charms

new bracelets

Pogo Purse

This is what I made with the Pogo Portrait.... The purse is made with some sort of blanket fabric; it needs a lining, but that will have to wait until I get it back from the Fair. I may add some more dangly bits to it, too....

More new stuff.... necklaces & chokers

Tuxedo Cat: Onyx fan, pressed glass, seed beads, glass button.
Hidden Lagoon: Chinese lampwork, fire polished glass, onyx, Bali silver.Wimsy: Artisan lampwork (sorry-- I forget whose), pressed glass, vermeil & GF, seed beads, glass button.
HOT!: Artisan lampwork (don't know this artist, either), pressed glass, GF, seed beads, glass button.
Bumblebee: Artisan lampwork (Mike Poole of Tillerman Beads, UK), pressed glass, seed beads, glass button.

Cabochon Brooch

Vintage German (?) cabochon center; 11/0 and 15/0 seed beads; Lacey's Stiff Stuff; Ultrasuede; pin finding; Fireline; Hypotube cement.

A few beads....

These are most of my beads.... Kinda mixed in with garden stuff and such at the moment, but then, they are out on the patio....

Pogo-- almost done

Pogo Portrait Progress....

About 3/4 of the portrait is beaded.... Need to figure out something to back/mount it.

Pogo's Progress, 2

I think there are about 50 rows done... I keep losing count because my eyes kind of cross and things get blurry.... If you want to try, the way to do it is to count diagonally from the bottom (left side).

Things got delayed because I had to order more "string" (Fireline)online... that which was available locally was almost black in color, instead of light gray like the reel I started with. I'm now using white-- still have a color change line in the semitransparaent beads, but not as bad as the black line the other was making.

Happy New Year! And Pogo....

Finally started my "art project"-- a peyote stitch portrait of Pogo, from a drawing by Walt Kelly (with permission from his daughter, Carolyn). Looks like it'll be ~5 1/2" wide. Originally, I planned to do this with 15/0 beads and make it an amulet bag, but I couldn't get enough of the colors I wanted-- like multiple shades of gray.... I'm using 11/0s, which means it's "too big" for an amulet bag, and at this point, I'm not sure how it will be presented/mounted/whatever. Hanging "tapestry"? Framed? Sewn to something wearable or an accessory?

After a couple of false starts, and breaking up a couple of dog spats, I finished 17 rows (of ~124). Three hours of beading... ~ 5 yards of Fireline....

I'll post a picture when I have 30 or so rows done.

Maneki-neko

These are a few of my collection of about 40 or so "beconing cats"-- the bottom two "families" and the top left kitty are New Years decorations. The top right "fat cat" is a very popular new version-- s/he comes in many sizes and colors.

And how does this relate to anything about beading or crafts? Well, it's in answer to a question by a fellow beader... and Yahoo wouldn't let me post on the group.

CCI Art show table, vendor booth statue

Sergio, Stan & Hanna, My art show panel

Trying again to upload pix.... "Admiral Bragg" and Pam

Fine Arts Show

Yesterday, I entered the "C-Note Show" at the San Diego Art Institute (www.sandiego-art.org) . This is the first time I've been in a "fine arts" gallery show.

There was a "jury" of sorts-- the staff member checking stuff in was the "jury", and she said "Oh! Lovely!... is this the only one?" Most people, at least up to when I brought mine in, were entering the max (8 pieces)-- they will be "juried" a bit more strenuously, but everybody entering pieces that meet the general criteria (framed or mounted if not on stretched canvas; wired for hanging if "wall art") will get at least one of their pieces "hung".

Petition re: Austin Hamilton beads

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/872722428

"A request that Minek INC state in all their advertisements, auctions and sales listings the country of manufacture of the beads sold by Minek and all subsidiary companies such as Austin Hamilton."

This is to request that the company use "truth in advertising"-- that is, to identify the country of origin (China), rather than imply that they are made by small-studio artisans in Canada. Petition is to be sent to beading magazines that carry advertizing for the company.

ATTN: any US military vets/spouses of vets

http://www.firstgov.gov/veteransinfo.shtml

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has recently learned that an employee, a data analyst, took home electronic data from the VA, which he was not authorized to do. This behavior was in violation of VA policies. This data contained identifying information including names, social security numbers, and dates of birth for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings. Importantly, the affected data did not include any of VA's electronic health records nor any financial information. The employee's home was burglarized and this data was stolen. The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Museum Shop Sales....

About 6 weeks ago, I joined the San Diego Art Institute >>www.sandiego-art.org<< as an "associate member", and about a month ago, brought in some of my crochet work for the gift shop. This past week, I found two of the items had sold-- a shrug and one of my bead-crocheted purses. Two more shrugs went in Thursday... by request of the shop director.

It's rather high-priced as a venue... 45% commission + 3 hrs volunteer work/month for members to have items in the gift shop. I also found out (when I got my check), they take out fees for credit card purchases from the artist share of the purchace price. Kinda explains why the prices in the gallery are so high....

Oh, well, I joined for other reasons, really. So far, I've attended 3 of the classes they sponsored-- two on the business side of art (copyright and tax stuff) and one on digital image printing. The next few aren't of much interest, but there is one on framing I plan to attend this Fall. I'll also be entering a piece in a gallery event in June-- they call it a "C-Note Sale". Any "elegible" piece priced at $100, $200 or $300... and sales are split 50/50 with the artist. "Elegible" means it has to be "fine art", which essentially means, it has to be framed to hang on the wall, or mounted to stand on a table.... All their gallery shows are juried, so it'll be wait & see whether I even get in. I am framing a beaded crystal cluster-- it was going to be a brooch or a collar style necklace center, but it's really too big to do either well.

Curly Scarves

The green and blue scarves use Lion Brand Homespun and Fun Fur yarns. The green one has a "curl" flattened out, the blue one shows how the scarf "drapes" into waves.

The third scan shows a scarf made with Caron Jewel Box and Moda Dea Kickx yarns.

Condor Con 2006

Art Show Set-up

This is how my table at the art show was set up. Tables were standard hotel issue-- 6' x 30", with a white cloth and dark blue skirt. Sales were through a "silent auction" type process-- at the front of the table, you can see my bid sheets; I group mine in stacks of 10.

Most of my main display pieces are hollow "half torsoes"; these are intended as hanging units, but a brick in the bottom holds them nicely to the table.