New Works

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but I have been beading. The Art & Elegance in Beads show went well, better than I could have anticipated, so now I am in restocking mode.



This necklace started with a raku focal piece I picked up at the 2009 A & E show from the vendor Jim Stocker, aka Essence of Fire (it seems his website is "under construction"). By chance I laid a faceted glass cabochon on top of it, and liked the look so I decided to affix it to the raku piece. The rocky, asymmetrical shape begged to be surrounded with some free form beadwork. I used brick stitch and colors that mimicked the gorgeous hues of the raku. I did have one problem with this necklace. After I completed it and tried it on, I found the the beadwork would not lie flat, so I had to create a little support with some copper wire affixed to the back. It wasn't the most elegant solution, but it did the trick. Means I'll have to keep this one for myself though!



Feeling a bit flush after selling some jewelry at the show and my recent return to full time work, I ordered some new chirimen fabrics from Japan. They were so pretty, I just had to make something right away. This necklace and earrings are the result.

Art & Elegance in Beads

Coming up in two weeks is one of my favorite artistic events of the year, the guild shows at the Portland Convention Center. This year for the first time, I'm going to be at the co-op table in the Portland Bead Society show, on May 1 (Saturday) only. Please come by and say hello if you are at the show. My mom will be here too, seeing the whole show for the first time and hopefully providing occasional relief so I can walk some of the shows too. I'm a beader, but as a consumer, I'm crazy for ceramics. I have a large and ever growing teapot collection. So every year I spend hours wandering the Ceramic showcase. Glass, jewelry, weaving, and woodworking guilds are also represented so there is really something for everyone at this show.

My First Giveaway

(Congratulations to winner Karen!)

Things are about to get very crazy around here. Last week we received the news that my partner's 21 year old daughter received her visa to come to the states from Cuba. Since she will be living with us, a massive reorganization project has to take place in our already very full house. My "studio" will become her bedroom and I will be moving my work space to the room that is our office. Going through my book collection, I came across this cool and crafty book that I apparently bought when I lived in Japan in 1992-3. It's in English and is like new; I barely cracked it open in all these years.

It has all kinds of cool traditional Japanese style projects, like these Boy's Day eggshell figurines. It needs a new home. If you would like to enter to win this book, please leave a post telling me what kind of spring cleaning if any you are doing this year. If you don't already have an e-mail address associated with your blogger account, please be sure to leave an e-mail address where I can contact you for your address if you are the winner. Entries outside the U.S. are welcome. Deadline is April 2, 2010 (midnight PT).

Bamboo Garden

Thank you to anyone who saw my post (now deleted) and voted for me in the I Fly Nonstop Haiku contest. Alas, I didn't win. Here now is my latest fabric cabochon piece. For this one I used a beautiful silk with a bamboo design that came from a thrifted Japanese necktie. For the necklace I stitched a chevron chain pattern in black and rust colored seed beads.

Work in Progress

Debby, a painter friend, and I had the idea to trade artworks, since we were both fans of each others work. Because Debby doesn't wear a lot of jewelry, I am making a wall piece for her. I'm so excited about this project, I decided to post some in progress photos, since I'm only about 1/3 done and it will probably be awhile before I finish because I'm trying to work on other pieces at the same time. Debby contributed a green cabochon from a ring that she had, which you can see being applied in the first photo.


I made a small mask out of polymer clay using a purchased mold. As I usually do, I used Lacy's Stiff Stuff for the foundation. Stiff Stuff is white however, so it always shows through any gaps in the beading. It can be dyed or colored in with markers, but as a quicker fix, I laid a piece of Ultrasuede over the top, temporarily fixed with double-sided tape, and then stitched through both layers as I applied the beads. (Note to Lacy: have you considered making this stuff in black, or at least dark gray?)


I have now completed the 'center' part of the design, as shown in the second photo. To give this section some dimension, I cut out a piece of foam core and glued it to the back. Then I planned out the rest of the design onto another sheet of Stiff Stuff. This time, because of the complexity of the design, I won't cover it with Ultrasuede, instead I will color each section in with a Sharpie before I bead.

Enchantment

My newest piece. Started with the fused glass cabochon and grew from there. Was going for an art deco look, but as usual my color choices led me back to to the southwest desert. All glass except for a few synthetic turquoise beads in the necklace.

Oshi-e

Today I want to talk a little about an old, but not very well known Japanese craft called oshi-e. I have mentioned it in earlier postings because I have adapted the technique to make fabric jewelry pieces, but I thought it would be nice to talk about and show you some examples of traditional oshi-e.

