Spare Room Studio

August Page Finished and September Has Begun

2007-09-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

One of the things I like about the Bead Journal project is that each month you can move on. I'm not at all satisfied with the August page from a technical beadwork standpoint. The working title of this page was 'Air Vibrations'. I was trying to capture in beadwork how the air seems to vibrate when a hummingbird flies by. I had this idea that I could bead around the hummingbird and then leave gaps to give the impression of the air moving. I thought I could work improvisationally, but I don't like the results at all. The first round of size 16 grey beads worked, but when I moved on the to creamy white beads, I lost track of my line, and ended up with this block shape under the tail. As I kept going, the emphasis is from the beak forward, but when you think about the physics of flight, the emphasis should more towards the back of the body.

This is the kind of experience that makes it hard to do beadwork. It takes a lot of time to bead, and when I'm not at peace with the results I tend to spend my time doing other things.

So I'm happy to move on to the next month, and on to a page that I thought about doing in the first excitement of signing up for the Bead Journal project. Here's the starting point, a picture I took four years ago on a September Sunday morning at the Yakima Farmer's market. I love farmer's markets and this one was amazing. At 9 am on Sunday morning there was a local rock band playing, there were little old Mexican ladies making and selling tamales, and there was lots of great produce.

This month I want to explore forms and texture. When I played with this photo in Photshop I found that the ATC size was too small for what I'd like to do, so I moved up to 4 by 6 inches. I printed the photo on cotton fabric, and then fused it to another piece of cotton. For fun, I decided to outline some of the shapes with my sewing machine, and happily sewed outside the lines.

Saturday Note

2007-08-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the feedback about July and August's journal pages. When I finish artwork that bugs me, I'll put it away for a few months, and find that after time has passed I can see it in a new way. One of the joys of blogging and belonging to the Bead Journal Project is that feedback helps this process.

I had wondered why I instinctively picked matte silver-lined lime green beads to accent the July page. Maybe this influenced me!

August Update

2007-08-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean for a month to slip by without posting! Here's July's journal page:

At the moment it doesn't have a title. What I don't like about it is the choice of the lime green beads. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it makes me shudder. I did enjoy beading the spirals, and would like to explore that motif more. I love the little blue sequins in the sea of icy white sequins. I ended up increasing the edging around the fused glass piece from a picot stitch to three-dimensional right angle weave.

Beading without watching TV was a good change, and I'm going to continue doing that in August. I listened to a lot of podcasts and music. Podcasts about current events, a favorite for commutes, were impossible to listen to while beading. My favorite for the month is A Way With Words.

Here's August. The working title is Air Vibrations

At the moment, it is diverging what I had in my mind's eye. And that pretty well describes my life at the moment. It's diverging from what I expected. The background fabric is a varigated felt that I love, and will probably use in another month.

And here's one last picture of the latest fused glass pendant I have for sale on etsy. I have also begun to list beads I'm willing to part with too!

A Start for July

2007-07-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

This month for the Bead Journal Project I'm experimenting and hoping to end up with a piece that can be viewed from the front and back. The piece is the size of an ATC with a base fabric of wool felt with a fusible interfacing on the back, and is a dream to bead on. I wondered if there'd be lots of loose wool fibers as I worked, but there hasn't.

The focal bead is one of my experiments in glass fusing, and where I first successfully drilled a hole in glass. Woman with power tool!!! To place the bead in the embroidery, I cut out the felt, and edged the hole with a picot stitch. I wanted the edge of the felt to be secure, and so I embroidered a row of beads next to the picot stitch. I'm finding there is a bit of stretching in the felt around the hole edge.

I'm also conducting an experiment with the beading experience this month - no beading in front of the TV. I can listen to music, books on tape - Janet Evanovich's latest had me hooting with laugher one evening, or just enjoy the quiet chirping of the birds in the trees outside my door early in the morning.

I'm not experimenting the the seed beads at the moment. I'm using a favorite - Montana Blue that have nice big holes for a size 11 needle. A nice change from last month where I was using and breaking size 13 needles for smaller beads.

End of Month & a Cool Purse from Kenya

2007-06-30T19:07:00.001-07:00

I did find some time to bead on June's journal page! Thank goodness for jet-lagged house guests! :)

My sister and family are returning to the US after living in Kenya for a dozen years. She and her daughter splurged on bags by a Kenyan designer Annabelle Thom before leaving. The bag below is brown suede leather, embellished with beadwork and metal work, and lined with kanga cloth. I spent some time searching for web sites where you can purchase her bags, and didn't have any luck. I will keep looking because I want one!!!

Weekend Feedback

2007-06-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Your comments and encouragement to the last post lifted my spirits this morning. The comment about the western rodeo is a chuckle because I grew up in a land of rodeos! The piece is reminding me of the vacation postcards 'Greetings from . . ."

June is when the school year ends and summer vacation begins. I'm wishing that I could play all summer with beads, fabric, glass, paper & paint!

Expectations

2007-06-21T20:57:00.001-07:00

Here's where I'm at and I don't know if I'll be adding any more to this journal page this month.

My bead embroidery in the past has been heavily beaded, and my expectation at the start of the month was that this piece would be completely beaded with none of the background fabric showing. I wanted more playful patterns in colors and textures. I wanted playful tendrils of fringe to peak out from the top copper piece and lots of wired charms to hang from the bottom. And I haven't even gotten to use those vintage green squares yet! The mustard yellow beads were an evening's delight to bead around the edge.

I've thoroughly enjoyed working on the piece when I've had time this month. I started out strong, but I was oncall for one week 24/7 at the job that must not be named. That takes a lot out of me, both in time and creative energy, and it turns out that I am still recovering from a nasty fall I took mid-May.

