Klingon Bangle Light: Beadweaving Structures Combined Bangle

In making this latest piece I haven't come up with an official title yet.  This is one of those structures that has been floating around in my head for quite a while.  I just had to pick the colors and go for it, which I finally did.  There was a range of purples, blues and greens I was playing with and this green to blue really spoke to me.  I thought that I'd end up going to my dark gold 15/0 seed beads for the netting but I felt I should change it up.  The cream worked out very well and this piece is a spark of summer color on this -14 degree F sunny winter day.

Clark likes to "help" in the studio

This large bangle combines my smaller bangles with a netting design woven through them. The inspiration for this design...get ready for a nerd alert...is from Worf's sash on Star Trek: The Next Generation. With these color choices this bangle obviously wouldn't pass as a Klingon but I have to be honest about it's start.

I will get some better photos of this piece, but I was so excited to finish it I had to get some images up.  I am enjoying the long winter shadows in some of these photos, so for now enjoy this quick update.

Cleavage

Well, to start, this piece was inspired by the variation I started doing on the triple pod earring.  I created the first set to go with an outfit I was wearing for the Art Council's Holiday Gala, it sold that week. I made another set and just delivered it to the Lansing Art Gallery last month.  As I was making the earrings, I wanted to keep adding pods.  The shapes and varying textures in the different beads were calling to me.

I decided that if I got my latest weaving ready to hang, I'd allow myself to start in on this idea. That was the kick in the pants I needed to finish my latest Lake Superior weaving for submission to a Call for Art.  This piece was also finished in time for that submission.

I took a few photos while the threads were still on this piece, I had every intention of continuing to add pods, but I was so happy with the initial pictures I stopped myself.  There is such a thing as over-doing it when creating artwork, these photos let me know I was at a good stopping point.

Finally, the title....I tend to think of names for pieces either at the very beginning of a piece when I'm working conceptually or as I am working on them. This piece kept making me think of forms and writings I was working on in college.  The cleaving of things.  When something is being pushed together and split apart at the same time.  This is the first of an idea of cleavage, cloven, cleavers in my own work.

My Artwork at HGA Convergence Conference 2016, Milwaukee

If you had told 17-year-old me that I would have had two of my pieces of artwork in city Art Museums before I turn 35, I would have blown you off.  I was hoping to just go to college and get a general business degree and try to get a 9-5 job that would pay for my beading and weaving "hobbies"

Fortunately, when it came down to actually looking at and thinking about colleges, I had (and still do have) many people in my life who saw my potential and nudged me toward following my passion.  I said yes to many opportunities along the way, and my first Small Expressions exhibit through the Handweavers Guild of America was hosted the Long Beach Museum of Art.  I was ecstatic to get in, and to boot, the Museum used the image of my Bamboozled Bangle on their website for the show.

The Milwaukee Museum of Art is currently hosting the Small Expressions 2016 show, and what an amazing museum (pictured behind me).  I'm still just amazing that Gypsy Leaf is spending a few months in the same building as Rembrandts, Warhols, Chihuly, Nick Cave....   I also really appreciate how the curator positioned my piece, only one pearl clasped and the bottom flared out.  I will definitely be getting better photos of it displayed like that.

I add to my excitement, I am very pleased to announce that Gypsy Leaf also received the Edith Whiteman Award.  This is the first time one of my pieces has won an award at an HGA exhibit.  If you happen to be close, I not only encourage you to check out the museum and Small Expressions, but the retrospective that they have on Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood is really amazing.

Uprooted 2 also took a short trip over to Milwaukee for the exhibits helding during Convergence.  It was accepted into the all-media exhibit: "Mixed Bag"

Outside the Milwaukee Museum of Art

Interior overlooking Lake Michigan

Upper entrance bridge walking up to the museum.

HGA's Small Expressions 2015: Climbing

I am excited to announce that my piece "Climbing" was accepted into the Handweaver's Guild of America juried show, Small Expressions 2015.   This show will be running May 28th, 2015 through July 4th 2015 at the Textiles Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I was so excited about getting into this show that I immediately looked up flights for the opening reception weekend.  I have always wanted to get over to the Textile Center, but never had the chance when visiting Minneapolis, so it's time!  The opening reception is May 28th.  I'm so looking forward to going and hope to see anyone that's in the area there!

