Bead Arts

I found the blog of a group of mixed media artist who certainly are! One might even say they are crazed about charms

Charms by Deryn Mentock

Just Simply Charming is the name given to this group of 25 artists, and their blog is full of wonderfully inspiring picture, quotes, and instructions for many of the charms!!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media, tutorials, charms

I’m still not posting a picture of my revolting ugly necklace here on the blog. The Land of Odd’s contest for the ugliest necklace is almost over, and I thought I would explain how I came to make this piece. You can see it here: Queasy It’s #9, near the bottom.

During the planning process, I kept thinking through all the different ways that rules of good design could be broken. It actually took me a lot more time to think through the whole piece than it did to make it. It’s just not that easy to make something that you know is hideous! Here are the major design elements and principles that I violated:

The shape and texture are hideous: fake vomit is visually disturbing

The color scheme uses a poisonous-looking triad in non-harmonious proportions with poor saturation choices: orange, lime green, purple-brown

The value contrast is unexciting: all medium value colors were chosen

The sizes and shapes are inappropriate and poorly proportioned, used with no balance in the rhythm and repetition of elements: neckstrap too thin for central pendant, wired bead links uneven lengths, wrapped loops uneven sizes, beads allowed to slide freely with no spacers, bead holes too large for wire gauge

The choice of materials is inexplicable: cheap plastic mixed with lampworked glass, closure a mix of fibers and a geometric shape atop a chain neckstrap and “organic” shaped vomit, fringe fibers wired onto the chain, all giving the piece no sense of harmony or unity

The pattern on the lampwork beads is poorly done: random numbers of eyes, one bead with reverse colors

The gradation is unbalanced and backwards: neckstrap beads graduated the wrong way, unequal amounts of fringe on either side of centerpiece

The overall effect of all these violations in Queasy is a piece that has no harmony or unity among its elements. There is no sense that this piece is a cohesive whole, with all elements integrated to express a meaningfully complete thought, unless that thought happens to be dis-unity!

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Two of my articles appear in the current issue of Jewelry Crafts Magazine. They are both, not surprisingly, projects that are geared towards summer. One is a bead embroidered pendant called Mermaid’s Treasure:

The other project uses beads by my friend Jeanne Kent of New Terra Artifacts, and surrounds them with a bit of embroidery and a bit of wire work. It’s name is Blue Rainbow (not very original, huh?):

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Technique Tuesday!

There are so many great shapes of resin beads available now, in so many great colors…and so fantastically lightweight!

1. 
   Slide a flat rectangle and a round resin bead onto a piece of scrap wire, and suspend it so that you can paint all sides. Using a small sea sponge, dab the beads with acrylic paints, drying between each color. Use a heat gun to speed up the process if desired. Don’t cover all of the natural bead color.
2. 
   Stamp the surface of the flat bead using a solvent ink. Heat set the design well. Flip the bead over and stamp the other side too. Heat set.
3. 
   Cut a 4 inch piece of 18 gauge color-coated wire and make a wrapped loop at one end. Slide a triangular bead, your stamped bead, and a second triangular bead onto the wire and close it with a simple loop. Cut a 1 1/2 inch piece of wire and turn a small loop at the bottom. Slide on the painted round resin bead and a triangular bead, and turn another small loop at the top. Attach the two free loops together.

Materials:
Flat rectangle bead, 25 mm in rose [Note – all rose-colored resin beads were purchased from Rings & Things]
Round bead, 10 mm in rose
Lumiere acrylic paints by Jacquard, citrine and halo pink gold
StazOn solvent ink pad in jet black
8 triangular pink beads, size 8/0 or 6/0
18 gauge color-coated wire, purple

Tools:
Piece of scrap wire
Sea sponge
Heat gun
Stamp
Wire cutters
Chain nose pliers
Round nose pliers

Copyright 2007 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

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Make Art Monday!

Cute, easy, lightweight for summer…who could ask for more?

