Saturday, 17 September 2011

Bead Soup Reveal - Lets get this party started!


Well it seems like a long time ago now since we found out who our Bead Soup Blog Party partners were and began swapping beads across 5 continents and 21 countries but finally the time for the big reveal has arrived. 362 reveals to be precise so this is going to be something of a marathon blog hop and whether you're reading this on day 1 or day 31, I hope you enjoy it and all the other ports of call along the way.

Before I show you what I've been up to here's a quick reminder of what my partner Julie Nordine sent me - a fabulous collection of lampwork and etched copper focals, Vintaj Brass, Silk Ribbon and assorted delicious beads...


The aim of the Bead Soup party is to stretch yourself by doing something different from your norm and whilst I do work a lot with Lampwork, Julie's selections weren't without their challenges for me. I'm a 'less is more' kind of person when it comes to jewellery design and my default setting for focals as beautiful as the three Julie sent me, is to hang them simply from a gorgeous chain or cord and let them speak for themselves - after all, who am I to try and improve such great work? For the purpose of this exercise however, that would make this stop on the blog hop pretty boring!

Akin to this is my use of fabric and textiles - or rather the lack of it. Other than using it as a straightforward hanging mechanism, I never really know what to do with fabric. I'm not that great with small beads either - I tend to use them as spacers or accents on earrings and that's about it.

When I set to creating these were the things I wanted to try and address along with one other that constantly alludes me - asymmetrical design which I love in other peoples work but, try as I might my brain always wants more order.

So let's get on with the show then shall we... As they were themed, my first inclination was to use all of the focals together in one piece, but I started to have so many ideas for each element that I decided to use them individually to create three separate pieces. The first of these is a necklace called 'Wood Nymph' which includes the etched copper oak leaf pendant and Vintaj chain and findings from my soup mix.

Click images to to enlarge
It's perhaps inevitable that one would think of woodland when working with oak leaves and acorns, but there's something about Julie's beads that quickly had me thinking about enchanted forests, fairies and things of that ilk - and that's not something I'm predisposed to by the way.


The weight of the focal on this necklace is held by a double rope of size 8 seed beads interspersed and linked with brass jump rings. The colouring on these is quite subtle and difficult to capture on camera but they are iridescent green and gold with pink flashes. The chain gives a decorative swag to the piece and the lovely gossamer light (detachable) silk ribbons from SowZere Designs add an ethereal, feminine touch that I imagine a Wood Nymph would have.

The inspiration for my next piece was a childhood memory that came to me when I first started shuffling the beads around to see what the possibilities were. The turquoise nuggets and the white pearls kept making me think of blue skies and fluffy white clouds and then as I shuffled, the tiny ivory acorn rolled into the mix and it hit me - sky and acorns can only mean one thing... So who remembers the children's tale of Chicken Licken (or Chicken Little depending where you hail from) who thought the sky was falling in when an acorn fell on her head...?

This piece is a bracelet which I've called 'The Sky never Fell" and in addition to the mini acorn focal, turquoise nuggets and pearls from the mix, I've added Vintaj rings and a clasp.


This bracelet has actually achieved quite a feat in as much as I rarely make and never wear bracelets with lots of little dangles on them because after about 10 minutes, all that jangling drives me nuts and I have to take it off. This one however has barely been off my wrist since I finished it - I just love it! The pearls tumble about in a soft, fluid fashion with the movement of the wrist and It feels very feminine - something else I don't do!


Now for my last piece... which turned out nothing like my original plan and is the one that gave me the most headaches - yes, it's the asymmetric one. I still can't quite get my head round this -  I think it works but that wire in my brain is still sending out sparks every now and then. Returning to my enchanted forest theme I've called this one 'Titania' after the queen of the fairies in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' - hopefully it won't be "ill met by moonlight..."!


Here I've combined the large acorn focal, Vintaj clasp and silk ribbon from the mix with a matching Vintaj ring and chain from my collection. I've connected two lengths of chain with the tiny glass beads Julie sent me to create a broader chain which mirrors and balances the ribbon on the opposite side and I guess, sort of satisfies my need for symmetry...


Well, I've had a great time being part of this Blog Party - I've used up the vast majority of my soup mix and I think I've managed to meet the challenges I set myself. These pieces are very different from my usual style - a little more theatrical perhaps and I'm really pleased that I managed to achieve something different. It did feel a little odd at times but the whole point about being out of your comfort zone is that it's, well, uncomfortable -  but the stretch feels good.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and I hope you enjoyed the post - I'd love to hear what you think about my designs...Don't forget to hop over to Julie's blog to see what she's done with the goodies I sent her and then you can find the rest of the Bead Soup Party  participants in the list below. thanks again Julie for sending me such great ingredients to work with.

Finally I'd like to thank Lori Anderson and her helpers for the time and effort that has gone into making this a truly memorable event - well done Lori and three cheers for you!

Happy hopping!

Lesley




The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner, Manuela Wutschke







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Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Bead Table Wednesday




Even when you don't want it to....

Are you one of those people who can take a random selection of beads and findings, apparently unrelated by way of material, colour, size, shape or whatever characteristic; and then defy natural laws to turn them into pieces of seemingly disordered but beautifully balanced art? If so I admire and envy you because I it appears, cannot.

A quick flick through my portfolio will show work that is ordered, balanced, even, symmetrical, matching - need I go on...? There's nothing wrong with this of course and I'm very proud of the work I do but, I do long to break the shackles sometimes and be a little adventurous. If I try and do asymmetrical designs my brain says no no no - messy girl! and yet I love this type of work from other designers. Maybe it stems from a long career managing marketing campaigns where order and control where the watchwords.

