Calling all beaders....you whoooooo

So I have another article in Artisan Jewelry Times. and I'll have part 2 out in July. They are impressed with my writing skills and are giving me a free subscription. I wonder if there's any comments on my articles. I'll have to ask.

Also I've been painting nebulas. This is my second one on acrylic paper. I did a couple of mini canvas ones this weekend and working on a hardbacked canvas one. Eventually I'll do some larger ones once I'm a bit more used to techniques and remember that some paints dry faster than others! lol

Purty! I'm a fan of nebulas. I know they don't look like that in reality but I love those colours in Hubble's pictures.

Oooh, that's nice.

Reminds me back in the day: my astronomy prof in college had a jazz band, and hired me to do the cover for their first album. It was a pre-Hubble abstraction of the Carina Nebula, so much fun. I love painting stars. Beading them, too. If you need any help with acrylics, let me know...I had to take a bunch of classes in the stuff, for one workplace. My favorite painting medium in the world.

Here's a relatively recent piece in acrylic on paper, about 30" x 22".

Filigree said:

Oooh, that's nice.

Reminds me back in the day: my astronomy prof in college had a jazz band, and hired me to do the cover for their first album. It was a pre-Hubble abstraction of the Carina Nebula, so much fun. I love painting stars. Beading them, too. If you need any help with acrylics, let me know...I had to take a bunch of classes in the stuff, for one workplace. My favorite painting medium in the world.

Here's a relatively recent piece in acrylic on paper, about 30" x 22".

Click to expand...

Pretty!

I will take you up on that offer at some point. Right now I'm playing with things and learning. A lot of what I'm doing is layering colors then scrubbing to bring out the underlayers. Not having success in doing it with canvas but the paper works really good for that.

Secret weapon for underlayer textures: a product called by Liquitex 'moldeling paste' and by Golden 'molding paste', a thick paste of acrylic gels buffered and textured with various inactive agents like fibers, sand, or marble dust. It is awesome stuff used as the first application. Check out any how-to books by Nancy Reyner. Golden Acrylics and Liquitex both have excellent tutorials online... use them!

Filigree, acrylics evangelist.

Okay, finally figured out the secret to doing what I want with canvas. Watered layers of paintings. See #3

layers upon layers of watered colors, a little mopping up, more watered layers and a different background color (brown in this case) before I put the black on nearly at the end of the painting. Then more watered layers.

I might actually be decent at this at some point.

Oh but I'm sticking to small things right now. Not until I'm really decent will I get a large canvas and try a painting on that.

Pretty!

Bead adventure for June: topdrilling cheap porcelain thimbles from a $7 thrift store find, to make thimble bell necklaces for an upcoming online sale. I've seen some rather charming ones on Etsy...and I have diamond drill bits.

Cool love to see a photo when you are finished. (goes to check out thimble necklaces)

Turned in the next article for the magazine yesterday. Had to quickly make up a few focal pieces since I really haven't worked in monocromatic lately. Turned up a really nice bangle pattern just by experimenting. I think that will be my first try at a tutorial. Can't hurt.

http://www.epbot.com/2015/07/quick-craft-turn-old-thimbles-into.html

Couple uses cloisonne enamel thimbles as curtain pulls. Part of me is sad at that much enamel ruined for its original purpose...but these are cool little pieces, and they are at least getting used.

I have been working on several commission pieces the last few weeks. Just finished the penultimate one. Now I have to do a comb for a bride, lots of white flowers and 'spray' like baby's breath with wires and pearls

This is one I completed, but in golds and bronzes.

Gorgeous work, as ever.

Thanks, Filigree!

I just spent several months revamping my old, tired website (which was first set up in 1999!!!). Now it's cleaner and prettier, and I have posted a bunch of jewelry on it, with a real marketplace! Anyone want to check it out?

Great site! Taking inspiration.

Bounce bouncebounce! A carnelian component I've been waiting a week for, just came in yesterday. And it is perfect to finish this collar project.

Woohoo! Take all the inspiration you like -

Very pretty and clean! Also, that's a pretty impressive jewellery collection.

Very inspiring to see it in one place.

One of the reasons I keep a blog is to have a place to stuff my 19 years of book arts and fiber projects.

Pretty and clean is exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks, all... and that's only a small portion of the stuff I've got. I've been selling at art shows since 2004, and so much is made and gone. Even my current stock is over 500 items. I know this because when I upgraded to new hangtags and relabeled ALL the things, i went through more than one 500 piece box of cards. I order them from Vistaprint - designed my own front and back, fold each in half, punch a hole in the corner, tie it on with stretchy string. Makes a little book hangtag with my info on it

Sidetrack from ThimbleQuest 2016: a whole lotta carnelian in one place. I've blogged about it below.

Lovely work everyone.

I've got another article up at ATJ.

Filigree you might want to contact Karen and pitch an article. Possibly that's where part of my FB page viewers are coming from.

I think I'll subscribe, first. Get a better feel for it. Congrats on the new article!

May have mentioned them before here, but I really adore the waxed polycord from Maine Thread Company, for everything from bookbinding to clothing repair to tasseled jewelry.

Nope Nope Nope.

Can't have this thread on page 2.

SO what's everyone been working on lately?

I've been ignoring the two commissions I have to finish