Divorce Dress Bangle

In between weaving I have been taking some beading breaks.  I finally finished this bangle on Wednesday this week and am already enjoying wearing it.  The design idea, as often happens to me, came from one of my favorite dresses, aptly referred to as "The Divorce Dress."

I'm really happy with how well the smudged flower print translated into beads. I've worn it twice this week already, I think it's probably overkill to actually wear it with the dress, it's just where the inspiration came from.  I think I made this piece just for me, I can make this in any size/color, this is smaller than my the usual sizes of my bangles and it fits me nice and snug.

Divorce Dress Bangle $200.00

The background on the dress.  I love the shopping parties that Grace has and I had popped into their 2015 Spring Fling to poke around.  Honestly, the clothing styles in general hadn't been getting me very excited, but you never know.  The only interesting piece I found was this dress with a vintage-looking pattern, but the fit was hard to tell on the hanger. I normally don't go for sleeves (dress -up usually means dancing, I tend to prefer strapless), but I tried it on anyway.  

I liked the look, but wasn't sure. Plus, my closet is full of dresses, I really don't need another one.  I walk out of the dressing room and Melik makes a loud, complimentary remark.  I grin, yeah, it does look that good.  I didn't have an occasion to wear a new dress though, I'm not sure about my cash flow because I'm getting a divorce....well, duh, what am I going to wear to court for my divorce?

And so, this is my "divorce dress" it looks as good walking toward you as it does walking away.

Edging for Porkies Weaving

If you follow me on social media, it looks like I'm slacking off on my Porkies weaving, the snow has been calling to me.  I have my season pass again this year, and that's where my happy place is in the winter.  I mean, who can resist this:

Anyway, I promise that I'm still working diligently on my Porkies weaving.  I decided to do a beaded edge for this weaving.  It's become a bit of a staple in some of my work, and I love the weight of the beads on my wall hangings.  So, I carry a little bin of beads around to work on the edges during ski breaks.  

I held it up to my weaving today and am very pleased with how the colors are turning out.  The center seed bead in this St. Petersburg chain stitch I actually picked up on my drive in to my residency at the Porcupine Mountains.  Marquette has this lovely bead shop called Bella Beads. They must have been meant to be.

Video: Double Weave Pick Up (in Porkies Triple Weaving)

A few times I have been asked to do an explanation of double weave pick up while I weave it from my previous video. I thought that I'd have to wait to do so until my next weaving (I don't do video editing), but there are actually some parts in my Triple Weave piece that I am currently working on that I only need to double weave.  So here you have it folks, double weave pick up with me talking.  Which I don't particularly like hearing my voice on video (and excuse the babbling, I can only handle so many takes of this), but I try to explain the weaving/draw portion as simply as possible,

I have also in the past asked about how I attach my cartoon to my weaving.  So I do touch on that.
Enjoy.

2015 is over, no review, just onward and upward!

New Years has always been my second favorite holiday following Halloween.  The energy I get from that feeling of having a "clean slate" and being allowed to shift my focus or personal goals feels positive.  I have had a rough two years and luckily I got out of a bad marriage situation early this year leading to a ton of positive change in my life from April 23rd-on.

With a house purchase, moving my entire life (a lot of crap is collected when you're in 1 house for almost 7 years and you're an artist), working more at the office, playing catch-up with friends, not to mention the number of amazing people that have come into my life this year, I'm a bit behind on my own artwork.

So.  Art-Career 2016:

1) Finish my piece for the Friends of the Porkies from my residency that I had back in August 2014.  There's a lot of background as to why this piece is back-logged, and it's a huge piece, because I pride myself in my work and they're getting a really great handwoven piece.

2) Update my website.

3) Teach more workshops.  This is already coming to fruition with 2 classes at Interlochen, a three day workshop in the Porcupine Mountains being offered and 2 half-day classes at the Fiber 577 Foundation.  I really enjoy teaching beadweaving and I would like to get my home-space organized enough to teach small groups in my dining room.

4) I'm picking up another seasonal gallery in Door County, WI.  This will put my jewelry in 3 states. That's exciting!!!

5) Never let Delilah (my loom) be empty.  Finish a weaving, wind a new warp and get the next one on.  I have the yarn dyed for my next double-weave already.  A third piece is rolling around in my head to eventually come to fruition, get on top of my larger-scale work!  I will have another solo exhibit in the next few years.

6) Start thinking about another artist residency. Potentially abroad.  I know I need to get balanced with my house/studio etc first, but start that dreaming process.

I have a bunch of personal things that I'll be focusing on too, but I'm reminding myself that my artwork is the most important to me and without it, I am not Jenny Schu.  I feel as though my 2015 was officially over when Sweet Custom Jewelry called me as I was getting ready to leave town to go to the Resolution Ball at the Fillmore in Detroit.  They had my ring ready.  I've always loved my engagement ring even though he never wanted to out a diamond in it.  So I took it in and had an amethyst put in the setting so it would change it's meaning.  The setting is Tacori and Sweet put a beautiful deep round stone in it which has me falling in love with it all over again.

Bring on 2016!  I'm ready for my new beginning!

Porkies Weaving December Update

When I'm working on a weaving that's really long, one of the high-points is when the cartoon (image that I'm working off of from under the warp) starts draping down and I have to start rolling it to keep it off of the treadles. Above is a view from the underside of my loom!

I find I enjoy weaving the most first thing in the morning.  I'm getting on a more normal schedule (ok, not with the holidays, but getting back to it), where I do some yoga or work out while I wait for my coffee to brew. Then get to my weaving for an hour or two.  I work best and most-focused before I have showered or gotten dressed for the day.  It's my quiet down-time and I love it.

I usually try to weave until I start making mistakes.  Since this is triple-weave pick up I sometimes start to think about what else I need to do that day, getting to work, the house, emails start coming in and I can't keep a rhythm anymore.  I think if this was my usual double-weave pick up I wouldn't have the issue of making mistakes when my brain moves to other things, but three layers of fabric have been quite the new challenge for me.

Above is a detail, I'm loving how the background colors are popping through the blues of the water's open weave.  I wasn't sure how to get some of that depth that I'm experiencing from the panorama, and here it is happening naturally.

Double Pod Earrings and St. Petersburg Bracelet with small necklace

I had become a little stumped on jewelry-making (did I mention my weaving-focus?) but I put together an outfit for a friend's wedding which helped me choose colors to make a bracelet and pair of earrings. 

I really love this brown/blue/green combo.  It also happened to match the grouping of jewelry that I recently sent to Paige Waird Gallery up in Calumet, MI. So, of course, after wearing it, I sent it off.  

Earrings $65.00

Small Necklace $75.00

Bracelet $95.00

Three-Color Blocked Bangle and Earrings

I have been focusing mainly on my weaving for the Porcupine Mountains Residency as I'm very late on it's submission, but they have been graceful about understanding the year I've had post-residency.  So only a few new pieces of jewelry have surface for the holidays.  I was playing with some new color combinations for this bangle and earring set.  It was fun to do and would go easily with dress-up or casual.

These are currently at the Lansing Art Gallery Holiday Shop.