Well, how about the instructions LOL!! Stay tuned till tomorrow…

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Make Art Monday!

Blue Bells

I really like those tiny clapperless bells that are made in India. When you add some clusters of them to a strand of beads, the jingling sound has a nice bohemian quality to it. Tomorrow for Technique Tuesday, I’m going to share the steps to making one of these necklaces.

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Of all the beading forms that I find fascinating (hmmm…that would be all of them!), one that I’ve never really tried is wired flowers. Diana makes gorgeous beaded fruit, and as you can see above, lovely flowers. Her blog, Beaded Flora, chronicles her adventures with beads. Well worth a visit!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Verydesigner has a number of really fine videos showing how basic wirework is done. No sound, so distractions…just incredibly clear filming. I recommend all of them for beginners.

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Getting Started with Wirework
A nice basic article with good overall information

Wonderful Wire Jewelry Projects
Lots of projects with lots of pictures to get you started by Tammy Powley. Also links to Tammy’s informative articles on types of wire.

Preston Reuther’s Wire Sculpture
Free downloadable videos from Preston Reuther, master wire sculptor. Also sells supplies, including a complete package to get started, and has a free 7-part e-course you can sign up for.

WigJig University
Supplies and instructions for making jewelry with beads and wire

Fire Mountain Gems
All types of wire, both precious and base

Rings & Things
Argentium Sterling Silver. Learn about Argentium Sterling Silver at The Artful Crafter’s blog.

Rio Grande
You’ll need to set up an account to browse the site

Creative Wire Jewelry Forum
A place to hang out, talk, and learn about…what else?…wire!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Sophia

Earlier this month, Sophia was shipped off to the wife of one of our many brave servicepeople, stationed in Afghanistan. He’s stationed there, that is. She’s stateside, keeping everything going. The occasion was the birth of their baby girl, Sophia.

How many fathers will not meet their children until months later? How many mothers weep from missing their children?

Please take the time to think about how to honor the servicemen and women that you know. Pray for them, give the spouse who’s left behind a hand if possible. Send care packages. We are so blessed to have these people serving us!

Cindy is an extraordinarily versatile mixed media artist. For this profile, the pictures of her work concentrate on her jewelry, but there is much much more to see on her blog! Grab youself a cuppa, and enjoy a visit.

Artists Name: Cynthia Powell
Location: Sandy, Utah
Blog Address: Cynthia Powell

Cindy, how would you describe your work? Not just your jewelry, but all your work.
I love to play around with all types of mediums in my art, so I would have to say it is diversified. No two pieces are ever the same.

What is your creative process like when you’re juggling so many different techniques and media?
Once an idea is sparked, I will create the project in its entirety, in my mind. Occasionally I will draw a specific design to be incorporated into a project, but not often. I keep dozens of journals for jotting down my ideas, and construction plans, because if some particularly difficult aspect of the project can’t be worked out right then, I have my notes to visit again. This happens quite often when I am developing a new technique, or want a particular look, and keeping good notes allows me to incorporate new ideas with the old, as I am progressing with the project.

Since I retired (1998) from property management & real estate after 22 years, I have been able to devote 4-8 hours a day, to my art. The rush of ideas can be overwhelming at times, and so I usually have between 6 and 12 projects going on. I joke about the ideas floating around in my head, and say “if only I could take a picture of what I see there.” But then I wouldn’t experience the wonderful sense of accomplishment that finishing a piece gives me.


I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a few years of college art classes; free hand drawing, collage and graphic design. I am a realist, I draw what I see, and the classes helped me to develop an artist’s approach, to really see what I was looking at. Colors, shadows, dimension, etc. I find it very difficult to be abstract, and perhaps those classes hampered that aspect of my work, because I truly struggle with anything that is not in balance. I am mainly self-taught in the use of the various media that I work in. There are so many new materials available today that weren’t available years ago. So, experimenting with all of these new toys keeps me interested in a variety of things.



