Beaded 2 Bless

After  teaching at the Texas Bead Retreat, often referred to as "TBR", the beaders reading these posts need to know a simple tip that I often share. I learned the hard way and want you to find the success I did much faster and a heck of a lot easier. When beading spirals or curves, we often start at the outer most line to set a reference point for the rest of the bead rows. Then we try to bead inside the lines. Sound like something else we were "taught" - to color in the lines? Well let's forget that! When beading spirals it is easier to bead your way bigger then setting your outline around those beads. Don't get me wrong- it can be done either way- and I often do it the hard way but it is good to know that there is an easier way! Let me try to give you a good mental picture. If you lay a towel on a bowl that is upside down, it drapes easily taking on the concave curvature of the bowl. However if you lift the bowl and try to tuck the towel up in it coveri...

It would seem my time spent in New Orleans DID have a monumental impact on my perspective on life! It was there that I learned how to "Do tha Butt", much to my mother's dismay. For those who may not know, it is a rather provocative dance that is still a whole lotta fun to do! Well, while I was at the Temple Bead Retreat I was doin' tha butt in a different way... It was a whole lotta fun to tell other beaders who asked what I was doing that, "I was doin' tha butt". Sometimes you just have to get your giggles in for the day.  Laughing is good therapy and beading is even better therapy because you have someone else to share the joke with. Blessings

I had wanted to keep all of the Doll Journey post totally drama free. Unfortunately, that's just part of it- the part of the journey that eventually defines what you do. You see, as we create our art, our  points of reference, which includes our skills, culture, experiences and beliefs, influence our decisions. THAT being said, I have begun another doll one that closely resembles a form I sold to a very dear friend. I had every intention of beading that form myself if no one purchased it at the retreat last August. The difference of the two are the gesture the arms are making. The second one suits me better, so that is a good thing.However,  I make mention of all this for two reasons-1) I must post each week and this week there is NO progress, but this realization- 2) this IS JUST PART OF IT! I am being brutally honest about the progress of this doll. I received terrible news concerning a  friend and mentor's health, though not totally unexpected, when it com...

We all would like to have the best tools we could possibly afford. Sometimes what you can afford is far from the best. In all artistic endeavors, there are tools that a must and then there are some that would be terrific to have but you can live without. What I am going to reveal is a tool that is easily affordable and you don't want to bead without! In a previous post I mentioned how it  makes things harder  to bead when we  add bits in certain places, this tool makes the difficult possible. In the past I have worked the arms and legs before they were attached to the torso and I recommend it if you can. It is far easier to bead, then attach the limbs. Sometime you must attach the limbs before you can bead because of the structure of the piece- like the doll below. One thing that makes beading easier, the difficult possible AND is a must have tool is A CURVED BEADING NEEDLE. It is small enough to go thru the beads (those with good holes anyhow.) I will adm...

The week has slipped by without any beading being done but the inspiration is still swirling inside. Taking a passive role by just looking at magazines and books instead of creating, keeps me going.  I may still get to bead today  but I will save the progress photos to share next week.  While looking through magazines and previous journal entries, I discovered  that this has been brewing for a lot longer than I thought. I came across a journal entry created several months ago during a worship service.  It is an awesome experience! You look at the photo...seem like a coincidence to you? I used water soluble oil pastes and pen to create this journal page. I love how you can work in one medium and it inspires your direction in another. If you work with multi-media, be sure to play with them all as your inspiration allows. You will find that it fuels a much bigger fire than you had dreamed. Uhh, no pun intended ( I think). I wonder what they were saying...

As I envision a phoenix rising from the ashes I see scrolls or swirls of movement. This is one of my favorite design elements and  I especially love it in architecture and furniture. Being one of my favorite things, it shouldn't be unexpected when I incorporate it into the bead work. It really wasn't but what was not expected would be my reaction to its presence and what it added . I began the scroll work after using a moss/ bocce stitch under the flames to transition the lower half of the doll to ashes. Selecting  a matte black 11 bead for the scroll outline. I wasn't completely settled on this bead or the scrolls from the beginning,  but I made myself push through and commit to the decision that was made. I set the doll down at this point, still not certain of the direction is was taking. Later I came back to her,  looked at the black scroll of bead work and picked her up, I felt an intensity that wasn't there before. A depth of meaning. Now I am cer...

Whenever you work on a doll  you don't always have all the pieces together. I usually have more of the big picture than I did with this doll. What it has taught me is to "Take it one Step at a Time". While I worked on the flames, more and more things revealed themselves to me. I knew this doll was to have wings. What I didn't know was why. Now I DO! Follow along my thought process for a  minute. As a flame burns, there is a change created. We are left with Ashes. I remembered "beauty for ashes" and had to go find out why it sounded like I was trading beauty for a pile of ashes- when I knew it was supposed to be the other way around. When I found it,  it smacked me. I mean it resonated deep within me. Isaiah 61:3 "To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorifie...