Interview with an artist "beading"

We went to the Rocky mountain bead bazaar this weekend.
Yep, extra husband points for Drew!
It was overwhelming, but I managed to purchase two cabochons (see above) so I can learn how to do bead embroidery. The iron pyrite is for healing, the face for love, I love faces!!
I won a ring kit too...

as we looked around I was stopped in my tracks at this artist's booth

youtube video about classes

Diane used to be a swarovski crystal representative and boy did her booth sparkle! She is a designer who teaches, sells patterns, and her work. She sparkles too!

It's rare for us to meet another couple who we could be instant friends with, but Diane and Bob were so  interesting, and we all had a lot in common. I asked if I could do a mini-interview with her and she agreed.

Me: what condition is your studio in at the moment?
artist: a mess (lol, everyone says that!)
She and her husband share a large studio space but when your art is your business one must be organized.

Diane never lacks ideas for new techniques and designs. Her husband laughed and said on the drive to this show, she came up with several. I asked what takes an idea from concept to actually making it?
I am very interested in this concept and ask most artists but it's not an easy question. Most people think about it and it comes down to that magical spark.

 I agree. For me, The idea that comes in the night, sneaking into dreams..,, or in the shower, or on a walk. It's so cool one must make it! Dropping what you might be in the middle of, at an odd hour, when you're on your way out the door... stop the presses and make it.

Diane said it can be a color combination she sees, or landscape, or a shape she wants to interpret in beads.

I asked her husband what it's like for him being married to an artist. He laughed and said he is an artist too, so he understands her drive. After a lifetime as a teacher, he turned his creativity to making lures, and supporting his wife's business.

How do you organize your supplies, I asked. He was a science teacher, and was aware of a certain type of specimen jar, so they ordered many of these, and trays from staples that stack. They keep a spreadsheet of items that are stored by type of bead, and color.http://dianehertzler.blogspot.com/2014/01/one-solution-to-bead-storage-problems.html

Wouldn't you just love to see her studio space? I would.

the underside of the first bracelet!

I asked what are her roadblocks and how does she overcome them.
She replied that a cross country move with downsizing has thrown her off balance for the last couple of years. Don't I know it! All the changes, the letting go of your possessions, the physical moving of what's left and finding new places to store it, learning new roads and finding new networks... it's difficult.
That said, I was surprised to see two new really exciting classes she's developed and the jewelry is astounding.

these bracelets are two sided... note the geese inside are background color and outside colors.
She seemed to have worked through the stress!
I asked if she worked in her studio at a table or where? She likes to work in a tray on her lap while watching tv.
Me too.
I asked how she goes from a lovely object to pattern, and teaching. She says it's the most difficult part, drawing diagrams, deciding how to word a pattern, and prefers to do multi day classes but is often called on to do a 6 hour class.
I can relate, it's all the same for me. It takes a long time to pace out a class, to do step out examples, to figure out how to present skills in order so that the student feels a sense of mastery when they leave.

inspired by petroglyphs

My husband and hers had a lovely conversation about teaching, and I was reminded of my Berlitz training before I began teaching there.
Lead the student to knowledge.

As if the show and meeting Diane weren't exciting enough, I received a birthday gift from my friend Cindy. A total surprise! She is a beader and quiltmaker, a pattern designer and a creative.
I love her and our friendship which makes living in different states very hard.
Want to see a little of what she sent me? I had told her earlier that I wanted to learn how to do cabochons and bead embroidery, so lookie here:

Beads! Shared from her precious stash! Fireline thread, cabochon stabilizer backing,

a beautiful instruction book for a new to me technique, a cool necklace and bracelet combo, a lavalier necklace with a gorgeous crystal dangle. A poodle picture from a craft show. And more.

I have been painting lately, and drawing because of the online workshop I am taking.

but it may be time to do some beading! Wanna come over and bead with me?

Linking to these parties
https://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

My weekend trip to the Bead Bazaar

We went to the annual Bead Bazaar in Denver this weekend.
Good to know where my peeps are! There were many different guilds there so I could talk to them. I decided to join the bead group, and the painters.

It was a beading extravaganza to me... I wanted one of each. I got some good deals and some terrific unique items not one of each however!

I spent a lot of time in this booth talking to the artist. They are really unique items made with raku (a pottery style where you place the items to be fired in actual flames to crack and absorb soot)

She was quiet and unassuming, so I was drawn to her to talk of process. She gets ideas all over the place of course, one piece leading her to the next idea.

She loves to play with color and embellishment

I believe this was my favorite for the intricacy and texture
this one was almost transparent.

