The Need to Experiment

I have found that as I continue creating with whatever media I am obsessed with at the moment, that I have a true NEED to push it , to experiment and to follow the call of the What IF voices. . Blog hopping has led me on a very rewarding journey where i have met some amazingly talented and like minded artists. I have often struck up conversations with artists and have increased my desire to explore with my media exponentially.
I find that I am always combining the things that I love to work with to create new pieces and lately that has resulted in felted pieces full of layers of texture and bead work and stitch.

Lately I am having a very rewarding experience doing hand work.  perhaps this is because this hearkens back to my very first experiences with art.  As a young child of 4, I was given large squared gingham and a not very sharp needle with embroidery floss to do cross stitch.  All the women around me were constantly knitting and that soon became my focus with creating doll blankets.  Then living on the ocean and collecting treasures was a passion and so the story goes.
Above you can see the third piece in my Tide Lines series of work titled Nantucket Sound.  This began with my embellishing machine with bits of lace and yarn and gauze and hand dyed cheese cloth.  All were combined with merino wool fibers and then wet felted to further connect the fibers and add dimensional texture through the fulling of the wool.  Stitching through felted pieces is a joy as the needle glides through the fabric  so easily.  some evenings I can sit for a very long time creating oodles of French and Chinese knots
 before i am ready to add the found treasures collected in my beach walks.

All of the found bits that were added as the last step were collected along a beach in Chatham MA, which is part of the area known as Nantucket Sound, hence the title.  this piece will be framed in a shadow box for display.

I have also used my felting and beads combination of creating art in my most recent experiments.  I have created Nuno felt- ( the combination of many different fibers and fabrics to create a NEW or Nuno piece of textile.)  Merino wool fibers from Opulent Fibers- my favorite supplier- has served as the glue for these pieces .  Hand dyed silks, silk fibers, bits of lace and scrim and hand dyed cheese cloth has all been added to generate the texture and interest that I strive for in all of my pieces.  All of these pieces were felted together around a heavy copper wire core.  I was not at all sure this would work but there was nothing for it but to have a go! I followed the advice of the What IF? voices.

I was thrilled to find that the wool/ silk mix felted and fulled beautifully around the copper core and left me with some glorious texture for adding stitch and bead work.

I did do my first experiments with this white, blue piece and then jumped in, with both feet, to create other colorways.  At the ends of the felt work I wrapped and stitched a bit of turquoise silk gauze as the felting there was a bit thin.  I like that finished look and it taught me to make the felt a more uniform thickness along the wire.  Then I went to the bead stash having reached the stage for the FUN part, the Hand Work!!!

And here they are ready for display at Artful Dimensions Gallery in all their texture filled and beaded softness.

  Don't be afraid, follow the What IF ??? Voices

Latest Cuff Class Creations !!!!

Teaching this class has become one of my favorite sources of inspiration and excitement!! I am always delighted to see a students creation take on it's own life and absorb the spirit and mood of each artist. The piece always becomes a mirror of it's makers artistic soul!!
I think that Many of you that know my wonderful friend and amazingly talented artist Leslie Brier, would have little trouble identifying this work in progress as Leslie's work!! You are so right!!

Here you see Leslie's incredible collage of found bits and beads all sewn down on to the ulta suede fabric , ready for attachment to the cuff form.

Yes, you Can see various gears, metal battleships from a vintage Monopoly set, an amazing tiny sparkplug charm that was an advertizing give away, way back when, old buttons, all surrounding a wonderful info label from a small motor!! Fantastic!!! Leslie shared that she has been known to buy small motors just to pry the labeling tags from the carcass!!! Brilliant and so LESLIE!!!

This next piece glows with wonderful soft colors and exudes the lovely, calm and beautiful spirit of it's maker , the lovely Liana! I would never have put this combination of colors together, but this cuff is so shimmeringly gorgeous, I sure do wish that I had!!!

You See, I learn so very much from my students!!

The lovely coral colored bits on this cuff were loving pryed from a vintage buckle that had lost several of it's parts. We are not sure if the lilies are real coral or fabulous Bakelite plastic. No matter, they are divine and became the centerpiece for Liana's fabulous work.

The liliies set the bar for a stunning 3 dimensional garden themed display of color and light play and resulted in a stunning cuff of Artistic beauty!!!
Remember, that the vast majority of my students have never done any work like this before and several have never worked with beads before.!! Yet each and every student that has enrolled in this class has departed with an incredibly unique piece of bead embroidered jewelry!!! It really is stunning and it is NOT all due to my teaching- this comes form inside each person who opens themselves up to the artistic possiblities. I pass on tips and a few simple techniques and several well learned pit falls to avoid, but everything else comes from the hand that passes the needle and thread thru the bead and the cloth!!

This is the cuff that I used as my teaching sample and that I finished off as we dove into the challenges of attaching the beaded cuffs to the cuff blanks. It serves as a reminder to always Laugh and to NEVER take ones self too seriously!!! (This cuff is now for sale at Sophia Street Studios in downtown Fredericksburg!!!)

Release your creative spirit and allow yourself to find the artistic well that flows in all of us-where ever you are-

Take A Class !!

Bits As Parts of A New Whole......

After a while, many of us who collect old bits of things, old buttons, watch parts, beads and hardware, find that these treasures start to FIND us. I have several friends in various parts of the country who know what it is that I collect and who keep their eyes open and ears to the ground , with my little list in mind. Occasionally, I will find a box or an envelope in the mail with broken jewelry, rusted metal or old buttons and linens tucked inside. Many other folks ask me what I do with all of these bits of fluff and whatnot and to some, TRASH. So I thought that I would share a bit of my creative process with you! Above you can see a picture of some of the various bits form my stash, everything from broken jewelry chains, to single earrings, to beads and old buttons.

THe majority of these items I modify in some way. I will combine a single earring with the decorative back of a vintage shoe clip to show off the wonderful embossed decoration on the clip back. I will wire several buttons together to make an attractive dangle element and I will seperate the chains into smaller bits and reassemble into a collage chain format. I also make my own bead elements out of bits of quilted fabrics, hand painted cloth and seed beads. Sometimes I add beads created from painted and melted tyvek or distressed felt. Anything that is found with a hole in it becomes a bead or I will find A way to wire wrap a hole-less item or drill a hole in something that was not intended to be a "bead".

For example, here I have created a sterling silver wire and vintage button grouping to create a necklace dangle. The underwear button (pre elastic invention, with the two oversized holes) has two mother of pearl childrens clothing buttons and a white leather shoe button attached to it.

In the picture above you can see a collage that I have created in a vintage watch case. After I have amassed my elements and created a theme for my particular creation , I begin linking all of the bits together to create a jewelry collage. I cannot share anymore pictures of this particular piece right now as this will be on it's way to a dear friend, for a birthday celebration. WHen the piece arrives at it's destination, I will be free to reveal the entire piece.

I may not know what I will be using each and every little bit for, when I find it, but I do know that each part will play an important role in each of my collage jewelry creations. By putting all of these little bits of singularly insignificant ephemera together, a new creative and cohesive whole is formed and each bit is honored as an integral member of that new piece of jewelry