We’re All Ears September Challenge

Every month the Earrings Everyday blog hosts a design challenge based on a theme. This month the challenge was based on a Japanese performance art and dance troupe Enra.

Erin Prais-Hintz provided a video of a piece called “Torque starter” for inspiration. The video can be seen here. (I haven’t mastered the art of adding a video to my blog).

I watched the video several times and, each time, found myself captivated. I was drawn to different sections of the performance, thinking do I have the right pieces and/or beads to interpret that?

Finally, I found the perfect fit for this portion of the performance, occurring about 20 seconds into the video:

Screen Capture from the video of “Torque starter” by Enra

 I had acquired some steel stampings from HighArt Destash on Facebook. These are not steel that’s been riveted and cut into that shape, rather are literally stamped out. They were originally curved and it’s thought they were meant for shoe bows. A little grungy when I first received them, I cleaned them up with a file and gently flattened them.

 

Torque Earrings

The “dots” on the stampings reminded me of the flashing “sparks” in that section of the video. Though the video is black and white I saw flashes of blue throughout and decided to use faceted blue Goldstone beads plus gunmetal jump rings and ear wires, and black wire to attach everything together. I’m rather pleased with how they came together.

I explored online to find more information on the troupe. Maybe it’s because they’re based in Japan but I found it hard to find a website. I did however find many videos online and watched a few.

One in particular, titled “Primitive” caught my attention.

Again, it was a particular section that caught my attention.

 

Screen capture from the video “Primitive” by Enra

The strong bars reminded me of some silver plated pieces with black resin ovals with a very oriental influence that I have, giving an old fashioned photo negative effect. I decided to add some faceted black Onyx beads that I attached with gunmetal chain, wires and head pins.

 

Primordia Earrings

The onyx beads bring in the influence of the ball from the inspiration video along with emphasizing the vertical aspect of the screen capture.

Please check out what everyone else has made too.

  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Art Inspiration Journaling

I’ve read about the concept of maintaining an art inspiration journal many times.  My first exposure was this blog post that I found way back in 2012.

 

Original post can be found here

My very first post was a record of the date I started my art journal.

My intention was to post or paste in something every day, an existing piece, a quote, image, scene, little piece of “something”, whatever triggered a glimmer of inspiring thought or thread of “maybe I can…”

I even designed a cover and used up a bunch of flat back plastic rhinestones to jazz up the cover.

That lasted about 2 weeks before I got busy with something, probably tax season. The book was put aside, then ended up being buried in a pile of papers. Did I ever tell you how good I am at making piles of paper that need to be “dealt with”?

Though I did eventually locate it again in one of my cleanup whirlwinds I kept looking at it with a guilty feeling, thinking I should be doing this, capturing my thoughts and design ideas. After all I had lost track of so many over time.

I decided last week it was time to try again. Finally. This time though, I’m doing things differently. I’m not expecting to write or draw every day, am relying less on other artists designs as a takeoff point, allowing my creative spark to follow a flow that has evolved over the last couple of years.

So, here’s my “new” first post as well as a peak at the write up for the first set of designs.

Have you or do you now have a journal of ideas or inspiration? How do you keep it fresh and relevant? I have a feeling this will continue to be the hardest part.

Wish me luck.

Art Bead Scene August Inspiration Challenge

The challenge inspiration for August was this gorgeous textile that captures a ceremonial sandpainting. Created by Hosteen Clah, a Navajo weaver and singer (Medicine Man), it depicts a Navajo Nightway ceremony, a very powerful and sacred centre of their universe.

Summer Thunder by Hosteen Klah, Weaving, Wool

This month’s challenge pushed me, just like the We’re All Ears challenge earlier in the month. I spent a lot of time looking at the inspiration photo, identifying the details, noting the details and colours. In the end I identified 3 themes and colourways.

The first one I chose, but the last to be made, is based on the purple found in the stripes, the branches and in the dancers. The set of branches, lower left and upper right, reminded me of flowers reaching outward. This is the same feeling I got from the middle of this polymer clay pendant from Staci Louise Smith.

I had trouble with my photography but there is a strong purple presence around the outside of the pendant, which I carried into the necklace with matte Czech glass beads. There’s also a hint of pink, both in the upper middle of the weaving and in the pendant. I used pink dyed wood beads from Linda Landig’s destash to bring this colour out and added light wood beads, also from Linda, along with deep mahogany round rudrashka seeds. Waxed linen in two colours and a bronze toggle clasp bring everything together.

Spirit Flower Necklace

I also made 2 pairs of earrings based on the inspiration. Both use leather focals from Melinda Orr, ceramic rounds from Gaea Cannaday and waxed linen from Lorelei Eurto’s Jewelry Accord store.

The leather in the first pair is embossed and dyed a rich brick colour that matches the weaving. Paired with ceramic beads in a pale Granny Smith apple green and waxed linen in a similar colour, a riff off of the chairs in the weaving. The dangle from gold plated links and ear wires

 

Floating Above Earrings

The leather rounds in the second pair have a pinwheel kind of pattern and are dyed in a deep green, similar to the stripes in the inspiration. The edges are coated with sparkly gold glitter. I pulled the purple out again with the ceramic rounds. The waxed linen matches the background of the leather rounds. Copper jump rings and ear wires finish off this pair.

