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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Almost wordless Wednesday

Have been trying to find tiny clay vases for my enamelled poppies, finally gave up and decided to try them in glass instead.  The poppies are about 3.5 inches tall.   I actually think the vase would be better a bit shorter... But by the time I decided that I had way too much white glass wound on the mandrel!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Art Bead Scene Montly Challenge _ August 2012

Fishing Boats, Key West, 1903 by Winslow Homer
Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper
13 15/16 x 21 3/4 in. (35.4 x 55.2 cm)

OK I'll start off by saying I really like this painting... did that make it any easier to come up with an idea NO.. I'll also say that that does not look like any fishing boat I've ever seen...  be that as it may... I actually have been to Key West... a couple of years ago...  unfortunately the harbor wasn't full of  idyllic fishing boats that day instead we got to see   power boat races... the noise was incredible!

But they do still have a lighthouse so I chose to take this months colour palete and make an enameled lighthouse  for my focal.

My Lighthouse and the Key West Lighthouse


 I had fun doing this necklace  there will be a blog hop on August 31 of other peoples interpretations of this painting.  here's the link to other peoples interpretations of this painting


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Early Beads Blog Hop with AJE

Hopefully there will be a bunch of blogs showing off old beads.. the link should be through here Art Jewelry Elements.. Early BEads Blog Hop
I started making beads on a hot head in the fall of 1994... Mid february I broke the scaphoid bone in my left hand which meant I had a cast seperating my left thumb from my hand and both my first two fingers were casted...however there was a hole in the cast between my fingers and my thumb big enough to stick a piece of glass... So I spent a great deal of the time I had the cast on teaching myself to roll the glass onto the mandrel by just twisting my arm.... I have no clue where any of those beads are... and 18 years later I still make beads left handed!
These pictures are all beads/jewellery made sometime in the late 90's while I still lived in Saskatchewan
 My encased 'DNA beads... think a smaller version of those may be showing up in the gallery later this year!
 Really old hollw red beads with Palladium
 This is actually a long necklace or it comes apart and makes a short necklace and bracelet
My chili pepper necklace strung on leather

Can't find my first necklace which is multicoloured and really does have 10 of my first beads on it...

Just a note here... in 1995 there was no internet, I lived in a small rural Canadian Community, I had never even seen a 'lampworked' glass bead when I started, I learned  from Kate Fowle's video "Lampworked Beadmaking  (an Introduciton)"  I didn't take a class until 2001, that's essentially when I was exposed to my first beads made by someone that knew what they were doing!


Saturday, August 18, 2012

My Stash JAC August Blog Carnival

This months topic is my stash... the question arises my stash of what.... I am an invertible hoarder and because I live in the middle of nowhere and shipping is a really big part of anything I buy... I don't just buy one piece of copper I buy 8, I don't just buy the package of seed beads I need I buy one of every colour that I think I might want to use in the next century... but you've seen my seed beads and my glass rods  (if you want to see them again), That leaves; my stash of prototype jewellery and jewellery I've made for monthly challenges.. but I actually think that's another topic... and my latest 'New Love' torch fired enamelling...

      4mm enamelled brass melon beads
 I just love the colour... I know yo can make solid coloured glass beads but these are just so much more vibrant!
This is actually just a small sampling of my stash of filigree beads... I have to keep them in plastic bags or the cats would 'steal' them... they have magnets on their collars for our cat door... I've seen them walking round the house dragging pliers... I'm sure they would just love to acquire a collection of these beads!

Actually I've been playing with filigree beads and enamels now for 18 months... I really like the fact that jewellery made from these beads really fits my criteria of 100% handmade... I guess I'm not really making the beads.. but I think they are being modified to the point that they have become my beads... (although my cats would dispute that they are "MY" beads....)

Then there are the bouquets of enameled headpins and the  toggles and the pinwheels and lighthouses and  jars of enamel and....

If you would like to take a look at other peoples stashes ... click on the following links!
Bead Sophisticate
Violet Moon
Valentine Studio 
Cat's Wire 
Jewelery Art By Dawn

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Almost wordless Wednesday

I didn't forget this week....  I run a small gallery every summer on my small island... and this summer every second person that comes in wants a lighthouse... so two nights ago a spent the entire night  having nightmares about lighthouses... yesterday I turend my nightmares into slightly wonky enamelled prototypes...  The hardest part is persauding the copper to wrap into a lighthouse shape ... the loops on the Port & Starboard earrings are way too big as I was thinking they were too heavy for earrings and would have to be pendants.. but then I weighed them.... hopefully by next week I'll have the non wonky version!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Almost wordless Wednesday

Sunday night after a foggy rainy day