GETTING OLD WITH BEADWORK

Let's be honest, getting old is not for the faint of heart. I've just gotten home from a two week trip where I was helping my brother and sister with my 89 year old Dad. He had fallen and had broken his hip and he is not in good shape. Of all the the things that come with getting older, watching your parents ultimate decline is one of the hardest. Nothing you can do... As always with these family gatherings there was a lot of going through old photos and I snagged a few to share with you. These are of a young me, living in a ramshackle cabin in Haines Alaska and yes, doing beadwork. I see that I was beading on Smoked moose hide, red felt, and canvas. Looks like this was before I figured out the drawing on paper method and I was putting my design right on the canvas / felt / smoked moosehide. My little critters look so amateurish but still have a whimsy that is appealing. I suppose my point in all this rambling is that it's nice to know that getting old also has it's perks. The beadwork has matured to a place where I am challenged every day but I also seem to know what I'm doing. You have to be grateful for the good things...

THE RIVER #3

Working on #3. I really like the little girl and the dog, and of course the seagull yelling for more fish! The sky is coming along and when thats done, sigh, more sand. I'm resigned.
I took a break from the beadwork and made some jewelry for the shop. Had some fun working with the abalone, it is such a beautiful shell, nature at it's best!






Met a new beader ( Miri Agassi ) via the web who is from Israel.This is her blog. She does some really cool jewelry and writes about all things beadwork. It really is exciting to be part of the international bead world. So weird how that wouldn't have been possible awhile back...http://beadwonders100.blogspot.com/

DECORATING

 Here are some pictures of the gallery with the new decor for the opening in May. It's looking good with the new black wall. We put in some new carpet and I'm re-covering the chairs too, loved the old bright green but the new black and white paisley fabric will be cool. Crazy the cat seems to approve. 

NUMBER 2 FINISHED

So here is the finished piece. I'm pleased, the seagulls are a little meaner looking than my last ones, but they can get that way when they are after a fish head. I love the water color, and I have to thank my good friend and fellow beader Susan Anniskett because at Christmas time when I told her I was looking for dirty water colors she came through big time. She sent me some antique bugle beads that really make the piece! Thank you Susan!!! The little touch of whimsy in this one is the plastic shovel in the corner...

MORE FEATHERS

Still playing around with the feather necklaces...

FRUSTRATED AND BORED

When I took on this project I knew it was going to be a lot of work. But now I'm back beading more sand. I really feel bored beading the small tan and grey beads on the rather large area because I just finished doing that. I know it has to be done for the sake of uniformity but it's no fun. I liked beading the seagulls because they were a challenge and the fish head was cool because I did it upraised, but now the drudgery of the sand has got me down. Nothing to do but force myself to stay at the table and do the work. I took a break and beaded this seagull feather and made it into a simple necklace on a silver chain. It looks good.

It's a new idea, so I don't

know how well they will sell. Any how, it was a fun distraction from the endless sand. Sigh...

YEAR OF THE DRAGON

The year of the dragon, hope that's a good thing. Here's a dragon teapot that belonged to the grandmother of my husband and I thought it would make a good piece of beadwork. The color of the tablecloth is that periwinkle blue that I really like and use a lot. It's a little washed out in this picture. So anyhow the other day I found this vase ( at Salvation Army ) that is the periwinkle color, I thought that was unusual so I grabbed it. When I cleaned it up and got all the many stickers off the bottom, it said Yalos Casa Murano on the bottom. I know Murano is the famous town in Italy that is known for glass making. Does anyone recognize this vase or know anything about it. I bought it because it reminded me of a favorite bead color but now I think it might be a find! FUN