Bead Designs as Personal Expression.

Help! I have ideas in my head and kids home from school! I can’t get to the torch and I’m going bonkers!

Last I left you I was showing pictures that hang over my work space for inspiration. After that post I went a little nuts. Usually my creative process is pretty methodical…one step leads to another and before I know it I have a new style that I like.

Not this time.

I don’t know what happened. I went big and I went bold. It was the first time I let myself spend an hour (or more) on a bead. Just playing.

I’ve been interested in, what would you call it? Abstract art that celebrates the female form? Ok. Yes. That is what I will call it. One source of inspiration in this area are the paintings of Amy Fraser. Her paintings as well as her polymer clay medallions series’ amaze me.

These beads came about after following a link from her blog to her Book: Dissecting the Western Woman Artist; An Artist’s Dialogue. While they may not look like Amy’s work, her subject matter (both written and otherwise) has opened a door in my soul.

It is interesting to me how inspiration strikes and how we change as we get older. Or I should say, how I have changed as I’ve gotten older.

I have learned to be more appreciative of many things…my own self included. The female form. Other women. Etc. It also amazes me how long it has taken to get to this point. Things that feel so natural to others (like being social and having good girlfriends that I actually want to spend time with) are only starting to come to me in my forties. Not that I haven’t had that before but the difference now is that it feels good.

I am also enjoying the fact that my ’self’, my inner workings, are beginning to express themselves through my work. Whereas once my work was just color and form, now it has deeper meaning. I am starting to understand what it means to leave behind a piece of me in my work…I never understood that. I never felt attached to my work in that way but now I can look back on my pieces and see where I was when they were created. Or be reminded of something that was happening in my life at the time.

Since I have spent a lot of time experimenting with color and what different glass colors do next to each other and on top of each other, my design process is changing. One could study a lifetime on the different reactions between glass colors however I am moving more towards expressing abstract ideas in glass and using the knowledge I’ve gained thus far.

Jeez. I better stop there. But let me just say…if you are starting out in any art, build a good foundation. Master the basics. It may seem tedious but in the end it is liberating!

Lori Greenberg blogs about beads and the business of beads from her studio in Cave Creek, Arizona. You can see more of her beads at her web site: www.lorigreenberg.com.

Assembly Part 2 - Just Do It!

The comments and a couple private emails on my first entry about my assembly style made me realize how intimidating some people find the process of design and assembly. This is a shame because the comments/emails were all sent by people I know for a fact are tremendously creative. Therefore, part 2 is going to be a bit of a pep talk along with a few ‘rules’ I have come up with along the way.

1 - Don’t be afraid, beads don’t bite.

You can do pretty much anything you want with beads. You may be the only person who likes it but as long as you are happy who cares what anyone else thinks of it? Jewelry is so subjective that no one can ever tell what will or will not sell.

2 - Stringing or other Assembly techniques are not permanent.

If you make a piece of jewelry and don’t like it, redo it. Stringing a bead is not a permanent commitment. Nothing says that you cannot take your piece apart and redo it if you don’t like it. The necklace in this picture was taken apart about 10 times before I came up with a design I liked.

3 - Symmetry, Take it or Leave it.

Symmetrical or pattern based pieces can be quite lovely, but don’t be caught up in the trap that says all pieces must be symmetrical. As long as a piece you are working on is properly weighted so that it hangs properly the rules of symmetry can be tossed out the window. Try using a pretty clasp as a focal point, group a few focal beads together in one section but don’t have an identical cluster on the other side. Here is a picture of a necklace I made where I decided the clasp shouldn’t stay in back.

In this picture you can see the cluster of lampwork with no corresponding cluster on the other side.

4 - Experiment with different sized beads and uses for the beads.

Just because your focal bead or the bead set you are using in your piece is a certain size don’t be afraid to use other beads that are wildly different in size from your focal pieces. Seed Beads can be great with lampwork despite the vast difference in size.

5 - Experiment with wild colors.

Just because your focal bead is one color doesn’t mean the accent beads have to be shades of that color. The necklace I posted in the first Assembly entry had a teal focal, and yes, some of the seed beads were teal, but I also had cobalt, light blue, and emerald green in the necklace. The colors didn’t match, but they did coordinate into a harmonious whole. If you missed that post you can see it here, complete with the picture of the necklace.

6 - Experiment with fibers.

This is one I haven’t used yet but I plan to. There are so many cute eyelash yarns, silk ribbons, and other fibers available now there is no reason not to add them to your work. These fibers will add not only an interesting visual component but a textural one as well.

And last but not least, the most important rule of all.

7 - THERE ARE NO RULES!!!

What I just typed is what works for ME. If you find that you wildly disagree with one of my rules, or it just doesn’t work for you then toss it out the window. Not only is jewelry making subjective for the buyer but it is also subjective for the maker. If you take nothing else from this post I want you to take away one thing. Just Do It! As long as when you complete the piece it doesn’t fall apart and you are happy about it then you have done it right. There is really no wrong way to create jewelry.

