Studio Tour This Weekend - Preview Tomorrow - Pictures!

Been nose to the grindstone getting ready for the Artist Studio Tour. Thought you might like to see some pictures of some of the beadwork for sale...

I'm a guest artist in studio #7, Cinda Sue Dow, pastel artist. I'm happily occupying the whole of her pastel house! The tour is Sat. and Sun. 10 - 5, and we're also having a special preview on Friday, May 31 (that's tomorrow!) from 5-8 pm. The location is in Friday Harbor at 545 Alder Ct. Heading out of town on Argyle, turn rt. on Spruce St., pass Hemlock St. and turn rt. on Alder Ct. Both of us are giving 20% off during the preview.

Necklace, fibula pin, bracelet, and earrings in palette of natural colors featuring jasper and smokey quartz stones.

Necklace and earrings featuring beautifully faceted rubies (man-made) and sterling silver beads.

Selection of bracelets with specialty glass beads, pearls, crystals, and sterling silver or gold elements.

I love wireworking. These are two fibula pins and three pendants that showcase high-end lampwork beads by nationally recognized artists.

I offer a selection of every-day earrings in a wide range of colors, featuring glass lampwork beads, vintage Chinese glass beads, and more. I use sterling silver or gold-filled findings only (no plated pot metal).

This necklace and earrings feature vintage Chinese glass beads (beautiful, soft, translucent blue) paired with sterling silver elements from the Golden Triangle area in Northern Thailand.

I just finished this bead/ribbon/thread/button embellished, red, felt purse! Any fun-loving person with a flamboyant streak would enjoy carrying this on their shoulder!

I named this necklace "Sea to Sky," and based the color scheme on a painting by Monet. It showcases a vintage, magnificent and unique sterling silver pendant from The Hill Tribe peoples of Thailand. This necklace was featured in "The Beader's Color Palette" by Margie Deeb.

This necklace is an example of my "woven treasure necklace" technique. It colors are inspired by the raku glaze on the featured ceramic beads by an artist in Hawaii.

This tassel ornament is another example of the "woven treasure" technique. In the light, it reminds one of stained glass windows in a cathedral.

"Trust" is bead embroidery art to enhance a small space. it is one of the 13 technique samples for my book, "Heart to Hands Bead Embroidery."

Inspired by Emperor Penguins, this bead embroidered brooch looks great on jacket lapel or sweater.

Earrings and fibula pins.

Key fobs, zipper pulls, cell-phone or camera tags on the top shelf.

I display most of the jewelry in color groupings. There's a range of casual to elegant, ethnic to contemporary, and understated to bold looks in my work.

It takes me two days to set up for this thing, plus uncountable hours to make the work. Since I'm actually a rather shy person, it's difficult for me to promote my work in person. When guests come, I sometimes don't talk to them at all. So it's always very gratifying when people show up for the tour and actually buy my work, despite my awkwardness. 

Happy Red Balloon Purse

A few years ago I impulsively bought a red felt bag with circles of color on one side, made in Nepal. $40. I never used it... guess I'm conservative at heart when it comes to purses. Yet still, it always makes me happy to look at and touch it.

The original purse just had the "spots" of color. I embroidered the "strings" to make them look like balloons.

While moving, it surfaced. Wow, I thought, bet it would be fun to bead this bag! Maybe a more flamboyant person than I will buy it at the Artist Studio Tour (next weekend). So, for the last two days, my worktable heaped with stuff, I turned the circles of colors into balloons.

I started with the strings, embroidered with 6 strands of floss (detail picture above). Then I began adding beads, buttons and ribbons... Whoooohooo! Balloons!

Here are a couple of them.

I finished the bag at midnight last night. Most fun things were stitching into felt and adding the ribbons at the end. Most difficult thing was getting inside the purse to knot off the threads. Happy colors, happy red, happy Robin! How do YOU like it?

Bead Embroidery Makes Me Happy

Getting back to bead embroidery definitely makes me happy, although this piece really isn't about being happy. It's my Bead Journal Project for April, a month that was all about separation and change, about moving, about finding a new way of being, living alone and being single rather than married. Both the beading and the process of changing my life are still on-going. I don't know what the future will bring with either.

I worked on this piece (no name yet) while teaching two different Improvisational Bead Embroidery workshops during the month. As always, I have the students write poems on the second day of class, poems about self based on words and phrases that come to mind while looking at their beadwork. These are the two poem I wrote based on this piece.

