Sunday, August 28, 2016

Pac-Man Bangle 2


It seems like so long ago when I designed the first Pac Man bangle as a commission for Betsy.  I had started playing with conductive thread and this particular bracelet held a coin battery, has 4 led lights and snaps together.  I have been meaning to revisit this design (in a more simple manner), there was a call for art for a games exhibit, thus making me pull this pattern out of my archives.



This was fun to get back to. I do have to admit that I miss-counted on the yellow Pac-Man himself thus having to cut the glass seed beads out of an entire vertical row and going in to stitch the yellow in properly.  You can only see the thread from the back (inside) of the bangle when I do this (see below).


Wednesday, August 10, 2016

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.


Playing with Fire (Small Weaving)

I doodled these matches back in 2015. I had gotten divorced, I was out a lot and "playing with fire" was feeling like the best des...