A Quilt  For Simone

When my daughter was little I made her a blankie from a small lap blanket size quilt that kept coming apart where the pieces were sewn together. When I would see a spot coming apart I would take some fabric from a cute pair of pants or anything sweet and cut out a flower shape and cover the part that was coming apart. Eventually the blankie had several flowers and bugs. I also put a silky backing on it because, well, it's silky.

Simone loved her blankie as any kid with a blanket named blankie does. She would have it still if she didn't have the unfortunate experience of puppy-sitting a dog that got a hold of it and shredded half of it. Although it was shredded like a car wash octopus thingy she still slept with it. 

About 6 weeks ago I looked at it and asked her if she would like a new one. I was quite surprised by the colors she picked out at first which were beige and beiger. I encouraged her to get a bit more color since the palette she was expressing to me was corals and pastels.

This was the background.

 I added the darker colors but didn't use them all. 

I stuck to a flower theme and chose clematis on a trellis.

I added birds and the original buzzy bee from the first blanket

Still silky on the back and an extra cushy 4 layers of batting.

Here you can see that the test run went very well!

17TH CENTURY FASHION AND JEWELRY

"Toward the end of the 16th century, the Renaissance style blended gradually into the manifestations of the Baroque period, which arose at different times in different countries. This gradual change in the style of jewelry was conditioned mainly by two factors. The first was of a technical nature and concerned improvements in the cutting of precious stones, while the second consisted of a great vogue for the cultivation of flowers. Floral and vegetable decoration therefore became the most fashionable theme for jewelry designers, and its popularity spread throughout Europe. The ornamental motifs of knots, ribbons, and Rococo scrolls also saw a considerable development."

http://www.britannica.com/art/jewelry/17th-century

http://costume-jewelry-magazine.blogspot.com/2012/08/jewelry-history-in-17th-cfentury-baroque.html

I have to say not my favorite fashion period but, alas, Orlando Bloom saves the day!

I was drawn to the necklace from Nepal because of the shell like shape to it. I felt it could lend itself to this challenge. I was drawn to the Hungarian pieces because of the flowers and animals which reflect the statement given above. I wanted to incorporate the two for this challenge.

For the focal bead I had added more things to it but it was a bit garbled so I took them off and just let the colors, shapes and textures speak for themselves. 

I used brass sheet metal and embossing enamels and pigments. The wire is a bronze wrapping wire and was twisted. 

The bracelet I struggled with I had it all together bet the leaf is so slender that it looked good but wasn't as balanced as I felt it should be. I used Sari Silk from Lima Beads http://www.limabeads.com/Multi_Color-100-Silk-Sari-Ribbon-P21834

The round swirl discs are from Taneres on Etsy

https://www.etsy.com/shop/taneres

The clasp is antique or vintage I repurposed it with a Grace Bead I think it is a Grace ://gracebeads.com/.

I thought that I saw an insect in the painting so I made it a dragonfly.

The leaf is sheet metal shaped and enameled with embossing enamels and pigments.

This 17th century "statement necklace" was probably given by King Pratapamalladeva, ruler of the palace in Kathmandu, Nepal to Taleju Bhavani.

Hungarian, 17th century Jewellery by Kotomi on Flickr

17th Century Jewellry, Hungarian, Flickr

Mid-17th century Italian/Hungarian Bodice and skirt at the Museum of Applied Art, Budapest - Found via Ladies Historic Fashion!

July

Art Bead Scene Challenge

http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2015/07/july-monthly-challenge-color-palette.html

Still Life with Seashells by dutch painter Balthasar van der Ast

1640

 Van Der Ast became one of the most distinguished still life painters in the Netherlands. His unique subject matter, such as seashells and fruit, also made him notable among his peers. He is considered to be one of the founders of still life painting in the Netherlands.

I am very excited about this painting! It is so beautiful and I know most people remember collecting shells whenever they were on vacation.

I especially like the shell right above the black swatch.  It is very unique to me. 

Well anyway, I love working with metal and the embossing enamels so here is my first bead.

I can see myself progressing as an artist and I really like this pendant.

Second piece. Polymer clay focal created by Katherine T ~ myself.  Well I couldn't get that black and white or pearly white shell out of my mind and it almost drove me out of my mind. I really had to work on it  and it didn't come together until I was gifted the metal beads. I purchased the wood disc beads with Mother of Pearl inlay from, The Bead Gallery in Ann Arbor. You can look at the older posts to see my visit there.Vintage leaf dangle. If you notice there is a leaf in the painting, Yay! Even though this is my inspired necklace I try to capture the feeling of the painting I thought the swirls on the metal beads helped interpret the swirls of the shells.

Meet The Art Bead Artists: June, 2015

I was delighted to be one of the highlighted artists this week in a post from Mary Harding! What a privileged to be considered amongst these fantastic artists! All I can say is WOW! I am so grateful, thank you Mary!


http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/

TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015

Meet The Art Bead Artists: June, 2015

                            Artist Beads Inspired by the painting Feuilles by Louis Seraphine

Here are some of the wonderful art beads that have been posted to the Art Bead Scene Pinterest Board in response to the June Challenge painting, Feuilles, by Louis Seraphine.  All just stunning!!
As in past months, this post is about meeting some of these art bead artist who have contributed.  You may remember meeting Barbara Handelsman of  BH Claysmith and Cate Van Alphen of Fulgorine Beads in previous posts.  I have highlighted their names with links to those posts.