#1

I am scattered
I want to be one of the other
words or phrases
such as I am peaceful
or I am purple
or I am flowing
but the truth is
I AM scattered right now
as I cut through
the crumpled remains
of the soft colors
of my marriage dream
I am scattered
as I pack all my things in a box
drained of energy
traffic noise in my head...
oh flower fabric and aqua beads
may you refill my cup of life
               March30, 2013

#2

I am delicate
emotionally delicate I guess
a little unusual for me
my heart is folded
my wedding rings still on my finger
my life flowing along
as if everything was normal
as if everything was the same
I am circled by beads
beautiful, graceful, pretty beads
are supporting a new phase...
like the butterfly
I will take a new form
yet with the same life blood
and the same heart as before
                  April 14, 2013

I'm doing post-card-sized (5 x 7 inches) pieces again this year, like the first two years. This one seems to be going in the direction of being solidly beaded, which takes a lot of time. I don't know if the others will be encrusted or not.

In The Pink ~ Wireworking Tutorial

Maybe I'm back... Or, maybe I'm just avoiding the task of unpacking all the boxes...

Either way, as I put on my pink corduroy shirt this morning, the thought of making some new pink earrings propelled me into the studio. Yay... ignore the boxes and have some beady fun! As long as I was doing it, why not take a few pictures? OK, so here's a mini-tutorial about wire working.

This is how they look finished.

You need half/hard or full/hard wire for these, because they need to have some "spring" to them in order to be able to fasten the hook at the back. I used 20 ga., half/hard, gold-filled wire for this pair.

Cut two pieces of wire, each 4.5 inches long. File one end of each wire, so that the cut end is smooth. Use a small, round-nose pliers to make a small loop at the filed end of each wire.

Load the beads on the wire. Disc-shaped, lampwork beads work well for this style of earrings. I add a gold-plated snowflake spacer bead and a 2mm gold-filled, round bead on each side of the disc. After adding the beads, bend the wire upward at a 90 degree angle as shown in the picture. If the loop is turning the wrong way, grasp it in the jaws of a flat-nose pliers and twist to position it correctly (horizontal).

Use a felt-tip marker to make a mark on the wire 1.5 inches above the right angle bend. This mark will be at the center of the top of the earring.

Place a 3/8" or 1/4" dowel as a mandrel under the wire, centering the mark on the dowel. Bend the end of the wire downward, over the dowel, toward the loop at the back of the earring. Do this step slowly, checking your progress and making sure the bend is directly above the beads.

Cut the end of the wire about 1/8 inch below loop. File the cut end smooth, and slightly round the edges. Then I sand the tip of the wire with #400 (or finer) sandpaper, and polish it with a soft cloth to make it totally smooth.

Use round-nose pliers to round the tip upward a little, allowing it to hook into the loop for security.

These earrings are very comfortable to wear. Because of the hook at the back, you'll never cry over one lost earring!

Order out of Chaos

LS has a difficult job trying to help people whose lives are falling apart to find the keys to their inner home. She doesn't complain, but I know from past experience that it's no easy task to listen to people's problems all day. So I imagine that she finds some peace and harmony in arranging things.

What a good time she must have had lining up and stacking these bits of shell, beach glass, and other objects  in such a tidy arrangement! Although not precise, it is orderly.

And this one just melts my heart. I love the odd thing in the center surrounded by alternating pointy green and roundish white bits of beach glass.

Some time ago, she arranged all these wooden wedges in the window of a shed. I'm willing to bet she doesn't think of herself as an artist. But wouldn't you give these high marks as art? I would!

* * * *

Speaking of order, I'm still unpacking boxes and trying to make order in my new home. It's getting there. The beading table is currently clear enough to do a little bead embroidery... be still my heart! I'll try to take and post pictures of my current piece soon.

Moving Progress

Wow! I should have taken a picture of the beading I did last night... the first in my new home/studio! It felt so great to sit there beading, while totally ignoring all the boxes, all the stuff that needs to be organized and put somewhere.

Stuff piled in the corner of the studio.

Stuff filling the work bench area in the shed.

Stuff filling all the shelves in the shed.

I'm not even showing you the stuff stacked against the walls in the bedrooms and closets. How could anybody have so much stuff? But, hey, the studio tables and chairs are there... I can bead! No gripes at all... progress is being made.

Thanks to those of you have have called, written and/or left supportive comments. It helps me and encourages me... I appreciate you for it more than I know how to say.

Moving Along... New Chapter in Life...

After a dozen years of marriage, my husband and I began to take diverging pathways... different ways of aging, our counselor said. Our lifestyles, interests and needs are not as compatible as they were during our early years together.

A couple of months ago, we finally decided to end the marriage and go our own ways. This is not a sad thing; actually I think it will be good for each of us individually, and enable us to remain friends as well.

He will be staying in our home. I am moving, but not far away. I'm staying on San Juan Island, which I love and where I have good friends, including him. For the next few weeks, I'll be fixing up my new place, converting the living room to a studio and the dining room to a small living room. I should be all moved and settling in by mid-April.

