Studio Time: Beads Made! Now to make the jewelry

I've have trays of beads and components laid out to make jewelry! So fun...

The grays... leftover from a custom order, plus some jewelry to clean up for my mom.

The yellows... can't wait to put these together.

Another piece in the Rust Series. Super super love the "garbage beads"... I know. I really should call them something else... but that's how they started and it's sticking in my head! And now they've been renamed to Strata Beads

Silver clay components drying and waiting to be filed. The designs and my own hand carved stamps.

That's it for now!

Studio Time: Make Ugly Beads

When it comes to creating, it's to fun wildly explore and experiment. Often ugly beginnings (link to my beginnings in glass beads) create really interesting results. At the recommendation of someone (I don't know who) I kept all my ugly beginning beads. They're in a small jar. They are the beads my friends like to sort through. Some of my current techniques have basis in these ugly beginnings. 

Last Saturday, I saw beads on a necklace at the farmers market that triggered an idea that I wanted to try at home. I had a bunch of scrap clay laid out from my last session in the Rust Series (I mixed 2 reds and a brown and three different blues).  I made two sets of beads. One of them seemed promising.

Then, seeing a relatively empty tray, I smashed together some "garbage beads" as an experiment for learning. Very interestingly, when I carved both beads back, the "garbage beads" ended up being the real gems. I've really been embracing my organic approach to beads. The messier the better the results. I love the layers of color and some of the way carving it back made it look a little bit like the mica shift technique.

Liking the results of my experiment, I tried repeating the technique again... here are the beads before carving.

The beads after carving...

These are pretty large chunky beads... well, chunky for me.

And the shavings. I've been saving all of the shavings and experimenting with these leftovers, but nothing valid yet.

 That was fun! Still working in the rust series colors...

Artfully Meandering: Washington Oaks Park

Another local gem, Washington Oaks State Park, sends you back into a a slice of natural Florida. This beautiful land is located on a relatively unspoiled hammock, and site of the original orange groves in Florida.

When I first drove into this park, it surprised me with it's seeming quiet and privacy. The Young family owned this property and when they passed away, donated it to the state for enjoyment of all. Their property extended from the Atlantic ocean to the intercostal river way. They settled their house on the less busy intercostal. And this is such a beautiful gem of land.

This little fern glen was a delightful little surprise.

But, my most favorite part are the tall Southern Live Oak trees festooned with romantic streamers of Spanish moss. I've been trying to capture the beautiful light streaming through the strands, but never quite get what I see in person... but here is a sense...

Washington Oaks Beach

Artfully Meandering: Fountain of Youth Exhibit in St. Augustine

Recently I toured one of the local attractions, Fountain of Youth, here in St. Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is the oldest colonial city in the US that has been continuously occupied since 1565. 

While the colonial history is interesting, there is a lot about it that is heartbreaking and brutal. I was more intrigued with the earlier inhabitants of this area. The original native Americans in this area were the Timucuan Indians. They died out in the late 1700's. This area was originally the Timucuan settlement called Seloy. What I found particularly interesting from the tour was how fertile this area was. They said they only had to work 3-4 hours a day to provide for themselves through gardening and fishing and maintenance of the family compound. 

Below is the re-creation of a family compound (the equivalent of a house) comprised of several small structures. 

This would be the sleeping area with a small opening to control ingress and egress. It was about 5-10 degrees cooler inside, which is very important in hot hot Florida.

Pea Fowl

The most exciting part of this park were the pea fowl. And the boys were definitely on display that day!

This sleepy little hen (?)  just didn't seem all that impressed with the boys.

Have no idea who this boy was showing off to. :-)

The peacocks and the re-created Timucuan settlement are very interesting and I look forward to going back another time.

Studio Time: Rust Series

The colors in this color palette give me a tingle every time I see them. Mainly because they remind me of the southwest color palette I really love and miss. I've been attempting to replicate this texture and color pattern in polymer clay. Here is an early attempt.

While I was happy with the start, it left me feeling "meh."

But recently I've started carving the polymer after the clay has cured. I love the texture in monochromatic beads or swirled beads. I also started experimenting with a core color wrapped in a thin layer of an alternate color. When carving back the top color, I was able to achieve the look I was seeking with this rusted metal look. I created a series of "Wilma Beads" (you know, the big chunky, textural beads that Wilma Flintstone wore in the cartoon series).

Here is the large chunky necklace (Wilma style)....

Here is a simple bead and chain necklace...

A slightly more complex piece that while initially seemed southwest has leaned a little more toward the Asian because of the inclusion of metallic leaf. Usually my latest piece is my most favorite. This is my latest piece. This is my most favorite. :-)

Coordinating bon bon earrings....

So much fun to see what I had in my head come to life in my art.

Have you ever had an idea for your art that was a bit of a struggle execute and then you finally got it?