Would you tell us about your transitions between hobbyist and pro?
In the early days of my career, while still attending college, I was selling my class work to silk screen shops, to help pay for my art supplies. Later, I transitioned into acrylic painting and designed folk art painted crafts for the mass market. Unfortunately, it was a common occurrence back then to have your designs show up a year later, manufactured in a foreign country. This infringement forced me to take a new direction. I suppose I am one of the very few artists who transitioned from pro to hobbyist! For 12 years I expanded my talents by learning to master the aspects of; stained glass, tile mosaics, altered clothing, photography, canvas college, surface embellishments, beading, quilting, altered arts of all forms, and most recently assemblage. I have sold a few commissioned pieces of art over the past few years, but I don’t sell direct to the public anymore. Art has never been a job for me. I create as a form of relaxation and self-expression. I am a perfectionist who always strives for a professional quality and I am compulsive about art in all of its forms. I want it to the best it can be, based on my experiences, experiments and knowledge.

What are your biggest sources of inspiration?
Inspiration comes from the usual places, such as: conversations, movies, or a good book. But by keeping my eyes open to the world around me, inspiration can come from the simplest of things also. I never liked an informal weedy garden but now I find, I can really appreciate the disorganized array of color and bloom. Perhaps my art is again evolving!



What inspires you to continue when things get frustrating?
I have a mindset that will not allow me to give up. (It’s called: Compulsion!). I learn not only through my successes but especially through projects that don’t always work. I never have failures, only learning experiences.


What would you suggest for those who wish to take their your art to a higher level?
Educate yourself. Take classes, read books, study and analyze art. I can admire other artists’ art, and be inspired by what I see. For awhile I stopped analyzing art, because I thought if I didn’t allow other artists moods & methods to influence mine, I would develop my own style. I don’t think that’s true anymore. I am who I am and my art is what I am. We all bring with us different aspects of our lives into our art and that is what makes it unique from all others.



What else do you enjoy doing besides your artwork?
I could weed the garden, but mindless tasks like that, just encourage me to wander back to all of those projects waiting to be created. I love to study the ancient art of other cultures. I would have to say, this is another passion of mine, which carries a big influence on my art.


Cynthia has articles on altered couture in several issues of Belle Armoire Magazine!

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I’m not going to post a picture of it here, because some folks are just not going to want to see it! I entered the Ugly Necklace Contest this year, and was thrilled to be named as a semi-finalist! Yes, I made the necklace as hideously ugly as I possibly could…on purpose. And I learned a ton about the rules of good design by doing it.

The online voting has just started at the Land of Odds, the sponsor of this contest. Would you go and vote? You can vote for as many as you want, but please don’t try to vote for any necklace more than once. I’d be thrilled if you voted mine as 100% ugly, but please follow your heart…or your queasy stomach…in this matter!

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Michelle is an art teacher with a 9th grade glass of very creative students! Several weeks ago, I posted some of their metal can assemblages on Layers Upon Layers, my mixed media blog. And now, they’re back with more…and this time it’s jewelry. I hope you enjoy seeing their work as much as I did!

Michelle writes:

The students used paper beads that they made and painted as well as found objects to make a personal piece of jewelry to serve as a talisman. I am extremely happy with their creativity with materials as well as construction. Only one student had even strung beads before, so that making jewelry was something new.

Anna


Bianca


Katarina


Krystal


Monica


Nadine


Nicole


Sam


Stephanie


Vanessa

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I absolutely love Art School Dropout’s new jewelry line, perfectly titled Juxtapose! Adorable stuff that makes me smile

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My wild and wacky necklace is now finished. All I can say is…I have no idea where I or anyone else would ever wear this!

Through the Looking Glass

My real challenge for this piece was learning to incorporate the shisha mirrors into the design. I found a wonderful book that walked me, as a total beginner, through the process. It’s an older book, but you can still find used ones on Amazon: Shisha Mirror Embroidery by Jean Simpson.

Detail

Detail

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