For those of you who are interested, my new address is:
1785 Douglas Road #4
Friday Harbor, WA 98250,
new phone number: 360-370-7066

Since December, I have not done any beading at all. I just haven't had the energy or heart for it. Don't worry though, beads and I are still an item. Bead mojo will come back when I get into my new studio!  In the meantime I've been stitching like a mad woman on my hexie quilt. I'll post about it and show pictures soon. Below is one that shows the border treatment I'm using.

More move information + pictures of new digs

Sometimes, it takes making a decision to realize what I really want. Ever had that happen? Yep, I had been convinced that the mainland move was the right thing. But when the house deal watered out, I felt relief, major relief actually. Examining the feeling made it clear that I really did not want to leave my friends and the security I feel here on the island. Even though there were pros for the mainland, it now seemed I felt more inclined to stay where I am.

Funny how the see-saw of making an offer here and then one on the mainland finally showed me where my heart wants to be.

So, I took another look at the house I'd seen previously, and decided to go for it. Now, I own it. Done deal. I am staying on the island, moving during the next couple of weeks to a modular home in what seems like an amazingly friendly modular home park, located 3 miles out of town. Here are a couple of pictures.

My new home!

This huge, evergreen tree (don't know specific type yet) on the left is one of my favorite things about this home; it seems like "a special guardian". I have neighbors only on one side (and she happens to be a quilting friend!). Looking across the street from the dining room and living room, there is a wonderful view over open, pastoral land, and a little peek-a-boo view of salt water and the Olympic Mountains.

 

The large living room, as shown in this picture, was carpeted, and painted a rather dull brown. I've already replaced the carpet with wood flooring, painted the room a very pale rose, and installed ceiling lighting. This room will be my studio... my art, bead, and stitching haven!!!

The former dining room will be my cozy little living room; and what was the breakfast nook will be quite adequate as a dining room. Everything is currently getting a make-over... paint and new flooring! I couldn't live in a home with white carpets throughout... just not me.

The kitchen is roomy and light, thanks to the skylight. I've never had a dishwasher, and have always struggled with cramped, no-counter-space kitchens. This spacious kitchen is a huge change for the better. Whoo-hoo! It too is receiving a flooring make-over.

I look forward to being moved and settled... to a bit more serenity... to pursuing my art again. It is in sight!

Fetish Doll Celebrates Beading Workshop

I just had to post these pictures of a fetish doll made by Peggy Kemp, who is organizing the bead embroidery workshop I'm teaching here on San Juan Island March 30-April 1.

Isn't she just as fun as can be? Her name is "13 Fishes and a Turtle". I think Peggy's intent is that she and the 12 other students in the class are the fishes. Am I the turtle? She didn't say, but if I am, it's OK with me.

We still have 3 openings in the class. Won't you join us? We are going to bead, learn, share, eat, shop, and have a blast. The island will be perfect by then... flowering, ornamental trees, daffodils, hellebore, and beautiful green everywhere by that time. Of course we won't have a lot of time to enjoy the out of doors because we'll be beading. That's OK though... when I remember to remind everybody to stretch, we can at least get up and look out the windows.

To find out more about this happy event, you can go here or here.

Still Have a Couple of Openings!

  

Bead Embroidery

Beautiful San Juan Island

March 30-April 1

Join me, Peggy Kemp from Hawaii, and 12 other beaders

for a fun-filled two and a half days

intensive bead embroidery workshop

bead sharing

and beadwork show-tell-solve session!

Spring Getaway! 

As of today,

we still have a couple of openings!

Email Peggy for information

or to register.

More information
here on Beadlust!

Marriage & Beading

Today is my wedding anniversary. Sadly, it is not the happy day it should be.

Robert and I tied the knot January 12, 2001 in Victoria BC after being together for 3 1/2 years. We were both over 50 and had never previously been married. When we were saying our vows, Robert jokingly answered the 'til death do you part query under his breath, whispering maybe (not yes, but maybe). Although it was sort of funny at the time, perhaps I missed an undertone of truth, a current of unease that has run through our relationship.

Intersections - Robert & Me, 2011

If you know me, you know my bead embroidery is almost always improvisational, meaning unplanned and spontaneous. I like to stick a thought in the back of my mind, letting it guide my beading in a subconscious way. During our 16 years together, I've beaded about our relationship several times. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of these pieces in this post.

Marriage Bag, 2000

This is the first. It is Marriage Bag, started shortly after I met Robert and completed just before we got married. My intent was to explore the idea of marriage and commitment, to ask the question, Do I want to get married to this man?

Marriage Bag, Totem Animals, 2000

The first side of the bag I beaded seems to have a division. Looking at it 12 years later, I think it's about the two of us as individuals, apart from one another. My totem animal is the rabbit, so I think the left area is about me. There seems to be a lot of sunshine on my side. Robert's totem animal is the bear. His part is a bit darker, with just a hint of sunshine. There is a small heart at the bottom in each part connected by intertwined strands of beads, in retrospect a rather frail connection.