I talked with one dealer who said she was a magpie, and I said how did she organize all the shiny/sparkly things she gathered and brought home? When you are an artist yourself and a dealer, how do you keep inventory separate? She said her studio is a big mess, and it was SHOCKING when she had to inventory her personal stash to start the business.

I have a friend who did that with quilting business. She said she had some outlandish shocking amount of money invested in her stash. I believe it. One day my husband went to my wall of fabric and said with a sweeping arm gesture, "Voila! Our new car!"

I loved this tray of thimbles...

silver, and a band to push the needle from the side of your finger. If I felt more financially secure I might have bought this one

I could use the whole wall by embellishing quilts and I did spend some money here.
I got some backing for doing embroidery pieces and cabachons.

I bought some delica's for peyote weaving.

I got some gold for pretty.
I had a grand time talking to the Aussie woman who explained the sizes and makers to me. She was like a breath of fresh air. I love makers.

look at this lovely antler with a carved owl and beads... so cool
I enjoyed the signs too... this piece was in the booth and awesome

Look at this!!!

shells and beads and sparkle, and hanging things and things you want and things you could use!











I liked this business name!

This may be the prettiest millefiori clay work I've seen.

The design is so fresh, not covering it with flowers, but sprinkling it with the flowers makes an enormous difference.

The difference from covering a garden with gnomes every 6 inches or placing groupings...

Do you like Day of the Dead items... you'd find them here

I did not take shots of my purchases but I will admit to indulging in this booth.

I had a great time talking to the designer. What fun she was, and she not only designs patterns and sells kits, she just opened a bead store in Texas.

I asked her the usual questions. Where do her ideas come from... the findings she owns. She does what most artists do when they pick something up in their hands, they ask "what can I do with this?"
Her biggest obstacle now is having enough time to make it all!
Ain't that the truth?
My husband got me three kits of my choice, the key necklace which looks like a Kachina doll to me, in turquoise.

this pretty bedazzled purple flower
not this although we dithered over it

(I have her number lol)
I did get this kit

and just the moon face to play with once I learn how to play with these circles. I figured by the time I did three kits, I'd want to do something unique to me.

How I could ever make it better I have no idea but I will have!
That's her card and number.



Our final shared joke was I asked what condition her studio was in. She snorted and laughed and I laughed and knew the answer because we all know the answer. A working studio is a mess.

I asked if she could work in chaos or needed everything in it's place.
Again, bwaaahahahahaha we shared a laugh.
We both decided if we had to wait for order and tidiness we'd never make a thing!! Can you relate?

This tote bag says it all "The Earth without art is just EH!
The little bag says, " Life is like Art, you have to know when to color outside the lines"

Our words of wisdom today.

links to
Let's be social Wednesdays 
Midweek makers wednesdays

Beaded bracelets times two

Pattern source Fusion Beads

Today's post is brought to you by the word BEADS! 
I made the bracelet above for my good friend Nancy at pugmomquilts. 

She loves leopard print, pink and purple, shiny sparkly, and treats made by friends. She is a giver, she makes many quilted items to give to others. Now it's her turn to receive...
I started with these:

Here's a secret... I saw a finished purple bracelet made from crystals, and liked the components but not the design so I bought it for the beads and cut it apart! I buy loose beads, why not something finished that can go back to being loose beads?? It was brand new, nothing wrong with seeing potential in something.

I used those purple crystals on the outside edge.
The  bracelet was done, bead by tiny bead with peyote stitch

I learned how to do two-drop peyote stitch and reading a chart backwards while s l o w l y making this. I used matte finish pink, irridescent purple seed beads that are like a dupioni silk, blue/purple depending on the angle.Bright metallic gold added sparkle. I tried many different fringe options til I settled on this drop crystal, purple crystals and gold sort of picot design.
Just like with quilting, sometimes you try and discard designs or beads til you find just the right one. The clasp is just the perfect touch I think.
Of course I HAD to try it on...

Ooops, shouldn't have done that... now I want to keep it! Thing is, I never would have thought of making it if it weren't for Nancy. I had fun, learned a lot, played with pretty sparkly things, and am happy to send it off to her for her birthday. Let's all celebrate the fact that such a good woman was born while we were here on earth.

Then, my good friend Cindy, my beading and quilting partner, a woman with talent and great kindness tempted me to add to her bead order at Fire Mountain Gems.
Twist my arm
Well, it's always more fun to shop with a friend, even on-line, so when the order came in I was surprised to get this...

Cindy went to the Hampton Quilt show and said this bag sang to her... "take me to LeeAnna!" so she did.
Perfect colors, turquoise and fuchia and gold and dogs. I was so excited then she said, it's got stuff in it...