Uprooted 2, Photos by Luke Anthony Photography

Although I finished Uprooted 2 at my residency in May, I just got great photos last week of this piece so I thought I'd share.

Photography by Luke Anthony Photography

Photography by Luke Anthony Photography

Photography by Luke Anthony Photography

Uprooted 3: Growth

I started Uprooted 3: Growth while at Blueberry View Artist's Retreat, and I have just finished it last week.  I love making the beaded tendrils and parts of the woodworking, but the sanding and finish work I tend to procrastinate on.  Lucky for me, Luke of Luke Anthony Photography could squeeze me in this week for professional photos of a few of my pieces.  This is the first of posting his awesome photos:

It's secondary name is "growth" because that word really represents my artwork from 3 years ago to now, lots of growth, in my work, as an artist and within myself.  I have had things come up in my life recently that have caused me extreme amounts of stress.  In the past few weeks I have had a lot of personal growth and it feels like a wave has washed over me.  I am calmer than I have been and I am getting my focus and excitement back and centered around my art.

The next two photos I took, because I thought it was unfair to do this post without showing that this piece can also hang on the wall.  When I had finished Uprooted 2: Big Ugly, I had wished that I could hang it on the wall.  I like it fine as a free-standing sculpture, but I always like options.  Uprooted 3 easily lent itself to hanging on the wall with it's flat bottom, so it wasn't a lot of extra work to consider making a small nail-hole.  

This particular piece wasn't growing on me very quickly at first, but I have to say, there was an immediate sense of satisfaction when I put it up on my living-room wall this morning.  I think I will be admiring it from here for a little bit.  It really comes out at you.

I need to thank everyone for their love and encouragement recently.  I know that sometimes posting to social media makes you feel like images and daily progress can go unnoticed, but between Instagram, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter I've had many lovely comments and encouragement to keep going and finish this (among other) pieces. Also a huge thanks to Luke for getting photos so quickly, my next few blog posts are going to be more beautiful with his eye behind the camera rather than mine.

Blueberry View Artists Retreat Update: Day 9

I’m going to divide this post into two sections because I have been working on two different pieces for this series simultaneously.  First is Uprooted 2:

Uprooted 2: Big Ugly

I will be finishing this piece off while I’m here.  On day 4 I had figured out the position of the tendrils.  Since then I have had to move my sanding operations inside as it got cold and rainy at the end of last week.

I did get the remainder of it sanded the holes drilled for the beaded tendrils and today I put a coat of walnut oil on it for finishing.  I have also added the first larger bead detail within a space in the root where I removed a large part that had been burnt or charred at some point.

Bead detail

Before Walnut oil

After Walnut Oil

Uprooted 3: Growth

I'm not sure if I'll get this piece done in the next 3 days or not.  It's got a lot of detailed sanding to it, and I'm only half done with the second tendril.  I imagine this piece will have 4 + tendrils on it, so I'm working diligently.  I hope to at least have all of the sanding done and be ready to apply the walnut oil and wax to it for the reception on Thursday night.

Tendril 1

Tendril 2

Pre-sanding

Starting sanding

Blueberry View Artists Retreat Update: Day 4

I can't believe it's already been 4 days! I have mostly been beading and sanding my base pieces.  I got the really long tendril for Uprooted 2 finished on Tuesday (above photo) and got to start compiling the actual piece.  I took a ton of photos of different positions that I could apply to this sculpture.  I kept going back to the image below, so I think that has settled it for me.  I may end up beading one more smaller tendril for this piece, but I think it's going to be pretty strong with or without it.  I'm also wondering if I can make this piece stand on its own like the photo and also hang on the wall.  Lots of ideas rolling around in my head.

My sanding process was thwarted by rain yesterday.  I got a little bit done in the morning and then it started to dribble, which is not goo for use of power tools.  So I went to the beads for my focus for the day, hoping the rain would stop.  I did decide to look at the weather report and it's supposed to continue to be cold and rainy so I started to consider how to move my sanding into the studio without getting sawdust in my beads.  Mark has graciously offered me the use of his wood shop, but my hand starts feeling weird and vibrating after a half hour of sanding so I really like being able to go back and forth within the studio.  If I worked in the shop, I'd be running up and down stairs, and bundling up against the cold.