Back in 1992 I managed to get a position as an English teaching assistant in a public high school in Japan. I knew one of the things I wanted to do during my year in Japan was study a traditional craft. Actually I most wanted to learn how to do washi-ningyo. (You can see some beautiful examples done by American artist Dan Fletcher here.) But after asking around in the small town I was in I could not find a teacher, instead I was introduced to a lovely woman named Michi who practised the craft of oshi-e and offered to teach me.
I should mention that I already spoke fairly good Japanese going in, which helped a lot with the lessons. Oshi-e could be translated to 'pressed pictures'. There is no sewing involved. I guess the pressing part is holding the pieces down while the glue dries. The subjects are traditional motifs such as fairy tales, kimono-clad children, Chinese zodiac, Ukiyo-e, Noh, Kabuki, nature, etc. They are usually mounted on a board called a shikishi, or as below, made into a hagoita, an ornamental paddle based on those used in a badminton like game played at New Year's.

The process involves transferring an image to cardboard, then cutting it into pieces. Each piece is covered with some batting, then fabric is placed over and secured in the back with glue. (Oshi-e can also be done with washi paper in place of the fabric.) Then the pieces are reassembled to form the picture and glued down to the background. Apparently, in the past kimono silk scraps were used, but today most hobbyists in Japan use synthetic brocades and chirimen, resulting in a more vibrant color palette, I suppose, but I like the idea of recycling old kimono silk too.

Oahu

In November I had the chance to travel to Oahu and did a little beach combing. Taking the pieces of coral, lava, beach glass, and shells that I found, I came up with this piece, which represents the waves washing onto the sand. In keeping with the ocean theme, I added a fossilized coral cabochon as a focal. I'm still debating whether the silver chain was the right way to finish this piece. My S.O. says it's not working for him. I thought it was the best option from what I had on hand, but as a stare at it, I'm starting to think he may be right. One better alternative might be a strand of black lava beads. Well, this is one of those pieces I may be reworking in the future, but I'll post it now anyway. Feel free to let me know what you think.

1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse

I finally got myself a copy of this book, which came out a couple months ago. I bought it because I had submitted and have four photos of my work published within. Hugely exciting for me to be in the company of so many genius, and in many cases much better known, artists. Even my partner was thrilled, it being the first time any of his photos were published. I have to say, though, I am very impressed by the whole book, which was put together by Garth Johnson, and highly recommend all you artists and crafters get your hands on a copy. You will get so much inspiration looking through the various artists works, you might be afraid to throw anything away ever again! (If things get out of control, just pop over here and watch an episode of Hoarders and you'll be scared straight - warning: not for the squeamish)

New Butterfly

I know it's been awhile. This piece was nearly finished when we left for a week's vacation in Hawaii recently. When we got back I completed it, but then our computer went on the fritz and it was several more days before J could get it up and running again. As you can see I tried something somewhat new, this time combining fabric with a brass stamping. I picked up the butterfly stamping, along with some other goodies, from Bello Modo at a recent bead show. I made the pendant first but had to give the necklace some thought. I wanted try some lacy beadweaving because I always liked that look but never got around to it before. I ended up adapting a couple different patterns to achieve a two strand effect. The piece is finished with a vintage brass button embellished with beads as a clasp. As a preview, I can tell you my next piece, already underway, will be a bead embroidered bib necklace incorporating the finds from my Hawaiian beach combing.

Beaded beads

I picked up these wire beads at the Bead Fest Portland show and decided they would look nice with some solid color beaded beads. Anything more complex would have competed with the wonderful texture of the wire beads. I'm very satisfied with the result. One thing to note, if you come across these beads and decide to work with them, they don't necessarily have a 'hole' in the places you want them to, and I had quite a struggle getting the flex wire to go through, rejecting several beads in the process.

Garden Goddess

Before I got hooked on making jewelry, I made several masks. At first I just collected masks, often as souvenirs of my travels. But then I realized what a great medium for creation they are. There is no limit to the materials you can incorporate in a mask. And because you have a starting point - that the result should be some sort of face - it is easier than starting with a blank canvas. Recently the urge to return to this form got hold of me, and the Garden Goddess mask was created. Of course, this time I incorporated some of my bead collection, and some beautiful vintage lace and bead applique that were donated to me by friends.

I almost forgot to mention, I have also added several new jewelry pieces to my Etsy shop recently (just in time for Christmas!)