I was leaving work on a Friday night, tripped on the sidewalk outside of work, and took the brunt of the fall above my left eyebrow. Got my first ambulance ride! and a kind ER doctor cleaned me up with nine stitches. I had an amazing black eye, and for several days my eye was swollen shut.

I was out the eye doctor today, and every staff person who looked at me mentioned that although my vision wasn't injured, there's still swelling around the eye. For one of the tests, they even taped my eyelid up!

So tonight I am thinking about expectations. Of course I'll keep going with the bead journal project. I need to let go of expectations about finished product for the month. I'm pleased that I let myself sketch out a big design element for June; that's something I've never done before. I've always worked improvisationally.

I also have expectations about other creative projects I want to spend time on this summer. What's worked best for me is to spend a small amount of time each evening, maybe 30 minutes, on beading. That leaves time in the evenings to play with other things like glass fusing and art journaling.

I've already begun thinking about next month's journal page, and have decided to go small. Earlier in the month I thought I'd drop down to a three inch square if a four inch square was too big, but now I'm thinking I'll drop down to the size of an artist trading card.

Company is coming next week, and I'm full of joy about it, but my expectation is that there won't be a lot of time for beading. My next post will probably be in July.

Sunday Update

2007-06-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

In past bead embroidery projects, I've worked improvisationally. After stitching down the copper piece, I could see the word 'play' on the fabric. I let the piece be for a day, and the next evening, I could still see the word. I sketched out what I was seeing and transferred it to the fabric.

The tight curves turned out well at the top of the 'L'

And at the bottom of the 'P'

I've read others participating in the Bead Journal Project fretting about their curves and beading rows closely together. On both of these curved lines, four beads were sewn down with a backstitch through two beads. I work the inside of the tighter curve first, and use thinner beads as the curve turns.

Bead Journal Project - Go!

2007-06-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

When I played with the two possibilities for the June Beadwork Journal Project, there was more creative energy for me with the copper. Beadwork takes a lot of time, and it's better to go with the project where there's the most energy.

I spent a very satisfying evening picking beads that worked with the copper, the green squares, and the yellow rods. More striped beads made it into the mix. I do love striped beads - I have three containers of them!

There's a point when you pick out beads that it can be overwhelming if you have a large stash. I stopped when I knew which beads I would use to sew down the copper piece.

That's all for now. It's a glorious Sunday. There are new finished fused glass pendants that need photos and I want to some glass fusing before it gets too hot, so I'll start beading later this afternoon

Bead Journal Project - Get Set!

2007-05-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of beads, mainly seed beads. One wall of the studio room has three floor-to-ceiling cabinets, and two of those are filled with beads, mainly seed beads. I have a lot of containers for the beads, and there's one container labelled 'Inspirations'

Over the years, I put special things in there, and few of them hardly ever come out. Isn't that sad? It's time to stop waiting for the special project and start using them!

I sorted through them this weekend, and two of them really spoke to me for June's journal page.

I love this tiny hummingbird, and I'd set aside leaf beads to match it. Deep jewel colors, and there's lots of seed beads in the same color family. It would be fun to come home after work, and peacefully bead flowers, leaves and hummingbirds.

The other piece that jumped out at me was a piece of copper I'd made many years ago in a one-day metal class where we got to try out different tools and metal stamps. Metal is not my favorite material to work with and the class occurred after a long stretch of working overtime at the job that cannot be named. I was determined to have fun that day and try everything the instructor brought.

The yellow beads and tiny square green beads are vintage, and I love the color of them with the copper. The seed beads are striped, and would add zing.

So, which will it be?

Bead Journal Project - Get Ready!

2007-05-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

I recently joined the Bead Journal Project started by Robin Atkins where a large group of artists have committing to a beaded journal page, one per month for a year. I was a serious bead artist for ten years, and Robin was one of my first teachers. I was lucky to learn bead embroidery from her. In a later post, I'll talk about why I stopped beading, and the ways I found to begin beading again.

I'm really excited about this project, and have to keep telling myself "It's a journey. It's not a marathon, it's not a sprint; it's a journey". My bead embroidery in the past usually started with a piece of cotton, and the beading colors were inspired by fabric colors. Normally I bead heavily, and the background fabric is never seen. I've decided that for each month's project, I'm only using a plain fabric. I think it will force me to be more creative, and to focus on each month as a journal rather than a project to finish. From my fabric stash I found these lovely ultra-suede pieces. I've used ultrasuede a lot in the past, both with a stiffening interfacing and without, and it's a dream to stitch on.

I also pulled these felt and wool felt pieces

The green felt on the far left has a lovely cut border and I'm dying to use it for one month's journal. I also love the softer wool felt colors to the right. Did you notice that I did a little sample beading on the grey felt to make sure wool felt would work? It does, and it only took five minutes to test it out. As a woman who's beaded on melted soda bottle plastic, I've learned that a quick experiment can save hours of frustration.

The other decision I've been mulling over is the size of each month's project. I want to pick a size that I'm pretty sure I can complete in one month, and I'd like to use the same size each month. I've decided not to be rigid about this. At the moment I'm leaning towards four inch squares (sixteen square inches of beading), and if that is too much I'll drop down to three inch squares (nine square inches of beading).

I'm also going to design each piece so that it can be hung for display. I've got some ideas about how to do that in different ways that will be fun to explore each month.

From my etsy store

2007-05-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

I opened an etsy store this weekend for fused glass pendants and cabochons.

I'm doing a lot of experimenting with fusing techniques and color, trying to do several firings each week.

I love the anticipation that comes with each firing. I'm doing a lot of firing in the evenings this month, and it's fun to wake up in the morning to see the results!