 Huh:?? What's this!?!
The beads I ordered ...

plus, this!! A bracelet made for me! Out of shiny silver and bronze and black crystals...

 and the cutest clasp. Cindy takes great care with details, and she put little seed beads inside the links to the clasp

 and the company sent a little Barbie-sized carrier of bead soup that she passed on to me. Oh my stars! I am a 4 year old in a grown woman! These are so much more sparkly than anything I own! 

And who doesn't love a little plastic container?? Of any size? 

What is it about plastic boxes that makes us all think organization is within reach??
So I had to put on my new bracelet right away and admire my too fat wrist now embellished with a little bit of love...

One more bead related item... for my friend Cynthia W. who gives me  absolutely  terrific scraps, a little thank you gift.

She works large, and I work smaller and she gives me glorious Enormous scraps. In fact we met at a workshop when I was hovering over her table admiring her fabric choices. When I saw her trash pile I asked if I could take them. They were so big to me! She said, wait and I have more for you.

As it turns out she and I became great friends She is a rare gift to me. Smart, well read, human rights activist who stands up for her beliefs. She loves travel and history and art and we never run out of things to talk about.
So I took a fat quarter and folded it into a square, brought the four corners up together

around this little string of beads

sort of flatten the bundle and fold the top down, tie a nice ribbon and you have a gift wrap a quilter would enjoy. Nancy's gift will be wrapped in funny fabric too.

Just writing this post reminded me how important my women friends are to me. Each person brings a connection no one else can. Each friendship is so very important to me. It's not something we regularly talk about but I am sentimental.

Eliza and I often note that we are very sensitive which some people see as a weakness but we realize makes us even stronger in a way.

After all, the important thing in the world is what we love and what makes us vibrate with love.

It  is circular to me...
Loving and being aware of loving. Receiving love and being aware that we are loved.

It is so important.





 

Working with your hands is soothing

Let's talk about artwork shall we? I need a break from worry.
Our wee family of two got in the car Saturday and went to three quilt stores on the shop hop. We started at Bear's Paw (sorry no purchases this time despite wanting one of each, please)
The above picture is my hexie quilt, still in progress. My take along quilt that's now King Sized! Final border blocks going on this section.
I pin them in place with safety pins to travel. I bought plastic inserts a long time ago and when it grew so large I began cutting my own templates out of  food lids. I really, REALLY like doing hexies this way.

We moved on to Patches in Mt. Airy and I gave in to the siren song that fabric sings buying these fat quarters

 Check out the dogs! the snowflakes have silver metallic snowflakes embossed. The moons with beads. The most entertaining one is the musical hip cats...

These musicians are cool baby! Hep Cats!
We had lunch at Cracker Barrel and took a long walk in a town we like a lot. Pictures of that adventure to follow this week. For now, more fabric and handwork..
We finished the day, fighting DC traffic to get to Great Falls VA and Jinny Beyer Studio.
This is how it looked at 5:10 pm

welcome and come right in!

"One yard of each please" is what I wish I could say. Jinny and her staff are always kind and welcoming. As if I didn't have enough reasons to admire Ginny... a very accomplished pattern and fabric designer, a business woman, a great teacher, and a kind person... I was reminded of her great love of dogs. She has always welcomed our boy Cole in to say hi to the ladies, and he loved her.

Her eyes are very expressive and she looks at you when you speak... when I told her we lost Cole,  she began to tear up, and then I cried again with the loss of such a good boy.
She took time at the end of a very busy day, at the end of a busy event, to share our love of our dogs. She cried with me.

I asked after her baby, now a three year old black lab. He's "great and so smart" she shared, "he seems to just know where I am in the house at all times"

I did want a yard of all fabrics, and one of each kits but left with these two one yard cuts of sale fabric

Color! Glorious color! And pattern. I also got the little light up magnifier for my purse, to help me see better

A few items I made by hand this week include this bracelet...

My talented friend Cindy showed me how to do the herringbone stitch with beads and crystals.
It feels good to learn something, and wear something I made.
Fall colors, using the leftover crystals from my last bracelet.
A server at the restaurant cooed over it and wanted one too. It's fun to wear something you make.
In fact I'm still toting around my Halloween tote.



 I also got out some fat knitting needles and used this really fluffy hairy yarn. No idea what it would be, and just started knitting. It's soothing to feel soft things. It is too short for a scarf, but could be joined into a circle to slip over my ears on a walk. 

Sometimes making something is therapeutic in the making even though you don't end up with a product.
Know what I mean?
The common thread in these projects is repetition of movement, use of thread, and beautiful colors.
linking today to
oh Scrap Sundays 
 slow stitching Sundays
mollisparkles Sundays