An Itinerant Artist

 Recently I opened a box in my studio - wherein I found this art book which I made several years ago.  This book was actually the last of a five year love affair with book arts.  During the process of making this I began beading, for the very first time, and after this book was made I drifted off into the world of beading. 

From beading I've gone into punchneedle - which was something I was totally unfamiliar with until I went to a quilt show with a friend and saw some beautiful examples.  I loved the texture and the idea of creating an image using hundreds, dare I say thousands, of little tiny loops.

A lot of very creative people stay with the same venue throughout their days. Sometimes I wistfully wonder what that would be like.  But if I'm very honest with myself there's a reason why my blog is called 'Art Journey' - because I seem to be a constant traveler.  I stop along the way, learn a new skill and dive into it head first.  After awhile another sign post appears and I'm off on a brand new adventure down another road.

I feel so grateful to have had these opportunities, to be able to switch over to something as the whim hits and to have the time, energy and passion to explore each venue to its fullest. At this point in time I'm still happily ensconsed in the world of loop pile embroidery but who knows what adventures lie ahead of me.  There is no set roadmap in this life of mine and I'm quite happy about that.

"And you?  When will you begin that long journey into yourself?" - Rumi

Baubles and Bangles

As I began this journey into bead art my thought was that I would try every form of beading that I possibly could. Partly to see how I liked it, partly to see if I could actually do it. Of course as I kept reading and learning I found there were probably more forms than I would ever be able to try, let alone learn. That didn't still my spirit. I knew that some of what I tried during this time would not appeal to me -- either the piece I made or the technique I used or both. But, I still felt the need to practice and 'perfect' the craft of beading by trying as many different forms of encrusted beading as I could. Hopefully through this 'study' period my own beading style would emerge.

Jewelry was my next step. This necklace was so much fun to make. I loved working on a smaller piece, something that fit into my hands easily and yet had several different stitches. Also practicing with the cabochon was a delight to these untutored hands. I was able to 'master' caging the cabochon with a lace cage and learned how to make the necklace strand which was a test of my patience.

From necklaces to bracelets. Using a metal cuff as a base I fashioned two braclets, one 1-1/4" wide and one 1" wide. I was very nervous when I put the first one together, using ultrasuede as the backing - but miracle of miracles, it worked!

The bracelets as well as the necklace were a stretch for me for reasons other than the beading techniques -- I am not a jewelry person. I hardly ever wear much jewelry (although I love it) and I am very petite so that large bracelets look out of place on my skinny wrists. The large encrusted necklace has the same effect. So while it was great fun to make these pieces (and very good for my learning curve) I realized that encrusted beaded jewelry is probably not my best path.

"Not on one strand are all life's jewels strung". - William Morris

And so it begins...

...my first blog entry. I see this as my journal of sorts, recording and sharing thoughts on creativity, inspiration and my own journey into bead art. Who knows where this path will lead, but surely the journey is far more important than the destination.

The above picture shows an artist book that I made called “Cartography” – a little book that celebrates the journeys we take.

Until late last fall I worked on book arts exclusively and had done so for five years. And then one day I made this book called “Embellishment”. The whole idea of the book was nothing more than embellishment, telling no story, just putting snippets of this and that onto the pages. When it came time to make the cover I decided to try some beaded embroidery – most especially ‘encrusted’ beading whereby the whole background is covered in beads. This book was the first step in my beaded embroidery ‘journey’. The lure of beading had entered my spirit – almost like an invisible, addictive ‘bead dust’ - and that’s where I am today. I hope you'll join me in my journey.


"It is good to have an end to journey towards but it is the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin