Draco

Been busy the last few weeks with working on the workshop and getting ready for the "Shows" season. Here is one of the necklaces I've started for a show in July. I'm really loving these eyes! I also have another necklace that I'm working on for the same show. As soon as I get that done I'll post pics. Now...enough of the computer today, off to the bead table.

Blue Water Necklace

I finally finished this necklace and am pleased with the way it came out. I had trouble getting the netting to work around the perimeter of the capiz shell like the "Sea Foam" necklace. I had to start over on this necklace three times before everything worked out right. If you look closely on the close up, you can see the web-like netting on the back through the capiz shell. It looks very cool when held up to the light.

This necklace is now on display, with the other sea themed necklaces, at the Wy'east Artisans Guild Annual Theme Show. The show was moved from the Sandy Public Library to its current location at the Mt. Hood Cultural Center and Museum at Government Camp on Mt. Hood, Oregon. The show will be at the Museum until July 12th. On that date, the Guild will hold it's reception for the show and take down will be right after. So, if you see something you like, come to the party and take home a piece of art that same day.

This necklace has netted seed beads "capturing" a capiz shell with numerous freshwater pearls and crystals in the "water" fringe. Larger blue and clear crystals make up the necklace, while a silver-toned starfish shimmers in the fringe.
This necklace is priced at $225.00.

The eyes have it

Yes, those are eyes peeking out at you on my work tray. (see below) I will be incorporating those into barrettes later in the year. It's so much fun to have an extra set of eyes in the back of your head. *evil chuckle*

A Year of Fishy Things?

I'm doing another beaded Capiz shell, as you can see it's blue. This piece is in progress right now. I've been slowly working on it as the weather changes from nice to wet and everything in between. I find it very hard to sit and bead when the weather finally gets nice around here. After the winter we've had, there are tons of branches to clean up and burn. Also, it's just nice to sit in the sun and listen to the birds and watch the squirrels.

My friend, Sherrie, and I went to the Ceramic Showcase at the Oregon Convention Center a week ago. There are six different guilds that show their wares at this very impressive show. Throughtout the booths and artists there seemed to be a theme this year, fish, horses and cats. Some very strange things and LOTS of beautiful things. http://www.ceramicshowcase.com You can see some of the fabulous ceramics from the Oregon Potters Association.

If I had more money than what I allowed myself, I would have brought home a pond full of fishy pottery, glass, metal, weavings, wood and beads. I wish I could afford to buy one item from each and every artist at this show. There is so much talent in one place this time of year. It's a great place for inspiration if your Muse is on vacation.

I guess it's a good thing that I'm on this fishy line of art this year. It feels right.

The Draining of Roslyn Lake

These are pictures of our local small lake, run by PGE (Portland General Electric), the utility company that owns the lake. After tearing down the 80 year old dam on the Sandy river, which fed this lake, last year. They are now decommmissioning the lake. They started draining it last Friday and hope to have it completed by the end of this week. It's a very shallow lake, 10' - 20' deep in places. There has been much speculation about how much lead is in the mud at the bottom. I remember bringing my son out to play in the water while his father tried his hand at catching the fish. The water playing was more rewarding than the empty creel.

There were a lot of memories made in this small recreational area. Many, many families will miss Roslyn Lake.

Felted Embellished Brooch

I took this class from Gail Crosman Moore (see links), a couple of weeks ago, at Bead Expo. She is a great teacher and fantastic artist. These little felted bits are very fun to make and embellish. Gail had quite a few of her felted pieces with her for Bead Expo and it was a pleasure to see them up close and personal. She will be coming back to Portland this fall for Art and Soul and teaching some very cool classes. I can't wait!

Life

Been away doing the things of life. Haven't worked on much art lately, except a Bouquet Swap for my PAC group. This is an example of the flowers for the swap. All made them out of recycled cans, copper sheet, beads and floral wire. This was a fun swap!

Sea Foam Necklace

These are pictures of my most recent necklace. I finished up this afternoon and took the pics between rain/snow showers. It came out exactly as I pictured it in my mind. Don't ya love it when that happens? I'm very pleased with this piece. It shimmers in the light and is quite captivating. I think I'll do a couple more of these kind of necklaces in different colorways. But...I have my commission to do first.

The center piece is a capiz shell, captured in netting stitch with clear seed and faceted beads. Nestled amid the fringes are freshwater pearls, crystals, opalized glass beads and two silver-toned starfish. The necklace is made of Druk beads and 8mm crystals. Price for this necklace is $225.00

Free Rice, Play a game and feed the hungry

I saw this link, to a very cool site, at Lisa Vollrath's newsletter today. www.lisavollrath.com You can increase your vocabulary and feed the hungry while playing a fun game.

www.freerice.com
FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, www.poverty.com

FreeRice has two goals:

Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site.

Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your vocabulary can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.

Sand into Pearls II

Here's the latest necklace I've done in "The Sea" theme. I'll be starting another one tomorrow. I'm having a fantastic time with this theme. I keep getting all these really cool ideas while working on a current project. I recently bought some capiz shells and will be working those into some necklaces in different color ways. Because they are somewhat transparent, I might rubber stamp an image onto the back of the shell for a different effect. Which means I need to go shopping for new "sea" stamps!

I got a commission from wearing the first Sand into Pearls necklace into my local bead store, (Bead Happy)! Very jazzed about that. It was the owner (Debbie) who wants me to make her a new necklace and I get to play with her hand picked beads for her piece. I love that! Can't wait to get my hands on her stash, this will be fun!

This necklace contains glass pearls, bronze-colored pearls, amber, mother of pearl, coral and sead beads. It is priced at $125.00.

Sand into Pearls

This is one of my necklaces for my guild's theme show in March. The Sea is the theme this year. I'm not much of a beach and sea person, but this year the theme has me bubbling with ideas. I have at least another 4 ideas for necklaces and one abstract mixed media piece. As I finish them, I'll get them up here.

I even have an idea for a story to back up one of my necklaces. It's called "Curse of the Dragons Teeth". Based on a beautiful bead I bought last year, it has a King, a Sorcerer, Four Daughters and a Glass Dragon. I'm still working through some of the details, but this is really a cool story. I'm also thinking I may need to add a Pirate and I NEED to go get that pirate bead I saw at the bead store!

This necklace has some very lovely glass pearl beads in the necklace as a base for the sand colored coral fringe. Pearls, faceted pearls, glass pearls, amber and bits of coral hide in the seed bead fringe that surrounds a handcarved bone seahorse. This piece is priced at $175.00.

New Necklace

Here is a new necklace I've just completed. It has five "walls" covered with "vines and grapes". I had made up the triangles some years ago and didn't have an idea for them at the time. But...the ideas have been coming lately and they reminded me of walls. I had fun making this necklace and playing with my beads again.

This piece is made of five brickstitched triangles made with square bronze beads. The vines are a fringe stitch called coral fringe with Czech pressed glass leaves interspersed among the vines. The "grapes" are Wonder beads that have a fantastic inner light when in the sun. The necklace is made of Wonder beads and crystals with a button and loop closure in the back. This necklace is priced at $195.00.

And now for something completely different.

I'm very proud of my cat. She has caught two mice within the last three nights. She is also very proud of herself.

It's still snowing!

With the exception of about 2 days since Solstice, we have had snow/ice or combo of both on the ground. So far, we've measured 16" of snow at the deepest. (Not counting drifts.) For us, this is deep. I've been here for 17 years and HB for 29, and this kind of weather has only happened twice in all that time.

The Oregon mountain ranges have been especially hard hit with well over average snowfall. Great if you're a skier or boarder, but not so great if you try to drive there. Tractions tires AND chains are a necessity. Glad I'm not a trucker going over the passes. AND...more is coming. We're about 1,500' and I hope the freezing level will rise to at least 2,000', I have errands to run.

I've been hibernating since Christmas, but just this week my Muse came back from vacation with any number of ideas for projects. Just finished a necklace tonight and will start a new one tomorrow for my Guild's theme show. It is "The Sea" this year. Everything above, on, below or around the sea. That leaves a ton of ideas to work with. I'm pulling out the pearls for a couple necklaces and have an idea for an abstract collage of a beach sunset. I'm having fun with this theme, even tho' I'm a mountain girl at heart.

Solstice and Christmas Landscapes

A New Year of Art

It certainly has been awhile since I posted. The past two months have zipped by much too quickly. The art/craft shows I participated in went well. I didn't sell as many ornaments as I had hoped, but my earrings went like gang busters. Next year I think I'll make calendars, everyone needs those.

The holidays were quiet and white. I had my very first white Christmas ever. Granted, it didn't snow on Christmas, only Christmas Eve, but it did hang around for for the big day. AND....we've had snow on the ground in some kind since then. I'm getting really tired of it and it looks like there may be more coming. Since I've lived here (17 years) we've never had this many days of snow. I have some great pictures of Solstice and Christmas snowy landscapes. I'll put those up on the next post.

I'm oh-so-slowly getting the house organized for art and dustlessness. (I HATE, detest, cannot stand doing any kind of housework, so this cleaning thing is hard.) I'm finding it difficult to get movtivated when all I want to do is hibernate. And I don't seem to be in an arty mood either. It might be the winter doldrums. I'll just have to wait for them to pass, I guess. There are 6 books looking me in the face pleading to be read, perhaps I should just ignore the house and get between the pages. A yummy cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book(s) will fit the bill this season.

Books to read:
Leonard Shlain's -
Art & Physics
The Alphabet Versus The Goddess
Sex, Time and Power

Michael Scott's -
The Alchemyst

Lorna Landvik's -
Patty Jane's House of Curl

Bill O'Reilly's -
Culture Warrior

What I've been doing

Time has flown by the past couple of months. I've been getting ready for two arts and crafts shows. The first is December 1 & 2 and then one week later I have another. I'm making ornaments and beaded angels like crazy. Hardly have time for computer stuff, just barely read my email. Can't wait for these two shows to be over so I can get back to normal life...and then there's Christmas. *sigh*

Here is a picture of the ornaments I'm making and a beaded bowl I made for another Christmas Art show in Gresham. That show runs through December 14th. If I don't sell a lot of ornaments or beaded angels, guess what everyone is getting Christmas morning! I'll get a pic of the angels up by Sunday. I have to get them organized, carded and bagged.

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

Home

Here is another piece that I've completed recently. It was an experiment with a technique from one of the art magazines I buy. I can't seem to find the article about this fun way to use cardboard. Anyway...I had fun and now need to frame this piece.

Awards for the Art Doll

I am SO PSYCHED! I didn't get a chance to go to the state fair to see my art doll exhibited. When I got her back on Thursday she was sporting these ribbons! One is a First Award and the other is Best in Class. I tried to call on Friday to see how many other exhibitors were in my catagory, but got no answer. I'll call again on Monday. This is the first time for more than a First Award. Can you see my smile shining over Mt. Hood? Yep, I'm psyched!

Scribbles

Finally got this up tonight. Been having a little trouble with the computer lately. Don't we just love all this technology? Enjoy.