I know I said before that I wasn't going to have any New Year's Resolutions, and I'm sticking by that. I did decide at the end of last year, though, that I needed something to challenge myself to be more creative; and I decided that the Bead Journal Project 2011 was just the thing.
I've just been going through some of the blogs of other participants, and I'm amazed by the variety of works I see there -- everything from bead embroidered journal pages, to pieces of jewelry, to spirit dolls, to ... well, visit the blog and check them out for yourself.
Since much of my time is spent beadweaving, it was only natural for me to choose to do something beadwoven for my journal project. And since I spent several hours last year sorting my beads (well, everything except my delicas, which require their own system) into bins by color, I've been inspired to create more freeform bracelets. I dug through my "red" container to locate all sorts of different beads in shades of garnet, maroon, burgundy, and RED to create this freeform cuff which is named January.
They are great fun to create. Freeing, really, because there's no design and no concept of how they're going to look when they're finished. I never have any idea of where they're going to go, and sometimes I don't even know how big they're going to be when they're finished. It's just a matter of adding some beads, holding the piece up to look at it, and then "listening" to the piece tell me which beads need to be added next.
This piece varies in width from just over an inch near the closure to two inches at the center. There are beads of all kinds in here - garnet rounds, delicas, metallic lined glass beads, painted glass beads, freshwater pearls, Czech glass beads in sizes ranging from tiny 15/0 to 5/0 triangle shaped beads. And it's all finished off with a peyote loop and a gorgeous garnet colored button with an intricate design that's visible when you hold the button in the light.
I'm quite happy with the way January turned out, but I have to tell you that I'm already dreading February... It's going to be lots of shades of purple, and I just HATE photographing purple!! Wish me luck. :-) And don't forget to check out the Bead Journal 2011 blog.
I don't make beads or cabochons myself, so I am completely in awe of the people who do. I have ideas for beads, but as is always the case there's just not enough time to execute all the ideas I have. So I satisfy myself by finding extraordinary beads created by bead artists, and then I try to do them justice in my beadwoven creations.
Two artists whose work I really admire are Dee Wilder (Malodora) and Lisa Peters (LisaPetersArt). I drool over their new pieces every time I see them on flickr or on Etsy, and despite the fact that I DO NOT NEED another bead, I can't resist adding to my collection. Not that they're the only artists whose beads I love, but theirs are the beads and cabs I've used most recently.
I finished and listed Kalliope a little more than a week ago using one of Dee's Natasha beads as the focal. The bead has shades of dark teal, pale mint green, a tiny bit of purple, and black; so I made four ndebele ropes using those colors and braided them (thanks to my grandfather for teaching me to four-braid) to create this asymmetrical necklace.
Just last night I finished a necklace, very different than anything I've created before, using one of Lisa Peters' gorgeous raku cabochons. Lisa's going to be exhibiting at the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee at the end of this month (booth 1213), and she sent me two cabs so I could make something for her to use at the show to demonstrate how her pieces can be used. This is the first one I've completed, so now I'm under the gun to make something with the second cab. (At least I have an idea for what I'm going to do, even though I haven't picked up a bead yet!)
This piece (which is called Cybele, the name of the Phrygian goddess of fertility and nature, later worshipped by the Greeks and Romans) was great fun for me. I started out with a very different idea, but then I kept looking at the cab and seeing the earthy colors in it, so I decided to use some of the many pieces of driftwood I've collected from my walks on the Lake Michigan shores. (And my husband's happy that I'm finally using some of it.) I added a few coats of clear acrylic to seal the driftwood and make it shiny, and the addition of the acrylic brought out more of the wood's colors so it wound up matching the cab even more. I had the perfect bunch of beads to use -- metallic lined delicas in shades of olive and gold. Then it was just figuring out how to put it all together. I didn't want any one aspect to overpower, so I used varying widths of peyote strips to hold it all together. The back of the cab is covered with a piece of really soft brown leather.
I actually get to go to the B&B show this year, so I'll get to see how Lisa exhibits this. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be walking away from her booth with a melted credit card and a really heavy box...
You can see more pictures of this piece in my flickr photostream. And you can see more of Lisa's work in her photostream.
I'm speaking to one of my newest beadwoven creations. No, I haven't lost my mind (well, okay, some people might debate that). But this newest piece really does have a personality.
The Natasha Necklace began with a wonderful polymer clay bead made by Dee (aka Malodora). I saw a bunch of these beads when she posted them to her Flickr photostream, and I immediately fell in love with them. And then I had to have some for myself (you can see more about the Natasha beads here). Ever since they arrived, I've been looking at them. I put them all into a little container, but just about every day I have to take a few of them out and turn them slowly so I can admire all their sides.
After staring at them for all that time, I eventually had an idea for how to use one of them. The one in the pictures, although it's by no means the brightest one in the bunch, was the one talking to me the most. Maybe it's because it has such interesting colors -- lavender, lime green, peach, and red, with a touch of black that accentuates all the lighter colors.
The idea was to use the four main colors and create an ndebele rope in each so I could braid them together. I figured the diameter of the finished braid would be a nice size for a bracelet and would go well with the beads.
That was the plan.
What wasn't part of the plan was that I had no idea how long to make the ropes. I'm pretty good at math, but there was just no way for me to figure out how much of the length would be taken up in the braid. A tight braid would use more of the length, a loose braid less of it. So I guesstimated.
And I came pretty close. If I'd used a tighter braid it probably would have worked. But I didn't like the "feel" of the tight braid when I was finished.
Now the dilemma. My braided section was too long to use as a bracelet.
Dang.
Not one to dismantle pieces after they're finished (quite a task when you take into consideration just how much effort I put into making sure things don't come apart accidentally!), I had to figure out some other way to use that beautiful bead.
I have quite a good stash of mismatched, funky, interesting beads that are all waiting for a "home" in something. Since I don't do any stringing, they have to sit around and wait for me to do something freeform; and I don't really do much of that! (Have I mentioned that there's just not enough time?!?!?)
So I dug out the stash and located some beads I thought would complement the Natasha bead and that would make an interesting necklace! To tie the two sides of the asymmetrical necklace together, I made up some beaded tube beads using the same beads I used for the ropes to go between the glass, stone, and crystal beads I found in my stash.
And although this didn't end up being ANYTHING like what I had planned, I love it!
I guess I'm just an asymmetrical kind of person.
:-)