Now get up from your computer and go make something. Don’t forget to let me see what you have done.

Heather blogs from her studio in Wisconsin. If you would like to see more of her work check out her site at www.squareonebeads.com.

Tis the season to create a blushing pink lampwork bracelet!

It isn’t often that I have the pleasure of sitting down to create pieces of jewelry. This time of year is an exception to the normalcy of my routine, as I get to enjoy more than my share of creating gifts for family and friends. It’s a true pleasure because I explore the personalities of each individual as I try and design something special just for them. It comes with struggle however, as I tend to think of jewelry as being an extremely personal thing.Recently, I filled a custom order for a lovely set of pink and gray beads. I really loved how they turned out and my first thought as I strung them, was “Ah!! My mom would LOVE these!!” I made another large set for her to be used in a bracelet, necklace and earrings. Her style tends to be somewhat simple. Making things with her in mind leaves me with a craving to create something a bit more complex and detailed. Luckily, I had several of the lampwork beads that I used in her jewelry set left over. In fact, it was just enough for an additional bracelet.

As I sifted through one of my many coveted boxes of gemstones, I came across some pink Peruvian opal rondelles that I picked up at show last year. Their blushing color seemed to be a perfect accent to the pink and gray lampwork beads. Still, I thought, “Yes, there IS such a thing as TOO much Pink!” This idea paved way for a seeking mission that kept me digging through ten boxes of semi precious gemstones, only to find the beautifully faceted, steel blue-gray labradorite that I had purchased just one week ago.

With components chosen and scattered about my workspace, I began to think about what I really wanted the bracelet to look like. I knew that I wanted to do a double strand design, but at the same time, I wanted the design to also have a sort of flowing movement. Normally I can only achieve this idea in a piece that has a great deal of wire wrapping. Since I was bored of that idea, I chose to try and creatively string the design that I saw in my mind’s eye. I must admit that I am very pleased with this piece. Were I a wearer of the pinks, I’d have likely kept this one for myself.

Lydia Muell is a glass bead maker who blogs in her studio from Lexington, NC. For more information please visit here website at ashtonjewels.com

Assembly, the other half of jewelry making

Most of the articles here have been on the creative process of working with the glass to create beads, sculpture, tiles, etc… Very little has been said about the creative process of making jewelry though, and for many of us who work with glass the glass we create is not where the process ends. For me, only about half of the glass beads I make are sold as beads, the rest I turn into finished jewelry and sell it that way.

When I write out my work plan for the day I designate on my plan what will go to auction and what will go for jewelry. Sometimes however, I like something so much I will make two similar sets, one for jewelry and one for auction. If I REALLY like something I make three sets, one for jewelry to sell, one for auction, and one for a piece of jewelry for me. After all, if I’m not going to wear my jewelry, why should I expect anyone else to?

After I’ve made a bead or bead set for jewelry I then compare it to the image I had of the finished jewelry in my minds eye and make any adjustments that may need to be made. Sometimes the adjustments take a while so the bead(s) will sit on my desk until I have decided on the final product.

Lately I have been on a seed bead kick. I really love how slinky and slippery a hank of seed beads feels when I run my fingers through it so the last time I was at a bead store I bought 5 or 6 hanks of seed beads just to have and fondle until the prefect lampwork beads came along. I thought the beads were pretty just on their own so I wanted a piece where they were allowed to shine. Here is one of the necklaces, mostly seed beads except for a single open lampwork heart connecting the two sides of the necklace.

I think it turned out great, don’t you?

Heather blogs from her home workshop in Wisconsin. If you are interested in the necklace featured here you can see it at her Etsy shop. Other pieces of hers as well as links to her current auctions can be seen on her site Square One Beads.

Inspiration. Using Others’ Work to be Yourself?

Bright color inspires me. One color gradating into another. Fantasy-like stuff. Complimentary secondary color combinations.

All of these are very interesting to me because I feel most comfortable working with earth tone and earthy forms. You would think that I’m inspired by nature. But I’m not.

Any idea what that’s about? Sometimes I wonder if my brain is backwards. No comments from the peanut gallery. If you know me you know that I have a backwards sense of direction. Exact backwards. If I walk out of someplace to go to my parked car I turn the opposite way. The exact opposite. So, reasoning would tell you that I know exactly where to go…the way opposite of where I want to go. Hm.

Anyway, here is a picture of some magazine clippings that are taped above my workspace:

While it doesn’t look anything like my work, or the colors I use, it surely represents my personality.

 

I have tried and tried to do work that generates the same feel of these images (and those of brightly colored silk paintings) and am always disappointed. Sometimes I wonder if I should just enjoy what I see here and keep going on with what I do (earth tones, pods, structured organics) or if this is something that I need to push through and conquer.

 

I think we all know the answer to that, right? Be myself. ::sigh::

Lori Greenberg blogs about beads and the business of beads from her studio in Cave Creek, Arizona. You can see more of her beads at her web site: www.lorigreenberg.com.