Getting Along

Couple of days/hours later...

Later that same day

I've got a couple more hours into her...and she's finally started to talk to me.

Perfect Size

After working on this for about 8 hours, I'm glad it's not any larger....and since I'm already doing the 4x4 Basho pieces, I'm also glad it's not any smaller, as it allows me to make a (slightly) larger statement.

It's Only Time

This is about two and a half hours of beadwork...it's easier to see why in person than it is in a photo...it's also easier to see that the little beads are a red-gold iris and the blue ones are a capri blue iris...

Mermaid & Shinobu

This is as far as I got on the Basho piece this afternoon...it's a fairly large cabachon, but it still took longer than I thought it would....
And this is the beginning of the BJP...the face and beads are just laid out on the postcard sized fabric, which reminded me of bubbles in the water and so I'm working on a mermaid theme....this will be my second mermaid ever.
It's a good theme for june here as we still have a lot of rain and cool nights, so I sometimes feel a bit underwater-like....and cool-ish.
The next few months will be much warmer and I'm already thinking of a sunflower girl for september...

The First Twelve

The first 12 Basho pieces in one possible configuration...not necessarily the way it will end up.

Asaka Done

Number 12, Asaka, done....the partially mirrored old glass pieces represent the pools of stagnant water in a marsh and the nailheads are the path through and around them....the irises are rather hidden in opposite corners....not a literal interpretation, but I'm happy with it.

Back to Basho

I'm getting a bit further along on my 12th Basho piece this afternoon...

Definitely Done Now....

I do think the lid was worth the extra effort....and I especially like the tiny golden hummingbird bead that's the finial....

Done? Or not....

I've got the bottom of the beaded box done...now I'm wondering if I really need to make the lid? I've got about 14 hours into it already and the lid will probably be another 6....so let's see...20 hours into the basket....maybe I'll just keep it!

Still Collecting

Now that I've got most of the fabric selected and fused and ready for beading, I'm collecting other bits and pieces I want to use sometime during the next year. I am at year 4 of my breast cancer diagnosis and all the tests and exams are still coming out clear, so I'm going to do my bead journal on the theme of Facing Forward. I've always collected faces and have been using a lot of them in my earlier series of Guardian Spirits, so I will be using a different face (bead, cabachon or pendent) for each month. I'm also beginning to make a few of my own design from polymer clay and may use them in the later months when I'm happier with the results......I have to keep reminding myself that I'm a beginner at face sculpture and not to expect too much at first. It also helps me to remember how frustrating beading was in the beginning when I felt like I was all thumbs and there was thread showing all over the place!

Beaded Box

I haven't done a pattern in a long time and it's been even longer since I've done someone else's pattern, but julia pretl's beaded boxes interested me enough to give one a try. I've changed the colors completely, but other than that I've stayed with her instructions.
This is the base for the smallest of the hexagonal boxes and it's taken me about 6 hours to do it. It's only 26 rows, but it increases in each row, so although you start with just 6 beads, you end up with 54 beads in the last round.
I think I'll save the sides for tomorrow!

Asaka

I've started the 12th piece, Asaka, in the basho series....it talks about marshes and blue irises, so I took a photo of the blue iris and printed it onto translucent paper. But even with a light background it didn't show up well, so I took some silver foil and backed parts of it, so the irises will stand out.
For the marshes I was thinking mirrors, but they were too bright, so I took some very old glass pieces that had been backed with foil, but it had mostly fallen off over time and I'm bezeling them...when they're all done then I'll bead a path through them and it will be done.

Most of the pieces don't come out this way....I'm not usually sure when I start out where they will end...but this one just fell into place this way.
It's also a lot more formal and balanced than I usually work the bead embroidery...

Many "canvasses"

I was running low on the 4x4 pieces for the basho piece, so while making a bunch more of them, I went ahead and did 7 of the 12 I'll need for the bead journal project. They're all 4x6, so just a bit larger than the basho pieces. I've left 5 forms blank, so if I get to a month when none of the first 7 seem to fit, I can add some in other fabrics.
It reminds me of gessoing a bunch of canvas so it will be ready when the muse strikes...although it's been many years since I painted anything except decorative paper and clay faces.

One Quarter Finished

Now that #11 is done in the Basho series, I'm 1/4 of the way done and thinking it's time to figure out how to mount them when it's all finished....I've been thinking of grids of various dimensions, but also have considered a spiral...as usual, I'll let it perculate for a while and then lay them out and see if a visual solution is obvious or not.

Bead Journal

Robin Atkins, of Beadlust (see my links) has invited any beaders who are interested to join her in doing a year long, monthly bead journal...that's 12 beaded journal pages in a year or one a month. If you're interested, go to her blog at Beadlust (my links) for more information. She's accepting folks until the end of the month and there are 32 of us already! I can hardly wait!

Shirakawa and Sukagawa

Post 10, Shirakawa is done and I'm picking out the fabric and beads for 11,
Sukagawa, this afternoon...

Yesterday

It was one of the most wonderful days I've had in a while....just because it was over 65 degrees before noon and the wind was warm instead of cool....I think I must be ready for summer!
Anyway, I didn't feel like working a lot, so I strung a couple of bracelets- one for a friend to look at and one for me.
And then I just sat outside and watched the grass grow...the messy area in the middle of the pic is next on the gardener's list to be cleared out and a terraced bed planted...luckily for me (and the plants) "the gardener" is my dear husband, chuck.

Not Quite There

I like both of these but there's something not quite right in both of them...but they were both fun to make and didn't take a huge amount of time or angst....so I'll figure out what to change tomorrow...

On My Desk

My studio is in my home, here on the coast of Oregon...I have a 9x12 space and a 4x5 walk in closet that also holds art supplies.
I've gone under the name of KirkWorks for my jewelry and design work and have been making art for most of my life, so some tools and supplies from former incarnations are still hanging around.

Most of my drawing supplies are in the artcloset, along with bits and pieces for mixed media work. (second photo)
I also spent about 6 years doing digital art in it's early days (late 80's to early 90's), and I still work as a graphic designer occasionally.
My main art form now is making jewelry and wall pieces using fiber and beads...especially beads!
So, I don't need a large work area, but I do need lots of room to store all the fiber and beads. I specialize in vintage and antique beads in my wall pieces and I'm working on a 44 piece series now, using Basho's, Narrow Road to the Interior, as my inspiration.
You can see a few of the earlier pieces in the series on my beading desk. (top photo)




I have a large desk my son gave me when he moved to a smaller place and it's got 3 basic work areas on it.

On the far left is the beading/stitching station, the center holds the computer and the right side holds some business papers, lots of old cd's with my digital work and newer cd's with my fiber work on them and the printer/scanner/copier I use for all my business related printing. I sell most of my work through art galleries, so keeping up on inventory and getting them new work is an unending job....I try to keep up with it or it gets overwhelming. I also do my own business stationary, including business cards as I love the ability to put new images on my cards.





I have lots of plastic rolling carts with different sized drawers for the fabric and supplies needed for the fiber work. I also have many tabletop units with tiny drawers (found in hardware depts.) that store all my beads and findings, as well as the natural items (like shells and coral) I use.

The desk on the right is where I do my cutting and fusing of fabric, so it's the one place in the studio I try to keep clear...



And (the always important) studio cat, who is hard at work as per usual....Zoomie Sumi...the wonder cat.
(I can't get any photos of her moving, as she's so fast all you see is a grey streak...;)



If I finally did this right, it will be on the On My Desk blog eventually. See my links list...