Night Way Earrings

Please check out what everyone else has made too.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

The Generosity of the Jewellery Community

On different sites, blogs and Facebook pages, I have often read about the generosity of the jewellery community. Whether it’s giving advice, offering encouragement, donating goods or time, many have stepped up to help.

When “one of ours” is hurting, the community is there. Sometimes it feels like a physical ache that can only be soothed by stepping up. I have both bid and offered goods to be bid on in past auctions, and been grateful to contribute in my small way.

Right now, I’m aware of 3 fundraising events, set up by the organizers to help a loved one or a friend. These are all auction based, though there are all also separate funding campaigns for anyone who wishes to contribute. Each of these causes has their own heartbreak.

I am certain there are more in the community that I’m not aware of, and, there are also so many for other deserving people. The reality though is we are all limited in what we can offer. I thought I’d tell you about the 3 I’m currently following closely, both bidding and contributing. Should you choose to check them out you may find the perfect item for yourself or for a gift for someone special to you.

1) For Genea Crivello

I'm organizing an auction event at www.BeadSoupCafe.com for Genea Crivello. She's got the rug pulled out from her and could use help. Genea Beads and I go way back...she was one of my Cup of Bead Soup sponsors.

Here's how it will work:

Post a photo of a piece of jewelry or bead(s), name a BIN (or buy it now price) or an auction start price. A comment upping the auction by at least a dollar keeps you in the running. When the person wins, you post "so and so won" and message them to invoice them. Message ME for Genea's paypal.

The other way to help is buy from her site, www.genea.etsy.com  or https://www.etsy.com/shop/Genea

You may have to join the group in order to bid. You can always leave again after the auction.

2) For Aundrea Lansdown-Powers

Here At HighArt Destash, we're all about helping each other - Whether destashing Seymour's Horde or my own, educating ourselves & each other, or simply sending positivity to friends & members who need some...
Along those lines, maybe some of you could help our member Aundrea Lansdown-Powers, the daughter of another member, Lee Lansdown, as she struggles to fight Cancer & keep body & soul together...
I've already donated 3 necklaces & a pair of earrings, to help get the ball rolling...

*******Auctions for Aundrea********
Aundrea Lansdown-Powers is battling a very rare form of cancer. You can read her full story on our Auction page here: https://www.facebook.com/auctionsforaundrea.
Auctions to benefit Aundrea will be held beginning on September 12. We will conduct 48-hour-long auctions with five items being auctioned at a time. Auctions will be run consecutively until we have sold all donated items.

3) For Mark Harner

Many of you may or may not know, my brother Mark is battling bone cancer.

To my online friends: I will be hosting an online Jewelry Auction Benefit for them on Sept 13th- 15th. I will be posting BIN (Buy It Now) and Auction options.

- If you are interested in attending to purchase Handmade Artisan jewelry or know others that would, you can join or invite them to our event here, https://www.facebook.com/events/500451180106608/. The Auction will take place here as well.

- If you would like to donate a design for this event, my family and I would be forever thankful. Please message me for mailing details.

To all my local friends, we would love for you to join us in this benefit for he and his wife Brenda Harner. He hasn't been able to work and bills are beginning to be overwhelming. To learn more about the event time & place or making a donation, click the link below.

If you know my brother, you know what a kind soul & giving heart he has. Until I was married, he was my fixer. Never asking for anything in return. Always there and giving. This is just devastating to our family and I hope you will join us in some capacity to help them through this journey.

Beads, Beads, and more Beads

It feels like all I am doing these days is sorting and moving beads. Sorting by type and by colour. Moving from my Ikea drawer unit, to my bench for organizing, then to their new location. The new cabinet is working out well, but boy am I tired of sorting and moving beads.

The empty slot in this photo marks the spot I’m working on. Everything below is done. Two of the drawers above the slot are also finished and stocked. These hold the precious art beads that I have fallen in love with this year.

For most of the drawers I had to make the separators. It took me a few tries to figure out the best way to do this. Here’s one of the first drawers I made separators for, full of metal and lucite beads. There’s lots of wasted space here.

This one, with glass beads, is a little further along in the process. You can see that the dividers have straighter sides, and there’s no unused space. There’s also no room to expand either, which may be a good thing – no bead lover said ever.

And here’s the last drawer I just made dividers for and stocked up. These are part of my gemstones collection, umm I mean inventory. I prefer to keep the gemstones in plastic tube like containers because I find that I can see them more easily than when they’re in the bags. Of course I would then have to have a lot more containers to do this for all the gemstones, so it’s a compromise. Some in tubes, some in bags.

The dividers for the last drawer are better designed, sturdier and made specifically to fit the longer shape of the tubes. Somehow I’ve been able to fit more beads in a smaller space too. Something is working right here and I for one am happy about it.

Now, to just finish putting the rest away and get back to creating and working on my business.

  

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day.

