myself. What a delightful journey it's been! New friends, new inspirations and new challenges... I love it, am blessed by it, and thank everyone who has visited and generously commented on my posts!

How to clelebrate? Why not share a list of my most popular posts? OK... let's go! Of these twenty, the all time most popular post was Glorious, Glorious Green Glass Beads. If these posts are of interest to you, scan through the titles below and click on a couple of appealing ones, or go here to see them all.

June 30, 06
Confessions of a chocolate addict

July 2, 06
Bead embroidery in hand-made book ~ Wedding gift!


July 21, 06
D is for Dad


August 9, 06
What is Truth in Art?

August 15, 06
Yellow

August 30, 06
Totem animals (rabbits)


September 1, 06
Totem animals (tigers)

September 8, 06
Rabbits & bead embroidery

September 20, 06
B is for Beads


October 5, 06
5 wierd things about me

November 5, 06
Memory dolls - All about Dad


January 17, 07
Glorious, glorious green glass beads!

March 10, 07
Have you ever seen a bead quilt?

June 3, 07
Finger weaving - New work & tips

July 8, 07
Bead Journal Project ~ my June page

September 15, 07
Ripping out

October 9, 07
Beading for change ~ BJP August's page

November 14, 07
Improvisational bead embroidery ~ October BJP

February 1, 08
Bead embroidery ~ January BJP finished

April 2, 08
Symbols revealed

Writing this post brings back a lot of memories for me. Blogging and all of you, dear cyber friends, are a blessing. Thank you for being here with me!