Just for Me!

I began work on this spiral, intended just for me, a week ago. Finished it yesterday. Tried to make the labradorites sparkle a little, so I took the picture in full sun. I graduated the labradorites so that they would make the necklace a little more interesting than a plain spiral. (I've come to the conclusion that plain spirals bore me.)

My sisters and I get together once every few months and have a beading retreat. Yesterday one sister wire wrappped garnets and amethysts into a chain (each stone it's own unit with a loop on either end) while the other worked on knotting a multistrand necklace of peridot.

After seeing how supple and flexible a knotted necklace is, I want my sister to knot a couple for me - labradorite and black pearls and maybe a couple of strands of sunstone.

Going out of town for a couple of days - have my ideas for July and August's pages in my head, just need to find the time to work on them. While I'm gone, I'm going to make my aunt a woven beaded eyeglass neckpiece. She's been asking for years.

I also am planning a break so that I can explore a new cemetery in Minneapolis. I love to look at old statuary in cemeteries. Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis is part of a couple of parks and was designed by the same gentleman that designed Spring Grove in Cincinnati, where some of my ancestors were laid to rest.





Problems are only opportunites in work clothes. - Henry Kissinger

Strange Unsolicited Comment

Because of this strange comment I got (see the next entry) I am going to preview comments before they get posted.

People with blogging experience - is this something that happens on a regular basis and is it normal? Should I be concerned about this comment? Am I overreacting by previewing comments before they're posted?

Thanks.

Current Work

I am happy to say that my good friend's sister commissioned a couple of woven beaded jewelry pieces from me over the holiday. She commissioned a piece from me last summer and liked it so much that she wanted a couple more pieces!

I showed her a lot of beads before she decided on the spiral necklace I had just decided to wear that day - pictured here (my necklace (not for sale) has a cool focal bead by Aardvark Art Glass) and a right angle weave crystal cube. I owned that focal bead for two years before I knew what I wanted to do with it.

She said that she's buying my creativity. What a compliment! Said she couldn't put two beads together to save her life. I told her that the spiral wouldn't cost much in materials, but would be labor intensive. I timed myself the next day and came up with a price that was okay with her (and me.) She likes my jewelry because it's not just beads strung on a string and because it's handmade.

I' like to finish those before I begin work on my July Beaded Journal Page piece. I'm also working on a spiral necklace just for me. Grey beads and labradorite (one of my favorite stones - love the flash!)

Quote of the Day: Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. - Scott Adams

Thoughts

I have looked at a lot of the other June pages for the Beaded Journal Project. Now I kinda wish I hadn't.

They are wonderful examples of people's expressions. It is interesting to see how different each page is and how people come up with their page/image. Everyone uses beads in such different ways to express themselves.

Just as an artist's journal will vary from person to person, these pieces also vary which is to be expected, naturally. It'd be so boring to be alike. Although we all use beads as a medium, beads do limit our expression to some extent, although they don't have to dictate how a page/piece will come out. Backgrounds don't have to be filled with beads (negative space isn't a bad thing.) Backgrounds don't even have to be fabric.

I'm influenced by other people's art, which isn't such a bad thing, but it's something that I personally wanted to avoid, especially on this project. I wanted to come up with images/pieces on my own, using beads in whatever manner I wanted to. Now I find that I "wish I'd thought of that..." blah blah blah.

In some ways, seeing other artist's work pushes me to dig deeper, but I want my pieces to come from my own creative well. I think this has a lot to do with my inner critic. Mine can be especially vicious, but I'm working to quiet it. I don't think I'll ever be able to silence it, but I can learn to ignore it.

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. - Pablo Picasso