Cool Yet Warm

I'm back from Artfest, almost unpacked. The studio still looks like a tornado hit it, and maybe it was hit by one, it was me while I packed!

I had a fabulous time. All my classes were superb.

I made some new friends and saw some old friends again, it was so wonderful. What a lively and talented group, and all so different from each other.

My dorm room in Dorm 225 was a single, no roommate this time, which worked better for me with my insomnia and late-night reading habits. But I slept fairly well even with the two hour difference in time zones.


One afternoon after class I walked on the beach near the dorm, and picked up some shells and rocks, there was every natural color you can think of in that group of washed up stones and bits of wood, I made a little beach collage and brought them all back with me to make a shadowbox with them.

Aren't they pretty, all nestled up in a white shell on a mound of damp sand? The colors of nature are so inspiring.

The weather was perfectly lovely, sometimes sunny and cool, a little rain but not too much, and moderate temperatures even at night.


These little baubles are from the "Hard Candy" class with Melissa Manley, the last day class for Artfest, right before Show and Tell started.

I wanted to make them warm on one side, cool on the other with the ruddy and blue colors. And a little industrial looking, very worn, like something off an old machine that had been sitting out.

One I put a copper wire through and threaded so I can wear it on a long chain. It's a great fiddly bead, it spins around on its axis like a top, and looks a little like a game piece or toy.


The other one I added some wire and twists to and put it onto a short length of steel wire chain I made, very quickly so I could wear it. I will most likely change that out for something else now that I'm back, but what fun to wear to dinner after class.

I'll be posting more about the classes, and I think I'll put most of the photos of the classes and the Show and Tell night onto the Artfest blog, so there's not so much here about it.

I'm also doing the Studio Saturday post this week for the Art Bead Scene blog, so I'll save some special ones for there. And as usual there will be a giveaway involved...

Did I mention that I had a fantastic time? Lovely, wonderful, superb.

Giving Gifts on my Birthday

I went to the post office and I found this wondrous lovely thing, addressed to me from Susan Erickson, who sat next to me in one of my Artfest classes. Today is my birthday, and this was a marvelous surprise!


I just LOVE the charming saying on the reverse side, "When Dottie practices cymbals, all the "do this, do that" demands were drowned out."

And there are her pair of cymbals, on her moveable limbs, all ready to drown out the demands of the day. Truer words were never written, and I've decided I need to make myself some little finger cymbals to wear in honor of it - jingle, jangle, ting-a-ling!


If you look on my Artfest blog you'll find photos of her book pages, she makes the loveliest things and uses stitching and all kinds of neat things on her work. The envelope had stitching all along the edges and the address was stitched onto it, too. Susan is so creative and fun, don't you agree?

GIVEAWAY ANNOUNCEMENT -

In honor of an unexpected gift to me, and today being my birthday and all, I thought I'd announce the giveaway winner. There's really nothing better than giving especially on your own birthday celebration!

The Random Number Generator picked out a number - drum roll please!

It's Kristen at WakingBeautyDesigns! If you click where it says "Send an Email to the Ringleader of LLYYNN" and send me your mailing address, I'll send the "Sweet Dreamer" box bead out to you.

All your posted comments were so helpful, I basically learned that I should make more 3-D beads like this box bead, and that wings, birds and hearts are good themes, also travel related ideas.

EVERYBODY WINS SOMETHING -

For giving me your feedback, if you posted on either day, on June 3 Weathervane or June 4 Giving Special Gifts:

When you buy something from either shop it's BOGO - Buy One Get One of equal or lesser value - please send me a CONVO message first so I know to adjust the items and reserve for you.

And if you commented on both posts - you will get FREE SHIPPING on your next purchase, too!

How's that for giving gifts on one's own natal day? Thanks, my friends. And especially thanks to Susan for her special gift to me.

(PS - if you would like me to make a 3-D bead box similar to this for you, with specific words or names on it, send me an email ... I'll be working on making some more in the next few days!)

Gifts from Creative Friends

GOOD MORNING! Today is my turn at Studio Saturday over at the Art Bead Scene blog, talking about creative group efforts, based around this art medallion pendant I worked on during my trip to attend Artfest. If you pop over and leave an on-topic comment, you might win one of my heart beads! Just a thought ...


Yesterday I went to the Post Office and clapped my hands when I found out I had a package! I never, ever win anything, but I suggested some names for beads for LeAnn Weih at SummersStudio Pottery, and my number came up in the Random Number Generator and I got these wonderful pottery goodies!


Most folks don't know that I studied pottery, wheel thrown porcelain, years ago and apprenticed as a potter. That was a long (LONG) time ago, but I still have a soft spot for handmade ceramics. And I remember what a lot of work goes into them, and how many steps you have to go through, before you get one of these lovelies out of the kiln! The chemistry of the glazes, the technical requirements of firing!


I had mentioned to LeAnn that her designs reminded me of the images of Queen Anne's Lace flowers that I see by the side of the road, like wildflowers, and she made and glazed this lovely little plate for me with that idea brought to life. She does a beautiful job, don't you agree?

Collaborating with others can accelerate creativity, I like working together with folks, so this was a super bonus to me, and I thank LeAnn very much for her kindness and her gifts to me. She's in Texas, and I'm a ex-patriot native Texan, so it's one Texan to another!


Don't you love the look of these designs, very organic and unique. I need to make something special with them, for certain.

I'm headed off now to cut some glass and get it into the kiln, so I have some goodies of my own making to show you soon. Remember my list?

Whither Art?

If you wonder what happened to the art honor medallion focal bead I made, pop over to the Adventures of Artfest on my other blog to find out how it turned out! I wore this necklace at Artfest, many people asked me about it - what fun ...

Light Blind Eyes

Yesterday I pulled up the blinds in the basement studio window, letting in the light from outdoors for the first time in a week. The light was grey through the clouds, but it was nice to see the familiar desk and tools, waiting for me.

The best way, I believe, to hang onto something new that's been learned is to immediately repeat it, until it is deeply learned and the mind and hands are familiar. Like cooking up a new recipe, until it is well known.

That's my goal for this week - to repeat and deeply learn what was shared in my classes, and make it truly mine.

Here's a post that shows more photos of the studio, if you'd like to see more of the insides!

Velvet Portfolio

A while back I talked about the necklace I created in memory of my aunt, my mother's sister, and blogged about it in an earlier post. I knew that my first class at Artfest would be to create a book with Nina Bagley, and I decided that it would be a memory book of sorts for my mother, about her sister.

I made up some components, some you've seen in photos on the blog. Also crocheted some lace in short lengths, and gathered up some of my hand dyed fabrics and stitched, quilted cloth.


This book is not formal or fancy, I wanted it to have the look and spirit of the old style padded photo or souvenir albums my grandmother used to have. Some were covered in velvet and had silver lettering on them, with black heavy paper sheets inside for putting your photos and writing onto, describing the people and places.


The word 'IMAGINE' on the front was part of the trades and ephemera I got when I arrived at Artfest. As well as including some of my own handmade items in the book, I wanted it to be a remembrance of people and places where it was made, so many of the ribbons, beads and other items used in it were given to me at Artfest.


The lace that wraps the cover was made by me, the fabric is my hand dyed cloth. Some of it was torn instead of cut, to have a raggedy, worn look and to symbolize the tearing of the fabric of life.


My aunt and my mother are religious, church-going folks, and on the first day at Artfest someone gave me a package that had a church offering envelope in it. I used the words from it, applying them to the page to indicate that my aunt is an angel now, walking the streets of gold, as the hymn lyrics say.


I took a photo of my mother's family (my mom had not been born yet, that is her sister and brother in the photo) and put an angel wing on her sister's photo, the idea being to imagine her as an angel - thus the word 'IMAGINE' on the front, a scrap of cloth given to me in a trade.

I had never used mica before, so I took song lyric paper and encased it in mica and hinged it as a page in the book, to indicate the psalms and hymns being sung during services.


I added the 'CARPE DIEM' charm with a silver angel dangle on it that I made onto a page decorated with clocks, there are clock faces and measuring yardsticks on both pages to remind me of the short time of life


and to make the most of each day. The photo was taken in a churchyard in Scotland, with the lovely angelic carved stones, marking the people who passed through that place in ages past.


I will make a preservation / presentation box for the book, add the necklace I made earlier, and send to my mother, to remind her of her sister.


I really, really hope she will like them both.

For a peek at the class photos where this book was started, pop over to the Artfest blog.

Stone's Throw

This is the other necklace I made in Linda and Opie O'Brien's class. I love the patina on this one, and the imagery.


The class handout had the drilled stones, copper bezel and some other components already in it, ready to use. I used liver of sulphur to darken the copper and make it look aged, and applied a patina over that to give it the green-blue look.


I was trying to drill into my resin cast buddha I had brought, but didn't have my dremel, so I accidently split it into two pieces. But I decided that the cracked, ancient artifact look worked, so I went ahead and embedded the broken buddha into the bezel. And I like how it gave it a very timeworn look that goes well with the feeling of the rest of the pendant.


I'm debating putting a clear resin top over it, but I sort of like the rustic stone look it has now, combined with the beautiful natural color and texture of the drilled stones, so I may not do that after all.


I brought the chains with me, and a small group of glass colored beads, and found two with a greenish-blue tone that went perfectly with the overall color of the stones and the copper patina.


