Old Friends

These two old friends occupy the very tip top of the corner cabinet in my studio.  They are leftovers (please don't tell them I called them lefovers!) from my 'art doll' days. 

A long time ago (or so it seems to me) I began making cloth dolls in the 'primitive' style.  As time went on and I learned about the world of 'art dolls' I switched gears and explored art dolls using found objects.  Thus the dolls that you see above.  Made using Altoid tins, paper covered straws, a little polymer clay and bits and pieces of oddities these dolls came to life - looking totally lost among the tea-dyed primitive dolls.  But they were fun to make and fun to show.

As I delved more into art dolls I found that decoupaged paper could be used over plain cloth bodies to make a finish that looked almost varnished.  Once I used fabric as a base I moved on to using fabric as the whole doll, skipping the paper covered fabric.  For several years I had fabric dolls hanging all over the place - and soon they went to shows and were adopted by visitors passing my booth.

Just before our move to western North Carolina I became enamored with book art - and spent five years making books as an art form.  Using paper and fabric and found objects and decorative beading and well, the list goes on an on, I became a book artist.

Through book arts I discovered beaded embroidery, especially encrusted beading and once again my focus switched.  I became passionate about bead work. Beginning with beaded abstract pictures I soon found myself trying my hand at jewelry and sculptured beading and the more I beaded the more I loved it. 

And then...yes back to figures.  I had made an abstract picture and wondered if I could use the same shape, making a back and front to create a figure.  The rest is history! I had come full circle back to 'dolls'.  I'm not sure why I always gravitate to figure work but I seem to find it endlessly facscinating.  

These days, my friends from long ago look down on me from their perch and wait to be introduced to the next figure that will appear from my hands.  Hopefully the glittery beads, elegant faces and detailed beaded stiches won't make my old friends too envious!

"Trust that little voice in your head that says "Wouldn't it be interesting if..."; And then do it." Duane Michals

Embroidery Stitches - in beads

One of my beading goals for this year has been to learn new beaded embroidery stitches.  To this end I purchased the book "Embeadery" by Margaret Ball.  In this book the author demonstrates traditional embroidery stiches using beads.  Because my focus is encrusted beading, I was especially interested in the stitches which 'cover the background' - those stitches where none of the backing shows through. 

What fun this has been -- to be able to add to my repertoire of stitches and learn new skills along the way.  A friend and I got together and using this book made up a couple of sample pages.  This was an excellent way for me to practice (without doing it on a 'real' piece of beadwork) and to find out which stitches would serve my purposes (for there are many, many stitches in this book).

We chose a stitch and then beaded it until we had figured it out.  In my opinon there are two things that could have made this book easier to use.  One - spiral binding so that the pages would lie flat.  I have to put something heavy on one side of the pages to hold the book in place as I read the directions and practice the stitch.  Two -the color pictures of the finished stitches are all together in one section - at the end of the beading instructions - it would have helped a lot to have a color picture beside each example rather than having to flip back and forth to make sure your sample looks like it should.  But - for ideas and instruction this book is wonderful.  So far I have used the shaded satin stitch and the half pekinese (one of my all time favorite stitches) in my March BJP and am using several other new-to-me stitches in a figure that I am presently working on.

Constantly learning is one of the true delights of life -- yes sometimes its scary, yes sometimes it doesn't work out the way I thought it would, yes, sometimes it takes extra time -- but when I'm done, when I've mastered a new skill or acquired new tools to use its thrilling.

"Learning too soon our limitations, we never learn our powers." - Mignon McLaughlin

New Beading Year

After many months of preparation the 2009 Open Studio Tour is over. Two days of magic, when visitors came to visit my studio and to see what my busy hands have been creating. It was great fun to see friends and to welcome strangers. The weather could have been much better – apparently my ‘sun’ dance didn’t work - but it was dry and cozy inside. It is always such fun to introduce people to my work. I had a few pieces of my book art from previous years on display for those who were not familiar with book art. But for me the most exciting part was to share my beading of this past year. It was a year ago that I began bead art and as you know from reading here, once started I didn’t look back. I’ve gone from the first picture that I created to trying jewelry, other pictures and even beaded sculpture.

Now is a good time to sit back and reflect on the past year, the pieces that I’m proud of (I know that because I want them to sit in my studio forever) to those that I’m not quite as enthralled with. This past year has been a wonderful journey – sometimes frustrating, sometimes thrilling – and all of the time just what I wanted to do. As I’ve gone through a year-long learning curve I’ve also felt that I was just where I was meant to be. It has been that feeling that has pushed me forward and tempted me to try things that I never dreamt I could try.

And for the coming year? I have the BJP to look forward to and I’m currently working on a new-to-me beading project. I have another sculpture waiting for me and who knows what else this coming year will bring. I hope you will walk this art journey with me and learn about each piece and its inspiration as I go along.

"Feel yourself being quietly drawn by the deeper pull of what you truly love". - Rumi

Finding My Way

No journey ever taken can be attempted without the help of a map, a guide, a guru -- well I guess it could, but that's a good way to get lost. And so, as I began my exploration of encrusted beading, just last fall, I turned to those who were already following this path.

My first map came in the form of this book. Before seeing "Beaded Embellishment" I had no idea the various forms that encrusted beading could take, in fact I will admit I hadn't even known there was such a thing as 'encrusted' beading. I quickly discovered those oh so creative bead artists fashioning intricate pictures and then went on to discover the possibility of beaded purses and jewelry and sculptured items... well the list goes on and on.

My first encrusted beading project was this picture, aptly named "Autumn Journey". It was a good 'first' because it allowed me to practice all sorts of stitches on a flat surface. Thanks to Amy C. Clarke's and Robin Atkin's directions I began to explore (and stretch myself I might add). I won't even tell you how many beads I put on and took off in an attempt to finish this piece. Not only was I learning beading stitches but I was learning color and placement of the beads -- and probably the most important lesson learned was 'patience'!

I found out that Robin Atkins had other books and quickly ordered those too. By this time my head was swimming with possible beading projects -- all of this without really knowing a thing about beading itself. My dreams were definitely outpacing my skill. But isn't learning, exploring and dreaming what life is all about?

"Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind." - James Russell Lowell