Counting Blessings

I received my amulet bag from Lynn Davis of Expedition D and am so excited to receive such a wonderful collection of charms. The theme is counting blessings which has been so important this year. I will be making a piece of jewelry with all of the lovelies that I received. Here is a photo and names of those who sent me their blessings.

Blessings have been sent by

Lorelei Eurto

Gaea,

Lynn Davis

Erin Siegel

Heather Powers

Cristi Clothier (2ifbysea)

(Lucid Moon Studio). Lisa Harrington

Heartfelt thanks to all of you.

Colorful Yarn

Yesterday I took a yarn dyeing class at the St. Lawrence County Arts Council. I have never done this before and went on the invite of a friend. What fun. I thought my yarn came out beautifully. I hope my beginning knitting skills improve quickly so that I can make something worthy of this lovely yarn.

Scenes from my Studio Tour

Here are some of my displays for The St. Lawrence County Artists' Studio Tour. You can see our pastures outside through the window. My studio is in a renovated barn that was originally built in about 1850. There are many of the large hand hewn beams still to be seen.

Here is a close up from the photo above featuring two strung necklaces and two of my felted flowers brooches.

This photo captures several of my free form peyote bracelets and two peyote stitch necklaces.
It was a wonderful time for all. Many people came and tried out fused glass and ceramic bead making. Everyone who came was very supportive of my work and I thank all for making my studio tour this year such a success.

Later this week I will post some of my guests' creative work in glass and ceramic beads.

New Jewelry

This is a close up shot of one of my new Peyote Stitch necklaces to be unveiled at the Artists' Studio Tour.
Here is a picture of some new chunky pendants on the new and stylish rubber cord with sterling silver clasps. The middle pendant has a Sterling Silver bail. These pendants are all made from earthenware ceramic clay. They depict wild plants that grow in the pastures surrounding my home and studio.


These are some new fused glass pendants and two bracelets of fused glass cabs.



All of these pieces will be on display at my studio during the Artists' Studio Tour next weekend.

Toggle Collaboration

Bev Szaton asked me to make a toggle stick for her stunning Red Jasper donut. We did all this through email. I felt very honored to be asked by her to do this. Here is her creation which I think came out beautifully.

Australian Beading Magazine

I just heard from Lisa Kan, fabulous lampwork bead artist and author of Bead Romantique, that her article about me has been published in Australian Beading. Wow!! She did a wonderful write up. Thank you so much Lisa.

Close up of one of my pendants in the magazine article

Looks Like Spring Kinda

The garden picture is from yesterday. I am experiementing with a winter garden this year. And it kinda looks like Spring except for the dried Maple leaves lying around. And the beads they kinda look like Spring too. We hardly had a summer so I must be fast forwarding.

I was tagged and I have been so slow handling it that most of my fellow bloggers have been tagged too. This is a first for me and being a bit on the shy side it is not easy for me to do this. I will give it a try--hopefully by the end of the week.

Gorgeous Dichro

Gorgeous Dichro that I used with students in my fused glass workshop this week. They were a great group and very creative.
And I have been Tagged. I will get to that probably tomorrow. I am working on a special order today and urgent deadline for planting next year's garlic.

Dark and Stormy Night

This month the Art Bead Scene theme is Dark and Stormy Night. I am thinking of some of my beads that go along with this idea well. I have a few others in mind that I haven't got photos of yet.

Art Bead Scene Submission for September

Above are two different photos of my submission for the ArtBead Scene September challenge. The theme for September was filigree. I used a lovely filigree piece in the center of the my handmade ceramic pendant. I wire wrapped some of my handmade ceramic beads and alternated them with wire wrapped mookaite beads. I used one of my toggle clasps. I really like participating in the ArtBeadScene monthly contest because I do work I might not try otherwise. I like trying new things and I like having to struggle within the parameters of the task. I am not completely pleased with my results this month but will keep working on it.

My August Bead Harvest

In August, I didn't get into my ceramic studio much due to family visitors and finally some sunshine later in the month. I harvested beads from the earth rather than making them out of clay. I love all these veggies and am still in the process of preserving them for delicious winter eating.

Let Us Now Praise Famous Beaders

Although the late Peter Francis, Jr (1945-2002) writes from the perspective of a bead collector, (what beader is not a collector as well) I thought starting this series on beaders with Peter Francis, Jr. was most fitting because his research goes back to the many places where beads were first found. He points out that beads are the first known art form of humans, emerging over 40,000 years ago. In fact they predate cave paintings and carved figures.
The Late Peter Francis, Jr. (1945-2002) was a pioneer in the beading movement that we are continuing to experience today. I first became aware of his work when I was surfing the net on Compuserve in the late 80's early 90's. He had a webmall for beaders, he was the first I know of to have shops for beaders to sell their work on the web and he was a very knowledgeable bead collector and researcher. You can visit his original website here. In addition to his extensive research on the history of beads, he had a bead museum in Lake Placid, NY. Here is a link to photos of his museum. There are plans to have his entire collection placed in the Bead Museum in Glendale, Arizona.
I have a copy of his book Beads of the World which is a fascinating look at the history of beads. There are many photos of different beads from all over the world. He also includes some old photos of primitive bead making techniques and some great old drawings of how glass beads were made in the past. I especially love the drawing of three women at a table making wrapped lampwork beads, around 1600. Not so different from now.