So I've started in on beading tendrils for Uprooted 3, I'm not sure if I'll have time to get this entire piece finished, but with beading all day yesterday and for two and half hours this morning I'm beyond half done and on to the straight part of it.  Not having to worry about beading around curvatures makes for much easier and faster beading.

Janet and Mark had me over for an amazing dinner on Tuesday evening.  I probably could have visited with them all night.  I learned a lot of their background and their inspiration for Blueberry View Artists Retreat.  The house they built is also amazing, such artwork and antiques that enrich their home!

If you're in the area or willing to drive, all are welcome to come out for my reception next Thursday evening, you'll get to see what I've been creating in person, meet Janet and Mark and see their amazing property with gardens and antiques.

Blueberry View Artists Retreat: Day 1.5

As you can tell from previous blog posts I've been excited for my very first artist residency.  I left for Blueberry View Artist Retreat on Sunday late morning to arrive here in the afternoon.  It’s lovely to finally meet Janet and Mark after only emailing and talking on the phone.  They are both artists themselves, they live on the property, have their studios here and run an antique shop.  I moved in and got straight to work.  The large tendril has been lingering, so that’s what I’m finishing up beading, but I’m also getting into sanding my first root/trunk piece.  It’s been a while since I've used my Dremel tool this much, but after 4 + hours I’m starting to think it needs a name. I've really been enjoying peeling back the layers of this wood piece and discovering what’s underneath.  I like to smooth it out, but not so much that it doesn't still look like it came from nature.  I am quickly becoming engrossed in this process and loosing hours at a time.

Day 1

Day 1

I have the best set up for sanding.  I had packed drop cloths and towels anticipating working in the large studio space provided me in this apartment, but I have a little deck overlooking the blueberry fields and gardens (see top photos). There’s a granite slab mounted to the corner of the deck for a grill, which has been a great outdoor work space to keep all of the sawdust outside.  Not only is the sawdust outside, it’s just windy enough to pick up the sawdust and take it away as I remove it from the wood.  I’m even getting some sun.  I may come back with a weird bandanna/eye protection tan if it keeps going this direction.

Day 2

Day 2

I wasn't sure what to expect as far as getting on a daily schedule.  I’m used to scheduling my art time around other people, meetings, work or on the go.  I've been starting my day with yoga, coffee and beading.  I have been thinking about exploring Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, but I haven’t wanted to leave my new space just yet.  I did make it to the grocery store and the Riverside Tavern for a yummy burger for dinner.

Tendril Yesterday

Tendril tonight

I do believe that I’ll be hunkering down with this tendril, fingers crossed, getting it finished up.  One of the issues I’m running into while beading it is not only its size, but its weight.  Right now it weighs 89 grams (3.1 ounces) which is kind of heavy for one hand holding it in various positions.  I often forget just how much glass beads end up weighing.  I think I’ll be sticking to smaller beaded pieces after this experience.

Packing up and Heading Out

Sunday I leave to my very first artist's residency at Blueberry View Artists Retreat.  I've been making myself anxious thinking about all the items I have to take to be able to work on the Uprooted series. I have been working on beaded tendrils and had hoped to have the really long one done before I left, but it's got about 7 more inches and I've got a bunch of packing and cleanup to do before I go, so we'll see.  It's the tendril on the left in the above picture.  Uprooted 1 has 3 large tendrils and 2 tiny ones.  My current roots may be a little larger, so I'm not very far in to making all the tendrils I want, but it's a start.

I have about 4 roots and pieces of wood packed to work on.  I think this may be setting my sights too high for only two weeks, but I'm not sure which root is going to go with the tendrils that I've already made, so it's best to be prepared.

To relax, but keep beading, I have been making leaves, of all sizes and colors, for future leaf panels.  When I do sit down to start in on a panel it's less overwhelming if I have a stockade of leaves to start laying out.  In making various sized leaves, I made the above tiny earrings.  This neon red color has really struck me lately, as you may have noticed in the previous hexagon set.  So I made a tiny set that's only 1.3 inches long from the top of the earwire to the bottom tip of the leaf  This style is only $35.00.

I love piling my tendrils and taking photo details of them.  I have ideas for some even more involved beaded pieces with this in mind.  We'll see how long it takes for that to come to fruition! I can only bead so long per day before my shoulder starts clicking and my fingers can't hold tight anymore.