This month I am please to introduce you to Katherine Thompson.  She tells me she has been an artist all  her life making paintings and sculpture.  More recently she began making jewelry and now is focusing on making art beads and jewelry components.
I asked Katherine what inspired her about  this months ABS Challenge painting (pictured  below)

                       
                                                  Feuilles by Louis Seraphine

Katherine told me:  When I saw the painting there was no second thought for me, I love leaves.  When I was young I had the wonderful opportunity to live on 10 acres with horses, cows, an assortment of fowl, cats, dogs, gardens and huge trees. I used to walk around our property with a bird book and a tree book. I would try to identify them, I am a nerd. I love to learn. I am drawn to using my hands so I absolutely love shaping copper. Little sculptures. The leaves in this painting fit round peg into round hole for me. I could spend the rest of my life on leaves inspired from this painting.

Katherine likes to work with copper and describes her process: I am drawn to using my hands so I absolutely love shaping copper. Little sculptures.  I love enamel work too and have a tendency to improvise to get what I want. Somewhat like the featured artist I used what I have been playing with to get what I wanted. I used the Utee melting pot with the clear embossing enamel and shaved pastels on to my leaves. I had the freedom to mix, leave chunks, dots, drools, swirls, make my own colors. In this way I was able to apply a more painterly approach to my work and truly create a one of a kind piece.

Some more of Katherine's Leaves:
            

                          Copper Leaf by Katherine Thompson Barn Burd Designs





Copper Leaf Pendant ~ Green Embossing Enamels by Katherine Thompson of Barn Burd Designs

You can read more about Katherine on her blog  where she explains her business name and how she is changing over all of her sites so they will be in sync.
and visit her  Etsy Shop to see more of her work.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


               Art Beads by Pat Handschuh  for the June ABS Challenge   Polymer Clay

These stunning beads were posted yesterday afternoon to our Pinterest Board and I did not have time to speak with the artist Pat Handschuh of The Color of Dreams but wanted to include them and give you some links where you can get to know her work better.
She has an Etsy shop called The Color of  Dreams Boutique where she sells her amazing handmade polymer clay beads.  I learned from her shop profile that she has been making art beads and jewelry for over 10 years.  I have included  a couple of pictures of her beautiful beads.

Unique Blue Turquoise Feather Handmade Artisan Polymer Clay Beads by thecolorof dreams

Europa Moon Colorful Handmade Artisan Polymer Clay Beads Pair by  thecolorofdreams

You can read more about Patricia Handschuh on her blog thecolorofdreams.  She has a post explaining how she made her beads for this month's ABS Challenge.

Earrings Everyday June Challenge

Inspired by tide pools. 

Well I ccould have made many, maany things from this inspiration! This is what I did. Brass plate textured and colored with metal paints. Ceramic greek beads and fresh water pearls.

Here are the jewelry pieces that I created with my special gifts from  Mary Harding I won them from Art Bead Scene. I absolutely love how different these pieces are! Each one is a reflection of my personality. 

This bracelet fit the vibrancy of this month's Art Bead Scene challenge so well it made it easy and delightful for me to put the two together! I absolutely love!!! the silk string, ( I'm guessing it's silk ) it is so pretty. It worked well with the beads that I made to meet the challenge too. I also was able to have some of my beautiful flowers blooming at this time that I felt reflected the colors of the challenge. 

 

Copper Leaf earrings, hand shaped and colored with embossing enamels and pastels. Silk gifted from Mary Harding.

Copper leaf pendant hand shaped and colored with embossing enamels and pastels.

Asiatic lilies, sun drops

corn poppy

day lilly

Beads from Ragged Robyn. and Michaels.  Czech flower and leaf beads.

 HISTORY

Feuilles

by

Stephanie Lois

You can see the quick biography of Stephanie on the Art Bead Scene blog here  http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2015/06/june-monthly-challenge.html

The era of this painting is the 1920's. Here is a poster from 1920 showing the Art Deco fashion and jewelry style of that time.

1925 Pearl Jewelry advertisement

 

Aviation hat 1928

http://www.artdecosociety.org/gatsby/f_accessories.htm 

I was very fortunate this month to receive a random pick comment winner from Art Bead Scene's posts. I was given a gift certificate from Mary Harding for $20.00. I chose the toggle clasp but she put this sweet ceramic heart on it with this beautiful string that I will be recycling for this month's Art Bead Scene Challenge. Than you, thank you Mary!

What's really neat is that in December I was the random pick winner too. I won a gift certificate from Ragged Robyn. She is located in the U.K. and I was expecting the package to come slowly especially since it was holiday time but it eventually came just this month. Every day I went to the mailbox and I kept telling my kids, " It'll be there! " I had hope!!!! ( DRAMATIC BACKGROUND MUSIC!!!) and then there it was. I whipped those beads into a necklace for ME of course right away. I will post soon! Thank you Robyn!!!