OLD PHOTOS

Always beading...

MOUNTAIN VIEW CA.

On this Thanksgiving 2017, I just have to ask: Who are you Mountain View California? And thanks for your interest over the years!

HALLOWEEN UPDATE

Wow! It is the most beautiful halloween day I think I have ever seen around here. Almost balmy, so great for the kids to have green grass and no frigid winds for their candy trek. On to the beadwork. Thank you to everyone for giving an opinion on the pond water. It turns out I did go with the majority. The clear turquoise won by a hair, it was close but it ultimately came down to the the mood I wanted to create and I felt the darker shades had a more watery pond feeling. If that makes any sense. The beadwork has been turned over to Robert and you can see he is working on making it into a bag. We decided on the camo leather. Also, a picture of my current project ( the dark underbelly of beadwork in honor of halloween ). Yes it is another lynx order, they are very popular this year. I remember when people were all about the wolves. Thank goodness fur doesn't intimidate me anymore.

POND WATER OPINION

Last piece of the puzzle on my "Our Lady of the Pond and her cat Bob" piece.  I went a little crazy. It started with the idea of a turtle dress, and then gold turtle earrings, a turtle head band and a swimming turtle. Fun to just relax with a no pressure/ not an order piece. So I need your opinions, what color should the pond water be? Do you like the pale blues on the left or the clear turquoise shades on the right?

LYNX IS DONE!

YAY! THE LYNX IS DONE!! I really like this one. The purple mountain and water makes me happy even though the wave pattern in small beads took forever! A bit of a departure from reality adds a nice touch. This is one that really needs to be seen in person. I'll keep it in the gallery for one more day and then off it goes in the mail. The colors are so rich. The overcast day does make for good picture taking so I had to throw in a shot of my lilies. This wet summer really made them spectacular.

BOX OF BEADWORK

I've just sent the first box off to Santa Fe. If you are going to be there for Indian Market (August 18,19,20 ) Vivi will have my work at the Hotel ELDORADO.  I'm working away on my Lynx and hope to have him go out with the second wave of stuff going down. It is so hard not to get distracted by summer though...

AH, SUMMER

Simply enjoying life as things get green.    Having a great time with the family, getting the garden in, king fishing, morel mushroom picking, laughing and trying to do the jumping in the picture thing. Right now I'm working on some small cuffs and demonstrating the "how to" on these Nunn cuffs in the gallery. I have the bracelet blanks and material available if you want to make your own. But mainly I'm just breathing in the summer air and feeling lucky.

GETTING THERE

Opening May First.

LEARNING FROM TEACHING

I was in Anchorage this weekend teaching a class at the Alaska Bead Company. It never ceases to amaze me how warm and fuzzy I feel after a long day with fellow beaders. The common love of beads and the need to create art is strong among us. It was a great group of talented individual. I really appreciate everyone who signed up, we had some people who traveled very long distances to be there!  Thank you Mark for inviting me to teach and especially thank you Linda Meyers for arranging everything, and I mean everything! You are a force.

WHAT KIND OF BEADS DO YOU WANT?

All of the beaders in my neck of the woods know that last fall Gig's Beads and Things went out of business. She and her husband Robert moved to Colorado. We all miss Gig personally, she is a wonderful, warm and inspiring person, with a new project always on the craft table. Also, if you're like me, I miss being able to run down and grab some beading needles or a certain color when I need it! So I've decided to take up the bead store mantle and sell some beads and supplies from Kate's gallery. It won't be like Gigs which had everything under the sun, but will have all my favorite seed beads! Specifically tons and tons of 13 cut charlottes, white hearts, cut glass black, which come from the Czech Republic. I'll have lots of beading needles and thread, ( fireline and nymo). My question to you is, what would you like see in the tubes of japanese seed beads? I'm a huge fan of the powder coated colors and the color lined. Do you want the Miyuki Delicas or the regular round style. Size 15 or 11? I would really appreciate your input. This is a new adventure for me and I'm hoping to somewhat fill the big gap that Gig left when they moved, even if there won't be whippets greeting you at the door.

Bead boxes arriving

Gig, Robert and the whippets!

YOUR OPINION

Okay, I'm having a really hard time deciding on a background color for my octopus.  I love him so I want it to be right. It's drawn in a green/blue turquoise but I think I might like the navy. Or the sparkle antique blue. Or the Montana blue.  Please let me know what you like! I'm starting on my next piece and putting this on hold until I get some feed back. Thank you!!!

1. antique cut glass blue

2.dark green turquoise

3. montana blue

4. medium transparent blue

5. navy blue

NINA'S ORIGINALS

Robert said to me" Take a break, you've been working awfully long hours." 

I do tend to put the nose to the grindstone when I have a show coming up. I had to get some big orders out of the way and now I'm concentrating on my new line. " What kind of life is this, sewing, sewing, sewing?" he asked.

It got me to thinking that, in a way, it is exactly what I wished for. In the 1970's in Juneau, I would walk to the B.M. Berands Bank where I worked as a key puncher. Everyday I passed this place and I would peer in the window of Nina's Originals. She made fantastical coats and hat out of leather that was laced together and trimmed with fur and feathers. You could see her work station with all the leather laid out, her desk with day to day business and  her small tv. I thought that must be a pretty fine way to go. And it is. It turns out after many years of the broke artist life, living in ramshackle cabins, hauling water and wood and no electricity, I'm finally living the high life like Nina. A dynamite work environment where I can create my pieces and I even have the little tv to keep myself entertained while I do it. Funny how things turn out. Anyhow, it got me curious so I did some poking around and this is what I found. There was one picture of a coat she made at a Juneau Museum site but( not allowed to share.) If anyone out there has a photo of her work or store, it would be brilliant to see!  Here is the loon dress that I did way back in the Juneau days, and I realize I was experimenting around with the lacing techniques she used.  I don't know if her work was an influence but her work life did make me target a goal.

 End of the Trail

Notices in this section are limited to names of those who have achieved pioneer status through many years in the North, or who are otherwise of unquestioned importance in the daily scene.

http://alaskamagazine.com

Nina Emily Chapman, 76,a Juneau businesswoman since 1946. died there January 30. She designed and patented Nina's Originals. Alaska coats and accessories sold throughout the United States, Her daughter. Nina Dawn Baldwin, now runs the Nina's Originals shop In Juneau. [June1981]

Ronda Mann modeling Loon Dress

cabin at 9 mile

young me at the cabin

FRESH EYE

Happy New Year to all! I can't believe how quickly 2016 went by, it seems that what people always say about the older you get, the fastest it goes is true. I put the "Our Lady" bag in the mail today. It feels good to have a clean slate on the bead table. These big bags that take a while to make are a fantastic finished project but I can never see them with a fresh eye.  I put a picture of me with the bag so you can see just how big it is. I know it's good and I hope my customer will love it, but it would be nice to appreciate the work without the "I'm sick of it" factor involved. One thing I was truly happy with was her expression. It only takes one bead to make the difference in a smile, and I think she has just the right look. Almost Mona Lisa...