Anyway, having finished my Bead Soup projects yesterday my bead table was clean and tidy this morning (there you go again, more order...) so I decided to have a go at making something a little out of character. Rather than pour over my bead stash for ages deciding what to use, I just deposited some random things on the work table and set to without really thinking about what I was doing.

Well that's what I thought anyway....

Appalling weather/light today so apologies for poor pictures

As you can see my random selection did include different materials and textures and there are plenty of shapes and sizes visible - that's good. It did included different colours but I think it's safe to say that there is a definite overall nod to autumn/earth tones. Ah well, it was a good start and off I went making my asymmetrical, mismatched but beautiful bracelet - well sort of....


Yes the beads are all mismatched... but I still managed to put them together in as symmetrical a pattern as could be achieved! Link ring in the centre, larger beads directly opposite each other, colours balanced and of course, it won't have escaped your notice that I picked all round beads! My brain is obviously not going to give up this order and control thing easily.

Fortunately it's not a problem because I really like the bracelet and would wear it myself and that is one of the key criteria I use as to whether I put something up for sale or not. In them meantime I will just have to work a bit harder trying to coax a little chaos out of the order of my design.

Bead Soup Blog Party 17 September 

I just want to add a quick note about the Bead Soup Blog Hop if you're not taking part yourself. It starts this coming Saturday September 17th, and I say it starts because with 362 blogs to visit, this is no 'one day only' event! I've made sure I have as few commitments as possible over the weekend and will be stocking up on lots of goodies to help see me through. I have no idea what will be on show, other than my own recipes of course...but there's sure to be be some great eye-candy so don't forget to pop along - you can start here or at any participating blog.

Now I'm going to get back to nurturing my random designs and pray that the supremely random weather will provide me with an opportunity to photograph my Bead Soup pieces before the big day - otherwise chaos won't come close to it!!!

Lesley
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Thursday, 8 September 2011

A thing of beauty...

And this time it's not a bead...


A few days ago a friend of mine mentioned on Facebook that she was thinking of treating herself to this book by Artist, Printmaker and Engraver Angie Lewin so I took a quick look... and I was bowled over by the artists work. I had not come across Angie Lewin before, though heaven knows why as her work is so up my street - stunning botanical prints in glorious saturated, but slightly muted colours. Anyway I ordered the book and it arrived this morning - OMG is it  thing of beauty! Fabulously presented and of a very high quality, I just felt I had to share.


In the preface to the book the Artist says that she is drawn to "insignificant plants" usually considered to be weeds, and concentrates on their unique characteristics rather than realistic representation and scale.


The impact of her subjects' environment on their ability to thrive however barren or desolate is also a major influence on her work. I just love the love the structural, almost architectural framework within her prints.


Now, I'm no art critic and my views are completely subjective but I just wanted to share a find that got me excited. It might be that I'm the last one in the know and you are all fully clued up on Angie Lewin already. Either way, I know this book will be something I pick up frequently just to revel in the contents but I'm also pretty sure It will become a source of reference and inspiration for my jewellery designs - for colour, for shape, for texture and for fun.

Oh, and can I just say a big thank you to Kaz Baildon for introducing me to this great artist - I'm so pleased you posted that link on Facebook.


You can see more of the book's content at Amazon co.uk and .com - enjoy!

Lesley







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Monday, 5 September 2011

Catching up with myself...

Wow! - almost a week since I last posted anything here...where did that time go? It's a sure sign that autumn is here when time seems to speed up. I know there are the same number of hours in the day (never enough whatever season it is) but somehow time seems more languid during the long summer days - I guess we're naturally wired to cram everything into daylight hours and there are just less of them now.

Anyhow, just to reassure myself that I hadn't lost a few days somewhere along the way and had achieved something in this time I thought I'd show you what I've been up to...


I'm really pleased how these Ornamental Bronze Clay shells turned out. They came about when a friend saw the shell charms I have in my Etsy shop and asked if I could make her one as an ornament. I make silicone moulds from real shells and cast the clay from those. It sounds easy but I find thick pieces of bronze clay have a tendency to crack and the one on the right took several attempts to get it this good. The patina is achieved simply with a hand torch. I just love the Abalone shell - it's about 6cm wide and I keep looking at it thinking what a spectacular focal it would make...

I've also been honing my kiln enameling skills following the course I went on a couple of weeks ago - I'm really enjoying this and can happily lose myself in it for the day. I think I've just about got the kiln sussed for optimum temperature and it's great fun testing all the different colours. I only have opaques at the moment but I think I'll be ordering some transparent enamels soon...


I just love these, clear, bright pops of colour and simple shapes especially when teamed with single contrasting beads.


I've also been messing about with some Lampworking frit and glass strands to see what extra effects I can get - early days but onwards and upwards. You can see from the thicker black edges to some of these pieces that I've over-cooked them a bit. Truth be told, I did it once and I quite liked the effect so you can expect to see more - wrong or not!

I'm hoping that by the end of this month I can get a small range of enameled items into my Etsy shop. I'd like these to be fun, affordable items so it will probably be simple earrings and pendants to begin with and see where it goes from there.

I doubt I'll be doing much enameling this week though - the first part of it will be dedicated to starting work on my Bead Soup creation(s). I have a number of ideas in my head which I'll hopefully be able to translate to reality, but I'm sure there will be some twists and turns along the way. After that, I need to make a concerted effort to increase my shop inventory - busy, busy, busy!

In the meantime I'll leave you with some of the recent additions to my Etsy shop - August was a quiet month to say the least so here's to a better month ahead!



Have a great week all.

Lesley
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