Blissfully blue

I like integrity, it balances the soul beautifully and is an enjoyable quality to pursue. There are times though, when the lack of it in others makes me want to rant so bad I could smash plates! Life lesson learned, is to stay silent and await the gentle work of karma to rebalance injustices. Enough said.

blue pendant

The blue stones I bought from the lovely market stall holder, and the promise to follow my bliss, combined with sadness caused by the episode alluded to above, had me take a time out to contemplate and bead.
The little blue discs of sodalite and a big donut bead of cut and polished Dumortierite were waiting to be used, rather than consigned to the 'one day' box.
Blue has been a tricky one for me, it's only recently that it has crept into my wardrobe and it's proving a fun colour to explore it with my beading.
Dumortierite is a deep denim blue, with the mystical properties of enabling the wearer to see life as it really is, to release negativity and stand firm in resolve. Sodalite brings calm, trust, rational thought and is a soother of stress irritated tummies. So if you see me wearing this piece of armour you'll know exactly what frame of mind I'll be in... or in need of!
The design process was helped along by the round shapes of the cut stones. I wanted simplicity and balance. A lucky delve into the bead box came up with the blue glass spike beads and a way to continue the trickle of thought about designs on the theme of 'sticks and stones'. They also act as a little post -it note to self, to avoid the pitfalls of negativity and negative people in general!

Exhibition piece

So, after telling you how it got started here I can now show and share my finished piece.
The Beadworkers Guild are having an exhibition of works called 'The Magic of Macintosh in Beads' and hopefully my necklace will make the grade. I love the way that the Guild got us all inspired to explore a design theme, then rollup our collective sleeves to have a go.
Pause to mourn the path not taken, elaborate designs consigned to sketch book pages for that 'one day when' and superseded by fresh ideas. Share the fun of the piece I did get time to make.

the design idea on the day

If you recall, my sample was a little triangle, an idea I wanted to get right if nothing else as my 'on the day' one was a bit lumpy.
This sat in my beading box until the deadline loomed, I hate that life is like this but in between were lots of other deadlines and the somewhat glorious excuse that my brain needed time to think it's way around the technical problems I had set it.
First, I really didn't like the bezel, to get a bead count for three sides gave a sloppy bezel that was pulling out of shape. Next, I knew that the sides and edges needed different bead counts to get them to lie flat and in a more crisp triangle shape. I have long loved Rennie Macintosh drawings and thought my colours based on his drawing of a fritillary flower was a good selection, but taking a harder look at his architectural work changed my mind on colours too. So bead it, change it, bead it, change it and million unpicks later I had a triangle motif in the colours of the Willow Tea rooms.

The Willow Tea Rooms, photo by w:User:Dave souza

The May Queen

I also wanted to hint at a texture inspired by the embedded glass beads and cabochons in Margaret MacDonalds panels, and a hint of the graphic lines and zigzags in the interiors of 78 Derngate, created for a man with colour blindness, so unusually stark and graphic.

Once I had the motif finalised, the final necklace configuration was based on the shapes I so love in Margaret's panel called 'The May Queen'. One of three panels for the Ladies Luncheon Room, Ingram Street Tea Rooms.
It is constructed of oil painted gesso on hessian and scrim, set with twine, glass beads, thread, mother-of-pearl, and tin leaf panel; you just sense that she had the best fun getting inventive with these materials! 
I love the long embellishment that the May Queen is wearing on her gown.

the finished necklace

So my final piece, inspired by these uniquely creative people, unashamedly borrows colours and shapes, makes absolutely no claims or pretensions other than as a really enjoyable process to play with inspiration and make something I will definitely wear once it is home again. 

I've loved the process of transferring ideas into my own medium, beads. 

I've also really enjoyed the 'doodling' process, the jotting out of ideas, those paths not yet taken, but which sit and wait, a feast of ideas to explore. Finally, I like that the process has taken my work in a direction I wouln't normally go, and has brought me some new elements that I'm sure will morph into projects I can share.

Now I'm itching to see what everyone else has made. If you're in Northampton, drop by and see for yourself... If not, join the Guild and be part of our next beady adventure.

Pink and pretty

Acantha, spiky lariat workshop

So that's really not me at all is it, pink and pretty. OK so the idea is... I wanted to try some new ideas but working in a set of colours outside my 'comfort zone' to see if different things would happen.
First is Acantha (Greek for thorn, the nymph who fended off Apollo too).
The Acantha is a divining rod, a dowsing for happiness lariat. Part of the symbols series, and using lots of lovely Albion Stitch. I also used some adorable 2mm Czech glass pearls and some of the Silver silk chain. Always good to add in new products... plus some of the lovely Czech spikes too.
Go back, 'Symbols series'? yes, a new adventure in Albion and combined stitches is the Symbols series, a kind of continuation of my Treasures and talismans classes. My love of antiquities and story telling combined into one new exciting project for which Acantha, The Time Traveller's Compass, and a few more pieces are a little part... 'exciting no?

Estelle bracelet, sparkly arm candy for fun.      

So having started thinking about what workshops I'd like to be teaching next year, I carried on playing with the pink and pretty idea and came up with (hopefully not too similar to anyone elses?) a really quick and easy bezel that can be worked to capture Swarovski stones of different sizes.... so far a cute little bracelet and necklace with a pendant set, but bound to be worked on some more...
Mostly though I'm happy that the experiment worked, I'll be happy to go back to my preferred colours... but pink is definitely the new accent colour... or maybe a dark plum...

Estelle pendant, variable bezel to fit
different size Swarovski stones.