lo and behold

One more step to go.  Well, actually two.  Final photo comes tomorrow. . . . It will be done.  And in time!

P.S.  Goal:  get a new camera. Learn something about photos. 

Raining again in New England.  Solid sheets.  I was about to write, “Not a bit of color,” but then I looked out the window and noticed the bright green moss in our yard that practically glows in this kind of light.  Still, it’s hard for me on days like this not to crawl back into bed and cuddle up with a good book.  Alas, that would be an incredible luxury today, and not one that I can afford. 

In bead news, I am working hard to get these components strung up in time to enter the Art Bead Scene Turquoise Color Challenge.   Deadline:  April 1.  And all these requirements for the photos that I don’t really understand.  And challenging myself to try some new wirework in the design.  And, now that I’m looking again at the palette, I don’t think my golds are really the “toned down amberish yellows” they are looking for.  I hope that won’t matter too much because the design is really killer, very unusual, and a winner, if I do say so myself.  Recognize the beads from Jill Symons?  Come back tomorrow and see my progress.

PS.  If you are new to my blog today,  I invite you to subscribe to my RSS feed.  I am posting regularly, and I would love to see you again! 

This lovely group of beads  - made by me!! – is a gift, going into the mail today.  Will say more after it arrives. 

I’m very proud of these beads and how “professional” they look as set.  Yay!!!

There is no way I can write a coherent post today, so instead, in the spirit of Random Monday, I’m going to Friday Dump all the things that are still on my mind and which I have not yet put somewhere. 

1.  If you read my posts about Jill Symons this week, you know I’ve been thinking about simplicity.  I clipped this paragraph from The Rabbit Muse a few weeks ago (oops, it was actually a month ago).  I’ll dump it here, and we can all think about it.  I am sure I will be writing more on this subject again. 

Lately I have been playing around with simple shapes and marveling at how bold these shapes can look just because they are simple. Does that make any sense? Sometimes simple is risky. I mean, not many of us would walk around completely naked, right? It would be the simple thing to do but most of us would feel better layering on the clothes, hiding the less-than-attractive bits and maybe glitzing up our look with a little bling (and thank god we do this… can you imagine?). So when designing simple jewelry there is much to be considered. Are your foundation pieces in good enough shape to get naked for all the world to see?

2.   Beaders Make The World A Better Place: I loved this post on Beading Daily earlier in the week.  I sometimes struggle with feeling like bringing beauty into the world isn’t enough of a contribution. I could write on that topic for hours, but for now, I’ll keep that bit of neurosis to myself.  There are so many awesome ways that beaders do good, the post left out one of my favorites:  Beads of Courage (BOC), a most interesting use for beads to help critically sick children.  I don’t know exactly how I stumbled on BOC, but it was early in my bead-lust-life, and I was immediately very drawn to and touched by the group.  I have only made one bead contribution to them so far, but I intend on many. They have a pretty cool thing going on right now in which they are sending beads to space.  If you are a glass beadmaker and you want to submit some beads to be part of the group, read the instructions here.  I have to figure out if it’s something I can do, and the deadline is April 12.  I also want to start a BOC program at a local hospital. As far as I can tell, there are none in this area, and maybe not even in all of Massachusetts.  I don’t know how or if that will ever happen, but it is my hope/intention.  The first step is putting it out there – right? 

3.  I’ve recently started following a blog called Make & Meaning.  In this post, the writer mentions that he started “seriously playing music at the ripe old age of 36.”  I also got a comment this week from a woman who found my blog and is herself “becoming an artist is midlife.”  I know we are out there, and I want us to find each other.  Shout out if you are old and new at the same time!

4.  I got my copy of Totally Twisted today.  Yay!!!

5.  There was only one warm day this week, and I torched for three hours.  Yay!!!  But I didn’t exercise at all.  Boo!!!  And, three hours of torching a week is NOT ENOUGH!  It just isn’t.  I need to get my set up moved indoors. 

6.  I’ve written five posts/week for three of the past four weeks.  Yay!!!

7.  OK, I think I’m dumped out.  My weekend is going to be a little too busy.  I wish I could totally chill and nap today so that I really did feel a bit of weekend.  I often try to do that on Fridays, but it’s not in the cards this week.  Or maybe I will have to be flexible and rearrange things a bit.  I feel the nap coming on, and I may not be able to resist. . . .

Happy weekend to you!

As usual, I had a lovely visit with Jill Symons last night. I am never disappointed.  There’s always something new, always a timely variation on something old. 

More than just the beads, I get a sense that the presentation of the work is really part of the art for Jill:  which beads are made into jewelry, which into sets, which into pendants, and which left as single focal beads.  And then, each item for sale is photographed uniquely, and the twelve pieces work together as whole.  That’s got to be intentional, but if it’s not, it’s an intuitive part of Jill’s design ability that she just can’t escape, much to our benefit.   To be perfectly honest, at this point, I am not visiting Jill’s site as a buyer, but it’s like going to a gallery.  And remember, I’m in my own personal, fake graduate school, so I always learn something when I take a virtual field trip to Jill’s gallery. 

