Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge

I'm a big fan of the Art Bead Scene Blog - lots of lovely beads and the work of talented designers, what is not to like!  Every month they have a monthly challenge where a work of art is chosen as inspiration to create or use art beads.    I've been meaning to join in for a while but with one thing and another I haven't quite managed it but when I saw this months painting I knew exactly what I wanted to make.  The picture is Monet's "Walk in the Meadows at Argenteuil".  

I've always loved this picture and what caught my eye for this challenge was the meadow in the foreground.   I wanted to make a focal with strips of different colours of resin which emulated Monet's meadow.  

I had a lot of fun mixing up pigments to make colours for the resin that I thought suggested those in the painting.  What I wanted to do was to create different sections of resin in the focal so I cut copper strips to separate the resin colours.  I also decided to make some connectors using the same colours of resin, but I let the resin flow more organically in these.  I used three of these connectors in the necklace and one as the clasp.  I finished the necklace off with some peanut beads.

The focal is an abstract take on the painting, nothing like Monet's impressionistic style - I hope he won't mind!  

Just to let you know that my reveal date for the Bead Soup Blog party has changed.  It will now be on the 27th April - please come back then.  In the mean time - why not go and have a look at what everybody in the second reveal made - there is some lovely work out there.  

Art Jewellery Boot Camp

The second Boot Camp is all about texturing metal using things that you find around the house.  To be honest I nearly gave Boot Camp a miss this time.  Ordinarily, I go to a metal-working studio - the studio is very well equipped so I haven't needed to get many tools at home.  However, I've torn all the ligaments in my ankle (ouch!) and driving (and walking!) are pretty much out at the moment.  I haven't made it to the studio for a while - I'm missing it!!  When Boot Camp came around, I thought how can I do a metal-working challenge without all the tools I normally use?  But I'd had a lot of fun with the last Boot Camp and didn't want to miss out - so I decided that not only would I use household materials to texture metal, I would see what tools and materials I could find in my house too. 

I dug around in my household tool box and pulled out the heavy-duty hammer and a couple of copper washers.  Now to find something to texture with.  The answer came as I was mulling over a work problem in front of the laptop.  I always fiddle with things when I do this and this time I picked up a paper clip.  Eureka moment!  I hammered the paper clip in a random pattern onto the washers.  I cheated slightly on my self-imposed challenge of using only things I could find in the house and bought some Liver of Sulphur online to emphasise the paper clip texture.  I do all my resin work at home so I had those supplies.  I filled the centre of the washers with tissue paper and resin.  This added some colour but because it is tissue paper it remains somewhat translucent and the light still shines through.  Finally, I made some very basic ear wires and called them done. 

The paper clip held up surprisingly well to being battered with a hammer - though its days of clipping paper are definitely over!  I'd pulled out several clips expecting to have to use a few to get the job done.  But I used the same clip for both washers. 

So there you have it - a very simple design but the best I could do in the circumstances.  I suspect I'm going to be embarrassed by its simplicity when I see the intricate work that others have done!  Please take a look at what everyone has been working on.  I'm pleased with what I could achieve using things from around my house - but I'm still going to be scurrying back to the metal-working tools at the earliest opportunity!

Falling Leaves Necklace

I hope that you had a good Easter.  

Over Easter, I pulled out the resin and made a few more of the resin fragments.  This time I used skeleton leaves rather than paper.  I made quite a few (I think I'm getting a bit obsessed!).  I've paired these with some Czech glass and peanut beads.  I like how this came out, super-light but with impact.  

Over Easter, I also spent a lot of time looking at the first reveal of Bead Soup.  I definitely recommend having a look, there is some lovely work out there.  There are so many of us participating that Lori has split us up into three groups.  I'm in the third reveal, please come back and see what I've made out of my soup ingredients on the 20th April*.

*Please note: my reveal date for Bead Soup has been postponed slightly (it was the 13th and is now the 20th).  Poor Lori, who organises Bead Soup, hasn't been well recently and needs a bit of extra time to deal with the mammoth task of organising the Bead Soup Blog Party.  Get well soon Lori!

Mosaic

I've got involved in a community project to make a mosaic sign for our Community Centre.  We started with the colour scheme of the Centre (red and green) and sketched out some designs.....

One of the group found a piece of pottery in the beck which runs near the Centre.  That pottery shard is now one of the petals of the flower in the centre of the sign....

Isn't it amazing what a group of people can do in a few short hours?

  

The sign still needs to be grouted.  I'll take a photo when it is finished and takes pride of place on our building.  

Raku Bowls

I’m still hobbling about with my injured ankle – which is slowing me down and I’m not able to spend as much time on the things that I show you on this blog.  You can’t safely wield a metal-working torch while sitting with your foot up!!  So instead I thought I’d show you what I made in a Raku class that I took last summer.
In case you don’t know Raku is a Japanese glazing technique.  You heat the pot up to 1000^oC in a kiln and then take it out while it is still glowing hot.  You quickly plunge it into an enclosed container filled with sawdust and allow the Raku glazes to work their magic.  The pots smell of wood-smoke for weeks after.    

We used some metallic-effect glazes….

And some crackle glazes…..

Because there are such dramatic temperature changes, you need to use a robust, gritty clay with this technique.  It was hard on the hands to throw pots on the wheel with such gritty clay!  But I did have smooth, exfoliated hands for weeks after!!

Resin Fragments

It started with fragments from an old Schubert manuscript, a reel of wire and some resin.....

...and then I made a few more......

...and then I threw some tissue paper into the mix for some colour......

...and then I thought I'd better start making something with them because I was getting overrun!....

(Amethyst and resin fragments)

I've been quietly making these over the last few weeks and have got rather inspired by them.  I particularly like them with the tissue paper because they have a wonderful translucency about them.....

 I think my plan with them next is to try a few different shapes and to start using soldered wire shapes.  

Shell necklace

I came across some sliced shells and, as I often do, I filled them with resin.  I also added some teeny-weeny chocolate brown pearls into the resin and finished it off with some knotted glass beads.  

(Resin, Shell, Pearl, Glass beads)

The weather has changed here in the UK - spring is definitely on the way - and I think this necklace reflects that. It definitely has a feel of summer about it - I don't think I'd have made it a few weeks ago when winter still had us firmly in its grasp (hope I haven't jinxed the arrival of spring by saying that!!).