SANTA FE SHOW

So, this is the end result of the photo shoot the other day. The address of the the gallery is 223 W.  San Francisco. If any of you are around Santa Fe, New Mexico,  on these date and want to see the beadwork, come on by!  Happy Forth of July to all!

PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR WORK

Trying to take pictures of the beadwork today. Wanted it to be all artsy with nature as the background. Only one problem... as soon as I'm out and about, Crazy, my cat, wants to join the photo shoot.  She's pesky but lots of fun and full of mischief!

FAMILY HEIRLOOMS

Had a wonderful day in the gallery! I had two very interesting women come in. One of them bought my "Day of the Dead Tie". This is so great because it's been around awhile. You know, when you have a piece that you are working on, that you think is really cool and inventive but then no one else seems to get it. This was one of those pieces. I thought the skeletons were so graphic, and loved the way I put the raven skull at the top. Roses and a swirly night sky, what could be better! Well, the reception to this piece was luke warm. So it doesn't sell and it doesn't sell, hence the name, family heirlooms. These are the pieces that become part of my permanent collection, until, the right person comes along and takes them off my hands. I was actually was quite fond of the tie, not true of all family heirlooms, but I'm very glad to have it out there in the world. The moral of the story is never let the fear of an unpopular subject matter stop you from trying something different. Bead for yourself and the world will follow, or not...

FUR IN BEADS IS HARD!!!

So, this is the piece I'm currently working on. 
I'm not at all sure about it, I may have gotten carried away with trying to blend the colors to make it look like fur.There are about 10 different grays alone! And then there's the direction you lay the beads. This way and that way to make it look wind blown, urr,  I don't know, it will probably come together when I get the background in there, although clouds can be problematic themselves. This piece is vexing me... Does this wolf look muddled?

FILLING ORDERS

My god I'm wiped out. Summertime. Have to get out an enjoy the weather, get the garden going, keep the garden going, weeding, weeding weeding. But back to the bead table, I'm working on the show for Santa Fe in August, keeping the gallery running and trying to fill  orders. This piece was ordered like this." lots of flowers, some butterflies, colors should be reds, pinks, blues, golds, and a black background." Pretty specific but also kind of vague. This is what I came up with, do you think it fits the bill? The customer hasn't seen it yet, but I think she will be pleased, there is always that waiting for the check to come, orders can be tricky...

MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial day weekend is the official start to the crazy fish chasing summer that goes on around here. King salmon season opens, people pore down to the peninsula hoping to catch the big one. Good luck to all the anglers! This major influx of bodies are not really beadwork buyers but it does bring a small bevy of curious people into the gallery. I get comments like, "nice to see some Alaskan art that's not made in China." Yesterday I had a couple who were marble makers from Virgina. I learned briefly about the process of marble making, heard tales of the marble convention they would be attending soon and we commented on how much in common marbles have with beads, but alas no holes. They gave me some samples, I gave them some volcano ash (from Mt. Reboubt exploding last year) to use in their molten glass, they bought THE BLUE BEAD BOOK and left. I'm glad to have the galley and these little interactions during the day. The bead table can be a very isolated place. It takes many, many long hours to make great beadwork and distractions are welcome. So on that note, Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all the troops, now and in the past!

BELOVED BIRCH

You know how I love my spring, the baby leaves, sticky and bright emerging from the buds on the long quiet branches. This is a tribute to birch, one of my favorite trees and a subject I keep revisiting in my beadwork. Living amongst  the dark evergreens, mainly the prickly spruce, the deciduous trees are special and cherished.