Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Finished the necklace




Finally got the beaded cabochon turned into a necklace.

Finishing touches





I used one of my hand made ceramic buttons for the clasp.

It's Not Art, But It Sure Was Fun




The antenna thing for my broad band has worn out. So... time to get a new one. Not wanting the new one to get all banged up in my rolling case or my purse, I decided to take some of the fabric I had experimented with markers and rubbing alcohol and use that for a pouch for my antenna. It's not great art. It's not even mediocre art. But it sure was fun and it's functional.

Monday, September 28, 2009

More beaded bracelets






Finished these up today and they will be added to my etsy store during the week. I've been adding no more than one item a day so that my work stays on the first page or two when someone does a search.

Been Beading Again




This one is inspired by what the desert sky looks like just before a storm. Sometimes, the sky turns wonderful shades of purple. If that happens in the early summer and the yuccas are in bloom, the contrast of the creamy yucca flower and the sky is incredible. This bracelet is available at my etsy store.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Latest Cuff




I need to do a clasp for this one, and then it's finished. I had fun playing with the colors and the design.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

I need suggestions



These are the pajamas I made for Jim when we took the South American Cruise. This winter, we're taking a Caribbean cruise. I want to make special jammies for Jim. I've been looking for Caribbean fabric, but can't seem to find anything that speaks to me. I'm open to all suggestions for fabric. Fabric needs to be cotton. Thanks for the input.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Latest Cuff




I love the combination of Caribbean blue and copper. Here's the latest project. I need to think a bit about what I'm going to use for a clasp.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

By Popular Request




Okay, so only one person asked. I dearly love the Astronomy Photo of the Day site. Lots of wonderful shots of space by professional astronomers, amateur astronomers and the Hubble telescope. This is a beaded quilt I made showing my interpretation of three of the galaxies.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Bead Bowls In Use




They work even better than I thought! They are 4" square and not deep at all. I've got to make more of these.

Bead Bowls



I have been doing some beading lately, and I needed some shallow bowls for my beads. I'm not fond of chasing seed beads around the table and a custard cup is a little too deep to use comfortable.

So I made my own bead dishes. These are coated with terra sig and bisque fired. I'm not all that happy with how I put the terra sig on the red bowls, but I do like the black. I figured I'd need black for the clear, white and silver beads. The red would work for all the other colors. I'll have to give them a test drive a little later.

Who Needs Art?

Me for one.

I was awarded a scholarship for a two-day pottery workshop. I learned lots - much of which wasn't on the syllabus. I've got all sorts of ideas and things flying through my head.

One question came up about art education. People put enormous emphasis on "traditional" areas of learning, math, science, reading and such. Art is often looked at as frivolous. Really? Consider what you are wearing right now. Why did you chose those clothes? Why did you chose those colors? That's art.

Suppose you want to open a store and sell wrenches. You have the best wrenches in town and you can't wait to sell them. What about a sign for your store? What about a window display? That's art.

Suppose you want some flowers planted around the house. You want them to look nice, right? That's art.

In the morning, I put granola in a hand-made bowl and drink my tea from a hand-made mug. Some of the peace and talent of the artist is in the bowl and the mug. I need to feel and connect to that peace and that talent.