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All over the place

February 8, 2010 - by loribeads

January has been one of the busiest months I’ve had in years!  I have many irons in the fire and am spread around pretty thin.  I made a mental promise to myself to really push the business forward this year and … so far, so good!  I got a teaching  job at a local glass art center (www.sjgaa.org) and have been attending events there, mingling with people and promoting the upcoming classes.  I have had a fantastic time getting out of my artist’s hidey hole and meeting new people.  I’m really looking forward to teaching and it has brought a whole new level of inspiration to me.

I have recently been asked to do some production work for the first time.  I had no idea I would enjoy making the same bead over and over.  But, gosh, it is just so relaxing to churn out perfect little replicas.  I like melting glass without having to overthink what I want to do or what comes next.  It’s just muscle memory and the process is very zen.

The murrini business keeps me the most busy, of course.  I LOVE making murrini and I especially love getting to make murrini with my best friend.  The whole process, from picking the colors to chatting about designs, is so enjoyable.  We giggle, battle, roll our eyes and laugh out loud.  I wish this for everyone, especially all of you.  May your new year be filled with good friends, plenty of laughter and a sense of purpose.

I’m Lori Peterson and you can find me at loribeads.com, loriandkim.com , loribeads.etsy.com, loriandkim.etsy.com for murrini and I am also blogging here and twittering there.

Pop Go The Beads!

February 2, 2010 - by chrisbrandel

My little kids (ages 2 and 4) love it when I pull out my supplies to make jewelry. They love it SO much, that I don’t pull out supplies to do work when they are around because inevitably someone bends my silver wire, or makes off with my hand tools, or wants to take the beads and keep them. I want to share the craft of beading and jewelry-making with them, though, so this past Christmas, Santa brought this toy for them. At first, I though, oh, bad idea….lots of small parts, messy, the dogs will eat them. But then I thought that we need this creative play and we’d just deal with the small parts and the mess. We have taken the beads out several times already and I finally thought to capture the moments on camera. In a word, this set is FANTASTIC!

There’s a huge assortment of colors, and some of the most interesting bead shapes I have seen. Most of them prompted me to think…hmmmm…I bet I could make a bead shaped/colored/patterned like that…

Being occasionally smart when letting my kids play with toys with small parts, I spilled the beads onto an old cookie sheet and just really let them have at it.



Even I had fun popping the beads together and making all kinds of fun creations. Alas, I did not get any nicely-focused photos of the kids’ work, but they really had fun, and it was exciting watching them delve into color and creation. As for me, my sketchbook is filling up with ideas, even though my torch time has been limited. I think the next time I am in a beadmaking rut, I’ll be pulling out the plastic pop beads and playing with my kids!

Christine Brandel blogs, beads, and rides her orange scooter all over Richmond, VA.

A New Year & A New Start

February 1, 2010 - by Diane Hawkey

I am not very big on making New Years Resolutions, but  I do like the idea of a clean start and looking forward.

So to start this year I hope to organize my studio space.  Basically its a hot mess bustin’ at the seams. It will feel good to de-clutter and organize and finally find a system that works for me.  I guess this is the trick, finding a system that works for your particular creative style.

Diane Hawkey work space

A hot mess!

I tend to have many ideas and projects going on at once. Sometimes I need the immediate satisfaction of seeing  an idea born. I think about a certain combination of beads or a combination of materials and I have  the urge to take them out and and  see if they work, and what the possibilities are. Often  this ends up as nothing but an exercise in a distraction of endless possibilities and I get lost in the process.  But I have found  the process can be as important as the outcome. Unfortunately,   as someone trying to make a living at my art  I have to keep the outcome in sight. It is constant balancing act  which too often for me tips on the side of creative chaos.

I have realized that along with de-cluttering my workspace I need to de-clutter my mind too. So I am going to spend more time  meditating  and just finding that stillness within. Because I am such a visual I like to think of this in terms of  the artwork of Andy Goldsworthy. (And if you have not seen the documentary about his work Rivers and Tides, stop everything and go rent it now)

Rowan Leaves & Hole by Andy Goldsworthy

Creating simplicity  out of the random chaos of the environment  but not losing any of the raw power of nature.

Somehow I need to find a way to apply this to my creative endeavors.

Andy Goldsworthy stone sculpture

Like I said its a balancing act.

Diane Hawkey creates and blogs from hot mess of a studio in her Detroit area home .

You can visit her ETSY store and website, or read more of her ramblings on her blog if she hasn’t disappeared into a pile of beads and art clutter.

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