This week, it was fuming.  I’d heard of fuming, but I didn’t know what it was or even what it looked like.  Now I do. I guess I might have thought that was frit, but in any case,  I love how an organic earthy look is paired with a substantial, contemporary shape.

And this set, too.  I’m the girl who wears Tevas on pedicured feet with bright toenail polish, so I love the juxtaposition of opposites:  a complex set made of clean and simple shapes, grainy and metallic textures, muted colors and bold.  Way to go, Jill! 

I can’t really pick a favorite from all the luscious beauty.  Can you? 

P.S.  The beads I bought from Jill several months ago are sort of a combination of these sets: 

I’m whipping up something lovely with them right now.  Will reveal sometime next week! 

PPS.   Thanks again, Jill, for sharing your photos for my use.  You can go back to making beads now and I’ll leave you alone!  

There is no clever way to go about this -  I’ve just got to come right out and say it: 

I love Wednesday nights because Jill Symons posts new beads and jewelry on her website. 

There ya go.  

I have gone to very few bead shows in my life, so maybe I don’t have a good sense of what exists in the universe of handmade glass beads.  But I have scoured the Internet looking for beads and beadmakers, and I have found many that I like. And many that I like a lot.  But not many that I love. 

I love what Jill Symons does with glass. 

I simply love what she does over and over again.

And I have seen very little out there that is as lovely and as matched to what I want to do with glass.  Sometimes I feel like maybe Jill and I were the same person in another life (oh god, she’s going to read this and think I’m a nutcase). Or, if I had started making glass beads 20 years, I would have become Jill Symons before she did.  I don’t have nearly the skill that she does, but I do have the sensibility.  And it’s both weird and thrilling to see it in another person’s work, so completely.

So, let’s pause from my gushing and take a look.  These are Jill’s amazing photos, used with her permission.  

I resisted making commentary between the photos to first let them speak for themselves.  Do you love them, too? 

I feel like this is a fairly representative group, and I think you can see a “signature style,” along with a good deal of variety in color, shape, and design. 

As for me, I am drawn to

• the perfect simple spheres (does she use a marble mold, too, I wonder?)
• play between transparent and opaque glass
• dots and lines; geometric designs
• texture – (mostly without raised dots)
• making jewelry with your own beads

In Jill’s artist statement she says, “The beauty of glass beads is the simple power of glass itself; the power to transmit light. My approach to glass beadmaking is as simple as slowing down and letting the glass release the color, allowing the glass to speak.” 

Here’s one more set: 

About these, Jill says, “This set exemplifies what I love about transparent glass. The beads seem like droplets of molten glass held only by surface tension. Light enters these nuggets and is thrown around inside, bouncing off curves and thrown out elsewhere… creating unpredictable sparkle. No amount of embellishment can make the glass prettier than it is in this state. IMHO.”

No amount of embellishment can make the glass prettier.  That almost seems almost a radical thing to say.  Like it’s too simple.  And yet,  I agree.  I think those beads are stunning and brilliant. 

Remember those transparent rounds with opaque dots that I was so proud of yesterday, that I can’t stop making?  I “invented” that design long before I knew about Jill’s art, but something inside me felt , “Those are too simple to be anything. Those are something any glass beadmaker could make.”  Jill’s beads give me a different confidence that my “voice” in glass is coming.  That I have something to say.  Or the glass has something to say, and I’m listening. 

So, here’s the deal.  The new beads usually appear on Jill’s site at 9 pm EST.  You have to click on the Journal page and then you’ll see a link that says something like “The update is live.”  Click there and bask in the eye candy.  Come back tomorrow, and let’s talk about which are our favorites.  OK? 

And by the way,  I bought one set of Jill Symons’ beads a few months ago.  They are going to appear next week in a piece of jewelry I am working on right now!  So,  If you’re new to my blog today, I invite you to subscribe (RSS me, baby) and come back again.

Happy Birthday, Love!  It may be gray and rainy outside today, but you are my sunshine  Hope you have a great day!

Lots of torch time this weekend.  Turned up some beauties and some beasts.  Can you tell which is which?  The difference between the two is slim, I  know, but I did have some wonderful successes.  I was back at my own torch (Hothead) for the first time since November.  I was glad to see that I hadn’t forgotten everything.  And I was even better at some things. 

First, I wanted two work with reds.  The three on the left use Lauscha transparent.   Experimented with scoring a round bead in four places, on a diagonal.  I do sort of like how it came out.  The solid-looking one on the right – look at that shape!   Nancy Tobey suggested using a marble mold to get the elusive sphere that I so long for, and I bought one during the winter, but I had not yet used it until this weekend. 

Look at those beauties!  Consistent shape.  Consistent size.  I feel a little like I cheated using the marble mold– is that OK?  And, how long can a person be delighted by opaque dots on transparent rounds?  I fell in love with that little combo last fall, and here I am - still feeling like they are little jewels, bitty bites of deliciousness.  What if I never tire of them and that’s all I ever want to make?  Isabel designed a necklace for me with this style bead last year, and I wear it all the time.  I love it.  People always comment on it, too.  So, I’ll just make a few more - of the necklaces I mean. 