We’re All Ears August Challenge

Every month the Earrings Everyday blog hosts a design challenge based on a theme. This month the challenge…was a challenge in itself. It is one of the least accessible and most photographed vistas in the American Southwest, Antelope Canyon in northern Arizona, home to some magnificent slot canyons.

I spent a lot of time studying the photos, thinking “what am I going to do with these?”

The first thing to grab my attention were the strong vertical lines in the soft sandstone rock walls, the striations made by the compression forces that created the sandstone, exposed in their amazing glory by water pouring through from flash floods.

Going back to the photos again and again I began to be drawn to the play of light and dark, in particular how the striations changed appearance in bright light and darkest shadow. Then I began gathering the beads that “felt right” and I hoped would honour this amazing place. I ended up making 4 pair of earrings, each inspired by a different photo.

This photo was the muse for the first pair.

 

"20030820-antelope-canyon". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The colours of the rock, from a golden glowing orange to a deep rust were the key.

I used some gorgeous translucent golden and some opaque rusty orange mini beads from Sue Kennedy of SueBeads. Both sets of beads have silver dots trailing across them. These dots seem to mimic some both the striations and some of the little depressions in the darker rock face.

I added square antiqued copper plated spacers, waxed linen from Lorelei Eurto’s Jewelry Accord store, round copper beads, jump rings and leverback ear wires, all antiqued.

God Spots Earrings

The next pair to be made were actually the first design that came to mind. I guess I just needed to let it sit for a bit until it was right. The design is based on this photo.

"Upper antelope 2 md" by User:Moondigger - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

The contrast between the pale creamy sky, mirrored by the bit of sand with tumbleweed at the bottom, and the darkness of the underneath of the lower spike in the photo seemed to fit these earrings.

The round earthenware discs were created by Leslie Watt of Thea Elements, both the creamy large ones and the smaller copper coloured discs. The lovely, slightly curved copper feathers were created by Kristi Bowman of Kristi Bowman Design. I used more antiqued copper to finish the earrings with.

Terra Cotta Earrings

For the third pair of earrings I drew inspiration from this photo.

 

"USA Antelope-Canyon" by Lucas Löffler - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

That very bright spot of light and the bronze glow of stone through the beam of light resulted in this set. This is the one pair of earrings where I wandered away from the golden and orange glow of copper.

The ivory Lampwork pillow beads with the black & silvery webbing are from Robyn Kirkman of FireSong Creations, down in Queensland Australia. I had been hoarding the bronze teardrop charms from Leslie Watt of Thea Elements for quite a while and this seemed the perfect design for them. Sitting between the two are some iridescent Lampwork rondelles from Unicorne Beads. To finish the earrings I used gunmetal wire and leverback ear wires to bring in the darkest colours from the deepest corners of the cave.

 

Where Water Rushes Earrings

Finally I couldn’t end without honouring this cavern.

"Lower antelope 1 md" by User:Moondigger - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

The undulation of these passages, carved by the raw force of water, is amazing to behold. Their form inspired this pair of earrings.

The shape of the rock is interpreted in the three shades of borosilicate glass teardrop beads from Unicorne Beads. They sit on top of lucite beads wrapped in a bright copper look chain. Tiny seed beads and flat square copper plated spacers keep everything on the antiqued copper wires. Antiqued copper ear wires were used once again.

Twist and Shift Earrings

Please check out what everyone else has made too.

 Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

My Kempenfest Story

Back on the first weekend in August, a long weekend in Ontario, I had a booth at Kempenfest, a huge show near me in Barrie. This was my 4^th year of participation. Except for the first one, every year has had its spell of bad weather. Last year’s was the worst, with a torrential downpour that flooded out many tents on the Sunday. Until this year that is….

Here are some photos of my setup on Saturday, corners opened up to let the refreshing breezes through on a hot, hot day.

I’ve been thinking about updating my booth layout and displays. Mother Nature decided she’d lend a helping hand on Saturday night. The storm kicked in full force before I left and ripped open the zipper of the doorway. I found myself trying to zip it back up with the full force of the storm and rain lashing me in the face, eventually succeeding. Given that everything in the tent was now soaking wet I gave up on further effort to put things away and went home, after securing one corner of the canopy that was sliding up that is.

In the morning I came back to a tent that was soaking wet on the inside. That darn corner had let go again and the rain had come pouring in. It probably saved me though. My tent stayed up and everything stayed inside even though it was very wet.

This was my neighbours’ site, more than halfway through clean up.

Their tent was demolished and all the displays destroyed. They rescued what could be saved and headed home. Further down, some tents were in the middle of clean up. Others survived just fine.

My first task was to try and dry everything out. I had actually planned ahead and brought freshly laundered sheets, you know, just in case everything was wet. All the trays had to be emptied of water and dried out, necklace display covers also dried out, and all table covers replaced. Everything was up and running again by 10:30, though still a little damp. The breezes throughout the rest of the day helped dry out the mannequins, display cards and price tags.

Of course every piece of paper needs to be replaced, what with ink running and cards twisting as they dried. I have a few months to work on that though. My next show is not until Christmas selling season.

I’ve decided to look at this as an opportunity for that booth rethink I mentioned earlier.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day.