More Video...Beadworking On The Move

 

I'm trying to work on posting video. I don't like it, I want to re-do all of them, I hate the sound of my recorded voice...the list goes on. In 2020 it took me 2 hours to put together a five minute video to promote a Fiberside Chat I was doing. 2 hours I could have been weaving. 

I'm getting inspired by others to just post, with mistakes, whatever happens. Video doesn't have to be perfect or edited, just, do it. So the above video has 2 clips. The first is what I thought I was preparing for Instagram, but was too long for....whatever reason. Then it's followed by the actual Instagram post which I somehow managed to make really really short. I really just wanted to try to figure out captions, which, with @WeaverBee's help, I did. 

It's a start, and it's getting me to decide what to work on in the mornings before work and what might be cool to show. I love packing and re-packing beads. This beaded part that I'm packing up in the video only has 2 different beads styles so simplifying the "traveling bead studio" has been really helpful. There's more details on what this part of the weaving is going to be in this blog post.

Convergence Reno 2018

Convergence Conference, Reno NV, 2018.  To start, I did a terrible job at taking photos while we were there. So this is just a little run-down of our 5 days in July and my first year being a Leader with Handweaver's Guild of America's Convergence Conference at the Peppermill Casino and Resort.

HGA did a wonderful job with the Conference and Gallery Guides.  The map of the hotel/casino in the back of the booklet was indispensable.  It took us a bit to get a grasp on the hotel layout after being on the road since 4am.

I failed to take any photos of my room set-up for my 90-minute seminar on "Traveling Bead Studio" I had a full class of 15.  I think I'd open this up to 20-25 people in the future, but it was nice being able to have a small group with great conversation flow and easy to show my traveling studio set-ups in person. I had a lot of wonderful response from the class, thank you!  

This happened to be the first time I've flown with my jewelry set-up.  It also travels in cases like my mini studios.  I usually have a ton of displays and hat boxes for showing and storing things but for sanity's sake I simplified ( see above).  It was really nice to have the opportunity to show my work in the Leader's Booth and speak to the people who took my Seminar along with meeting other weavers and fiber artists.  I was a bit overwhemled with all of my running around and talking to people that I didn't market myself very well.  In 2020, I need to put FB back on my phone so I can use the Convergence Conference Attendees Page better.  I am loving that people are posting their finished projects from classes as they get home and get back to them.  

The fashion show...again, not great photos, but the energy was so amazing at it, I didn't want my phone in front of my face the whole time:

On our last day Bryan and I went up to the very top floor with the suites.  What a view Reno!

We also made it to Reno City Hall where the Complex Weaver's Exhibit was being shown.  I swoon at the talent we have in all of our national guilds!  (We did see the Exhibits at the Conference, Mixed Media, Garment, etc... again, I failed to take photos and happened to be really tired that day).

Complex Weavers Exhibits

And we took a Lyft out to the Wilbur D. May Museum to visit the Small Expressions Exhibit and see my 2 pieces there, only to find them closed on Monday.  :(  We walked the ground though and found some dinosaurs and a bright figurative silk display.

When in downtown Reno, we did the tourist-thing and visited the Silver Legacy, Circus Circus (saw a short act there) and the National Bowling Stadium (it wasn't open for anything).

And one of the days had an AMAZING lunch from Miguel's!

Thank you so much to HGA, weavers, fiber artists and colleagues for another great Convergence Conference.  See you in Knoxville 2020!

(And in 2020 I won't be battling a cold!  I feel like I missed a lot due to naps to get over a cold, but I held it together for my talk which was the most important!)

Retro Small Bangle and Earrings

I'm excited to say that I've put myself on the artist vendor list for Bridgefest in Lansing on June 21, 2018.  I haven't done any sort of outdoor tent/art fair sort of thing in years so I figured I'd dip my toes back into it to see how it feels. That being said, I'm trying to put together more stock that's $100 and under, which means smaller, more geometric bangles and lots of earrings. 

I think I pulled this black/white and teal mix due to the current color at the women's clothing store I work at.  The bangle above turned out very retro looking to me.  Like when MTV came out (back when it still played only music videos).  I didn't have cable growing up but it was still part of the pop-culture that surrounded me. 

You can purchase the bangle HERE.

I liked the bangle enough to put together matching earrings.

You can purchase the earrings HERE.

Tiny layering bangles are becoming a big focus for color play.  

(This is the MTV that I remember!)

Moving on.... I also got out my larger bead kit/case to start in on a bangle that I finished drafting last night.  I'm trying out ginkgo leaves, inspired by Rhea who owns Old Town General Store.  Another pop-up I'm doing is My Arts Night Out in Old Town Lansing on May 4, 2018.  We are a regular customer at OTGS and she's getting her artist line-up in early!  I know she's an amazing gardener and I asked what some of her favorite plants were, ginkgo was the first thing that came to mind, so I'm going to see about doing a few of "Reah's Favorites" for this show.