The reverse side of the copper has asian imagery on it also, those were the images I took with me in my bag to use as class materials and they worked in perfectly.


At first I thought about stacking the stones, to make a link in the chain, but after I drilled the two holes at the top and one in the bottom and put in my metal liners to protect the patina, I knew I wanted to use the stones as a dangle and part of the linked chain. My mother gave me the hemi-circular metallic charms, and I had saved them for something special, so I used them in both the pieces I made in the "Set In Stone" class with the O'Brien's, they seemed to fit in very well.


It feels very lightweight and the color is stunning, very natural world and ancient feeling. I love the writing that shows up on the left lower side, as though someone was writing notes on a wall or box and it remained behind, out of context but still legible.

Linda and Opie are fantastic teachers, I learned a lot about sweat soldering, patina, balance and visual harmony from them. And they are a team in a class, working together and with the students. They have a new book coming out soon, too, so keep an eye out for that. If you ever get a chance to take a class with them, don't pass it by.

Hands On Classes

All the classes I took were inspirational and I got many good ideas from them. This pendant (and one other, I'll show the necklace later) was created in Linda and Opie O'Brien's class called "Set in Stone" - they have a great book on working with metal and they are full of good ideas and solutions.


The lovely asian metal tin cup was part of the packet of handouts for the class, and it was meant to be attached and filled, to turn it into a bezel. When I saw the asian writing on it and the coloring, I loved it and didn't want to cover it over.


I asked Linda and Opie if I could turn it over, and use it face up, instead. She gave me the answer - "It's your party, it's your jewelry, you should make what you want" and willingly helped me in my renegade course, going a different direction with their handout and class plan. Some teachers might have been concerned about taking such a different tack with their class plans, but Linda and Opie were totally supportive and worked with me to make my idea come to life.


If it had been the only bezel available I would not have done something so different and missed the chance to learn about filling the bezel, but they had provided another bezel for a second project, so I pulled ahead with my idea.


The other students in the class were so helpful. I needed a vise to create a rivet to hold the hollow cup down, and someone had thoughtfully brought one. Linda asked if anyone had a round wooden bingo piece that I could use, and someone else graciously loaned it to me. (If the lady with the vise and the lady with the bingo chip will comment on the blog, I would be forever grateful!) ...

Linda had the little washers that were needed to use with my handmade rivet. I textured the brass strip (it was to use as the bail, as you see it, but I put mine on the front of the copper rather than on the back, I liked the shiny brass against the lovely patina of the copper) and cut the strip to the length needed to create the bail.


The extra piece of brass, and the piece of copper that Opie drilled to judge the size of the hole needed for the rivet to be snug, I added to the bottom of the piece, to keep it from being so vertical with the lines in the design.

Also because I'm part magpie, I think, and just love shiny and faceted things!


I had the beads and metal pieces for the dangles in my kit that I brought, and I used one of my fused glass alphabet letters because it had compatible colors with the copper and had an industrial look. I had never listed it on Etsy because the back of it had some debris floating in the glass because of an experiment I tried with inclusions, but it was perfect for this piece because the debris made it fit right in with the other rough surfaces.

I wanted the piece to look like it had come from some old shipping container or wall of a scrap iron building, sort of mechanical with the cup almost looking like a dial for a machine, or a knob for a tool.


I'm very happy with the results, I love how it turned out. I started wearing it on a black ball chain right away, and got many comments about it at dinner. Linda and Opie were so lovely and helpful, if you ever get a chance to take a class with them jump at the opportunity! You will learn a lot, laugh a lot and have a fantastic time.

I think the pendant has the aged, industrial found object look I was hoping for ... what do you think?

Full Circle Full of Joy

Artfest 2009 is a wrap! It was a hectic, fun, zoomy group of days full of new faces, learning, great food, strange weather and fantastic art!



I had great teachers and learned a lot from all the classes, my head is spinning with ideas and images from everyone who was there. For more and more about Artfest, you can pop over to the ArtfestAdventure2009 blog from time to time, I'll be posting lots more photos and sharing lots of stories there, and this blog will be free to talk about what's new in the studio and the art post-Artfest!



There'll be stories about the traveling ... the arrival and the wonderful location with its beautiful natural surroundings ...
The notes and journal with my visual clues and cues to help remember what I learned ...

The rustic and inspiring locations of the classes, the old beautiful buildings at the Fort and the Artfest campus areas ...


Until the last, very early morning of departure, the sun rising and tinting the clear sky and the ocean nearby - It was a fabulous, life altering trip! I'll share photos of the pieces I made while I was there, and talk about the lovely people, both local and from all over the world, who were in attendance!

I missed you all - and if any new folks I met at Artfest drop by please give a wave and leave a comment to let me know you were in the neighborhood and stopped by for a visit ....