Marriage Bag, Intertwined Pathways, 2000

As I beaded the second side, the intertwined strands, representing our connection, grew much longer and stronger. It suggests a good and lengthy future together, don't you think? Back then beading this part gave me great encouragement and optimism about our relationship and marriage. Things looked pretty good during the "honeymoon phase" of the marriage, a time when we both turned blind eyes toward the signs that all was not well.

His Parents Were Alcoholics, 2007

This piece, from the first year of the Bead Journal Project,  is a portrait of Robert, showing childhood wounds, inflicted by parents, altered by alcohol, who probably did not meet his needs. I see scars, a wall, and the spirals of recovery passing under small holes in the wall. I see beaver, able to pass to either side of the wall, facing outward toward the light. I hoped that the wall would gradually fall apart, allowing us to be closer.

Hearts in Delicate Balance, 2008

A year later, I beaded this visual statement of our relationship. Look what showed up.... the same intertwined path, which I think represents the part of me that still held optimistic hope for our marriage to be well-rooted and to grow upward in a healthy way. But more dominate in this piece is the precariously balanced hearts. Even the thing upon which they stand is unbalanced. Bear is there, climbing up hill. Will we make it?

Lunar Marriage Dance, 2009

Three months later, this piece again shows my optimism. Yes, we sometimes drift apart, but then, like the cycles of the moon, we come together again, a "close dance" in the fullness of the moon. As I stitched the last bead and looked at it, I had a sense that the dance between us is good and that it passes naturally through phases, yet remains and will continue to remain a good dance. Looking at it now, I wonder if it actually predicted how the future would find us drifting apart, spending more time in solo dancing than in partnership.

Forgive, 2010

The next year, I was trying to re-invent myself, trying to make changes that would improve our marriage. This piece is inspired by two words: forgive and flow. I wanted to flow through our relationship in a peaceful way and to forgive us both for all the rough spots along the way. In retrospect, I notice that the flow divides the branch and the birds. The two birds closest to the flow have their backs to one another. Improvisational works seems to be like that, suggesting different interpretations at different times. Ten years earlier, on Marriage Bag, the two birds on the branch were facing each other (see the second loop of the intertwined pathways).

Intersections - Robert & Me, 2011

Here is another improvisational piece about our relationship, the intersection of Robert and me. I am the red/pink arm of the intersection; he is the blue arm. This is a tough one to interpret. There is a small black heart at the top of the wooden heart in the intersection. What does that signify? Wedding rings are most often shown overlapping. In this case, they are side by side. Again, I believe my choice of fabric with spirals represents hope and optimism.

None of my beadwork in 2012 is about our marriage or him. I don't know what will happen in the year ahead with either my beading or our relationship. Maybe it's time to tuck the word marriage in the back of my mind, pick up some beads, and start stitching...

Spring Getaway - The Isle of Beads!

It's all Peggy Kemp's idea... her dream comes true March 30 through April 1, 2013... something to cure the winter blues for sure... and YOU are invited too!


Two and a half days to have fun with beads - learning, practicing and creating - on lovely San Juan Island - at the friendly Earthbox Inn and Spa! You can bring your partner, friend or spouse to enjoy spring wildflowers, hikes, kayaking, bicycle exploring on San Juan Island, while YOU play with beads.

March 29 - evening

Gathering at a local shop (yes, of course, beads) to meet me and the other students, and enjoy some light refreshments.

March 30-31 - all day + optional evenings + delicious, hot, catered lunch on both days

Improvisational Bead Embroidery, my favorite in the whole-world workshop to teach.

Learn all of the basic techniques for sewing beads on fabric, including high relief and textural variations, bezels, edge stitches, and fringing techniques. Practice them on a sampler similar to the one below.

Then begin to work on a small piece of bead embroidery, which can be made into a pouch, appliqued on a large bag, framed, sewn into a quilt, or one of many other possibilities. Throughout the two days, I will be teaching how to work improvisationally, without a plan or drawing, in a way that is fun and very empowering!

April 1 - morning

 Beady Problem Solutions

This optional half-day session is an opportunity for you to bring, show, and discuss your own work. I am prepared to assist you with "problem pieces," perhaps beadwork you like except that something doesn't "feel right," or pieces that you don't know how to finish. Bring any type of beadwork to this session.

Register now! Enrollment is limited to 12 students to provide for one-on-one instruction for every student.

Cost:

$250 for Gathering and Improvisational Bead Embroidery workshop

$50 for Beady Problem Solutions

$275 for both of the above (save $25)

To get all the details and/or to register, please contact:

The workshop organizer - Peggy Kemp - email

Join us... we'll have a blast!