And lest you think all is round and perfect over here at lo and behold, I experimented with some frit,  and encasing. You are not alone, Ms. Lori Anderson, and I’ve been at it a year, more or less.  That frit on the ivory encased in clear is called something like Apricot. . . .It is not supposed to be all brown like that.  On the bottom bead, I used the same Apricot and encased it in transparent yellow.  That’s a little closer, except the encasing stinks.    

So tell me, what would you do?  Make more of these – or more delicate transparent rounds with whimsical dots in black, white and periwinkle?

Well,  I did it.  I woke up at 6-ish AM each day this week and spent the first hour of the day with myself.  I definitely like starting the day with intention rather than the usual stumbling out of bed and immediately throwing myself into the tasks of getting the kids up and organized for the day.

But two things were hard.  First, when I am writing at my desk, either in the blog or doing friendly e-mail, it is hard to stop when the hour is up.  On that front, I think it would probably be better to exercise during this hour than write. But I’d rather write because it’s more fun to me. Secondly, it was hard to go to bed early.  I actually did get into bed earlier than I usually do, but I couldn’t fall asleep.  I felt like I was rushing to bed, like I had replaced the morning rush with a night rush, rather than eliminating rush altogether.   And that’s not the idea.  

But this was also a very busy week with working on my taxes, the kids’ summer camp schedule, and our family vacation plans.  My mind was abuzz with details all day long, and it was hard to turn it off at bedtime.  Maybe in a more normal week (yeah, like there is such a thing) that won’t be as difficult. 

But will I do it again?  I don’t know.  If I keep going, it could become a habit in a very  Christine Kane kinda way.  I have a friend who started exercising every morning a few years ago as a way to fight the evils of menopause, and she swears it helps her mood and energy level. Hubby doesn’t like my alarm blaring at 6.  It’s nice to go to bed with him at our usual (way too late) time than go to sleep alone an hour earlier.  It’s good to know that I CAN do it.  I may do it again, next week . . .what do you think? 

And now, it will be over 60 degrees today, and it was yesterday, too.  Know what that means?  Not the garden.  Not going for a run or playing tennis outside. It’s TORCH TIME!!!  I lit up yesterday and played with my glass for a couple of hours.  That was my warm up.  Today, I’m going to turn on the kiln and go for it! 

Happy Friday!  

Morning trees: http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalart/ / CC BY 2.0

Sleep: http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilerin/ / CC BY 2.0

EmandaJ of Artemisia’s Studio wrote a lovely post recently about mentoring a young girl at her church who has shown an interest in jewelry making.  She encouraged her blog readers to do the same:  find a young artist and gift her with something that would inspire and support her growth.  EmandaJ is going to give away a bracelet to reward the mentoring artist and also to celebrate her 100th post, whenever it comes.   

I was really touched by this idea.  I am amazed by the many creative and fun ways that bloggers find to connect with each other and “pay it forward” as EmandaJ says. This giveaway by Heather Powers at Humblebeads is another example.  She’s calling it the Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads, and I could see it becoming an ongoing karma builder for months to come - though I’m afraid if the box of beads lands at my house, it would stay here for months before I got it out the door again. (Not really - I would totally honor the process and keep it going. Adrienne Campbell and Kate of Organic Odysseys, I have not forgotten you!  Packages will come soon and they will be a lovely surprise when they do!)

I like these two giveaways because they feel authentic to me, like they are motivated truly by wanting to give.  I’m getting tired of the giveaway that has you jumping through five hoops before you can play along.  Oh, here’s another one , even though it’s over.  I like that Gardanne asks readers to respond to real questions, questions whose answers mean something to her.

But, I digress.  My intention today is to pay homage to a young artist who I am mentoring.  It may not be exactly as EmandaJ intended, but I think  it counts. 

This lovely bracelet was made by my daughter Isabel.  When I went bead shopping in Florida, she came along – with her own money.  She picked out the peace signs, among some other things.  Then when we got home, we went to our local bead store Webs and she used up a gift card we gave her for her birthday to get the red crystals, the word charms, the sterling chain, and the clasp.  When she got home, she built the other dangly charms with silver accents from my collection and hers.  Did you notice?  Each one is different.  And did I mention that Isabel is 11 years old?   

I’m happy to share my tools with her, my big spools of wire, my glue – whatever she wants.  I did not intentionally invite her into beading, but I am go glad that it’s something we can share. And this is not her first project – by a long shot.  One day I will show off her many earring designs, her bead weaving, and what the heck, her cooking, too. 

Buying the beads together for this project was really fun.  She asked my opinion about things, but she definitely had her own vision of what she wanted.  I was not nearly as confident and secure in my creativity when I was her age, but that’s another story. I am so happy I can pay if forward with my daughter.  How long do you think until she totally passes me by??

P.S.  If you are visiting my blog for the first time, I invite you to join my RSS feed.  I’d love to “see” you again!