Echo Creative Club with Jeannie Dukic

                             
Last year I was pleased to have been chosen to participate in Jeannie Dukic's Echo  Creative Club and be part of a bead exchange with Jennie.  She sent me a lovely set of red beadswith gold and black highlights that I picked out from her website.  In return I sent her some of my work.
Now it is May and it is my month to share what I made on my blog.




Here is a picture of the beads that I chose from Jeannie's website.  They are  called polarity beads.  They are handmade from polymer clay by Jeannie.  I love the depth of the gold and blacks on and  in the reds.  I received a set of 6 beads.

I decided to make a double wrap bracelet with Jeannie's beads.  I made it differently than I have before and did a sort of free form peyote style bracelet.  I  varied the width of the bracelet and arranged the beads so that they would be shown off to their best advantage.  I gave the button clasp a bright red color to bring attention to the beads and I made a handmade ceramic button.  For the button I hand painted the flowers red and the background a yellow green.  I think it goes so well with the seed beads and Jeannie's beads.

                                                               Mary Harding
           double wrap bracelet showing placement of beads and variegated width of bracelet

When the bracelet is wrapped around the wrist twice, it shows off the beads at the top of the wrist, as planned

                                           Overview of my double wrap bracelet.

Thanks so much Jeannie for this opportunity to work with your beautiful beads.  I loved trying out a new double wrap style.  Best of all it was a pleasure getting to know you and your work.

Textures in Landscape

When I was in Buffalo recently I saw an exhibit by Anselm Kiefer called Landscapes.  The following photos are quotations from Kiefer and closeup photos of the textures in his painting.  His paintings are very large and these pictures are but a small portion of the whole.  I have posted the a full picture of each painting below.

Anselm Keifer's Painting's  Full size in same order as the texture close ups.

I have focused on the textures of Anselm Kiefer's paintings as I feel they highlight the poetic and political energy of his painting.  I found Kiefer's interpretation of landscape very powerful.  He has opened my mind to another way of looking.