What's New Wednesday - It's Carnival Time!

What's new today? Remember back a few weeks ago on 'What's new Wednesday' I wrote a post called 'Beginnings'? Well that was specifically for Art Bead Scenes Blog Carnival which debuts today!

Cindy Gimbrone an Art Bead Scene Editor and Bead maker Extraordinaire put out a call awhile back and I answered it. As many of you know I love writing almost as much as I love creating my other art!

Just as I was writing this blog post I was multi-tasking and thinking about some other things I had to do and I remembered I needed to email someone with some info from one of my shops. When I went over to etsy I found this cool treasury on the Front Page with a photo of Coney Island (above picture) Titled "Coney Island Carnivale" right in the middle of the Front Page! Now is that kismit or what? And today starts the ABS Blog Carnival where a group of Jewelry bloggers all write about their views on a single theme. The first is , of course, Beginnings.

Now not only is the Blog Carnival starting today, but The Art inspiration for Art Bead Scene Challenge this month is a painting by Vestie Davis of what else? Luna Park at Coney Island!


I have been tossing ideas around in my head, and this painting is so fun, especially this cold time of year where I am, and this is what I've come up with.


Last night I realized it was Carnival blogging Day today and I still hadn't had time to make something for the ABS February challenge which centered on the Luna Park painting. So I found a large picture of it on the internet and got out my sketch book and started to pull out designs I saw in the painting. I started with the shapes that were prominent to me, and then the words, and then I looked closer at the details. I saw a band playing, a ticket booth, flags that reminded me of banners or pendants, and hearts sprinkled about. I next pulled out the colors I saw and it basically is a primary color palette with grays and pale pink and turquoise. So with these basics I drew out a quick sketch. I wanted to include the fun peppermint candy like rounds that are so prominent in the painting so I made that my focal. I also wanted to include the moon shapes used so I added one to the bottom of the focal. Then I looked at the shapes and words and little things I spied and wanted to evoke the sense of the experience one has when visiting a park like this, the feeling I think Davis was trying to present in this painting.

So I took the shape of the roofs which reminded me of pendants and flags and made seven of them and stamped words that would speak of the experience. Rides, Games, Win, Play, Fun, NYC, Music (don't forget that little band on the colonnade) and added three hearts which are included in the painting.

Now the only way to enjoy all this fun is to go to that little hole in the wall in the center right of the painting that says: 'TICKETS' and buy one so you can enjoy all the fun. So I made a Ticket and stamped 'Admit One' on it and now I have a fun filled necklace that would be great to wear to Coney Island (if one could) and to really recall to mind the fun of summer as a child but also to amuse that inner child in every adult.

Thanks for stopping by and looking! I'd appreciate any comments you would like to leave!


So please be sure to check out My post for the Art Bead Scene Carnival, (I changed it from the original posting so even if you read it then, please go back and read something new). And that cool photo at the top of this post is available for only $15 in the Fine Art Photography etsy shop Dupuis of Mina, a Romanian born Photographer now living in Brooklyn NYC. I told her about this upcoming post and she so generously told me I could offer you, my readers a 15% discount off your entire order! Isn't that great! All you have to do is to take advantage of this fab offer is to use the code "Carnival" in the comments to seller. UPDATE:That specific print is now sold but she has more in many sizes so just take a look around her shop! Thanks!


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What's New Wednesday Continued

I did get a chance to find some time to make an entry into Art Bead Scene's January Challenge. It is a wonderful painting by Claude Monet, one that is different from his more familiar colorful pieces. I like this and think he did a wonderful job in this painting. The beauty is in it's simplicity, it's complexity is in it's setting. A simple magpie perched on a rustic gate is the subject and title, but the real star to me is the capturing of the snow. To me snow is even harder to paint realistically than water. Water is a living thing and snow being frozen water also takes on its own life by the light surrounding it. Because snow it made up of crystals it is highly reflective but multi-faceted giving it even more dimensions that the liquid form.

Monet has captured the colors reflected in snow, the purples, the blues, pinks, grays in so many shades and hues they can't be counted. I tried to do the same in using his painting as the inspiration for my necklace. Bright silver was the obvious choice for the base and I used a semi-oval link chain. To this I fastened it with a bit of an antiqued rope toggle clasp. Now I could move on to the fun stuff. I find attaching the clasp first on a symmetrical piece makes it easier to center the focal. And I had the perfect focal, one I had won months back on Art Bead Scenes drawing. It is from Green Girl Studio and is a pewter tube bead with a branch and two birds, one I choose to call my magpie. To this I wanted to bring out the relationship of the dark bird against the light of the snow and thus antiqued the bead. I also wanted to highlight the trees that border the building and hung from the bird bead the tree in winter Charm.

My Focal taken care of now I went through all my bead boxes and containers in search of my perfect snow mix. What I ended up with consisted of a melange of beads, from vintage to new, from plastics to crystals taken from an old Chandelier. I wanted to capture that frosty reflective look that snow has. The colors I used range from frosted white, iridescent crystal, pale blue hand blown glass, Milk glass with a slight peachy hue, periwinkle and pink with a few branch shaped pieces of Abalone thrown in to sprinkle the dark of the focal throughout like the trees that are a predominant part of the painting. If this painting moves you and you'd like to have a copy of your own you can find one here at Global Gallery , on sale right now for Only $18.00.

I have never made a piece like this before and it took much longer than I'd thought (about 4 hours to wire wrap each bead and attach to the chain), but I think it was worth it, do you?


Now I can move on to making my piece for the Bead Soup Swap I joined. These are the beads I received from my partner, I can't wait to see what I can come up with! Defiantly not the snowy theme of Monet, but a look forward to my favorite time of year, Spring! There was snow covering the ground when I woke up today, didn't hear anything about that on the weather but it is quickly melting under the sun. Still have a couple of days yet to see what Phil will think, but I sure hope it's a cloudy day that day!




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Dadd's Beads

I have been cooking and baking like crazy all week. I have my turkey all roasted, the carcass cooked down, gravy made (will make the mashed potatoes fresh come dinner time), cornbread apple, sausage, raisin, nut, cranberry dressing ready to go into the oven with the yams, the macaroni, broccoli and cheese casserole, and the corn casserole. There is Apple Kuchen for B'fast and Turkey salad for sandwiches to munch on before dinner. And I can't forget the Pumpkin cheesecake with sugar cookie crust. Yum! I have to make everything from scratch so it takes me a few days, because of my Celiac Disease. But it will all be delicious! And I have a clean kitchen! :)

But after being in that kitchen for hours on end each day I had to get away from all that baking and go bake some clay! I have been pondering all month the ART BEAD SCENE's challenge art piece for this month, Dadd's The Fairy Fellers Master Stroke. There was so much going on in this painting at first it was too much for me. Then I decided to focus in on what I know and love best, the organic elements in the painting, mostly the botanicals. So I set out to pick out what jumped out at me, the foliage, the nuts, the flowers but also I picked up on some textures from the clothing, hats, and even a barely seen wall in the upper right side.

So now my beads are made and I spent about 4 happy hours after finishing up in the kitchen painting, antiquing and coloring this strange assortment of beads. They may seem odd but each one is taken directly from a component of the painting, look hard, can you find them all? ( you can click on each picture to enlarge to help you). :)

Now to make an attractive piece of jewelry with them! :) Wish me Bon Chance!

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Riding the Wave - Hiroshige

I was thrilled when I saw the artwork for the August Challenge from Art Bead Scene at the beginning of the month. I had a piece I was waiting to create something with that would be worthy of this artwork. But life happens, I lost my job, and death happens, I lost my best friend. It has been hard and I couldn't bring myself out of my grief long enough to go into the studio. But I felt myself drowning, almost as if I were being swept away by this wave, I then realized I needed to get into the studio, wither I wanted to or not.

I actually wanted to complete the Inro to go with this but couldn't get out to get more of the clay I needed, and didn't have the time. So I went for making the netsuke, the piece that counter balances the Inro when hung on the obi that binds the kimono. I used a vintage wood block that I think was used for wallpaper printing to make a mold to pattern the faux cinnabar with. I thought it was appropriate since the artwork for the challenge is a wood block print of Mt Fuji by the artist Hiroshige.



I've taken this picture of my necklace leaning up against my first jewelry box. I've had this since about 7 years old so it is quite vintage. I never realized until today when taking the picture that Mt Fuji was featured on the top.

Be sure to check out all the great entries from the Challenge here at the Art Bead Scenes flickr group.

It's been cathartic, and it has helped to raise my head above the water. I hope that it will continue and I thank all of those of you who have left words of encouragement and sympathy for me, they mean a lot. TY.




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