Peter Francis, Jr.'s definition of a bead:

" What's a Bead?A survey of dictionaries and encyclopedias will reveal that the usual definition of a bead goes something like this: "A bead is a small, round object with a hole in it used for necklaces, etc."I do not find this satisfying. For one thing, many beads are not round. For another, they are not all small. They do not all have holes, and their uses go far beyond necklaces.My definition would be more on these lines: "A bead is an object capable of being strung and used for the many tasks assigned to it by various cultures. These include (but are not limited to) symbols of status and group membership; ornamentation of people, animals, and things; mnemonic devices; counting devices; amulets and talismans; and others."

I found the following link here that shows a video of Peter talking about African Beads on a UK TV program. It gives you a great sense of his knowledge and love of beads. I found that it would work on my Windows Media Player if I scrolled down to the link for people who can't get it on the screen provided i.e. the 14 mb .wmv file.
I hope that you will spend some time getting to know Peter's work, if you don't already, and enjoy remembering him as I have done in writing this article.

A Windy Night

We were away and missed the storm. But a giant branch from one of our 100 year old Maple trees was torn off by the strong winds that chased Ike out to sea. Thank goodness it was a graceful fall. It just missed our car, our house and our satellite dish. We feel so lucky.

Some New Beaded Jewelry

Part of my summer vacation was indulging in a nonstop beading marathon and not going to my ceramic studio. I had a great time but do have trouble sitting still for long periods of time. We remedied that by going camping afterwards and doing a lot of canoeing, biking, swimming and walking.

Here are some pics of both of my fun summer activities:

Here are some of my beaded pieces on a lovely china platter in the almost finished stage. I still hadn't finished the necklace below in this pic. Later I tied and cut off the working threads. I got a chance to try my new thread burner and it works really well for this kind of task.

This is a pic of my first right angle weave necklace. It was a challenge. I had to take it apart several times before it came out the way it did. I like the color combo and it is fun to wear.

This is the view from out campsite cabin looking out on Goose Bay. I spent quite a bit of time reading Looking for Alaska in this gorgeous spot.

A new right angle weave bracelet photographed on a bale of hay that is part of a hayhouse we made for the grandchildren to play in when they visited. I can't bear to take it down now that they are gone. It brings back such joyful memories. So now I am photographing jewelry on it.

Canoeing on Goose Bay. Here the inlet opens out onto the Bay. The mightly St. Lawrence River is just around the corner.

And Then the Sun Began To Shine

After weeks of rainy and overcast days this summer, about the third week in August the sun began to shine. And at long last our giant sunflowers began to bloom. I was thrilled.

To enjoy these sunny days I took off some time ( I skipped my August Newsletter and blogging) and spent them enjoying the fine weather. We even went camping. What fun. I guess summer is ending now as it has gotten colder on some days and the sun has become more scarce as large gray and white clouds keep rolling in. So now it is back to work and the normal flow of life. I love that too.

A Platefull of Pendants and Beads

I am thinking ahead today about the Annual Artists' Studio Tour that takes place where I live. This year will be the 21st Annual Tour. Wow!! I can remember back when the tour brochure was a handrawn map and no pictures of the artists' work. This year we are all getting color photos of our work. The picture above is for the postcard I plan to make for the event. My brochure photo is going to be a closeup of one of my freeform peyote stitch necklaces with my handmade ceramic raku fired beads.

The tour almost always takes place in November. This year it will be on November 7th, 8th and 9th. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is presented by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council. Hilary Oak is the director of this wonderful organization that supports and promotes the arts in St. Lawrence County.

I always like to do something special for guests who come to my studio--to give them a first hand experience making art with the materials that I use. This year there will be Ceramic Bead Making and Glazing; Felted beads and flower making and Fused Glass. One of each on each of the days of the tour. Last year we had a great time making art. And happily for me, many folks chose to purchase one of my handmade pieces.

What a Veggie Garden Year

It has rained almost every day this summer and the veggies are growing like crazy. And those giant sunflowers in the background are almost 9 feet tall now and the buds are just beginning to form. Since I haven't had a veggie garden in quite a while I am so thrilled and grateful for every fresh organically grown zucchini, cucumber, green bean and radish I pick. So far we have had lots of these. The tomatoes are plentiful but not ripe. Soon I hope. The peppers are big but I am still waiting to pick them since I want to freeze a few too.

And that field of pumpkins I planted for the grandchildren has really come through for them. As I said in my newsletter they are up to my waist or my neck. They just keep growing and spreading.

Book Review

Below is the review I wrote of Sherri Haab's new book for Amazon.com
Sherri Haab's new book Beaded Macrame Jewelry interested me from the start since I used to make a lot of jewelry using macrame. In fact that is how I got started making ceramic beads. I couldn't find commercial beads large enough to fit the hemp cord I was using then. Well now things have changed a lot. There are many wonderful handmade beads on the market that have large holes and wonderful new cords and material to use with them. This book is focused on using many of the new large holed handmade beads. Although lampwork beads are usually featured, the new ceramic beads you can find on Etsy and Just Beads on the Internet would work equally as well. And you know I am biased on the subject of ceramic beads. The book shows you the basic Macrame knots in clear large illustrations and then goes on to introduce you to a number of attractive projects. I have been having a lot of fun with the Japanese Cord Bracelet. I was attracted to this project because I had some of this wonderful Japanese Noro cording on hand in several different colors. By the way this stuff is gorgeous. Here is an example of my interpretation of the Japanese Cord Bracelet.

And now I am using this same technique to make a necklace.

There is another reason I love this book and that is the very simple sliding closure that makes it possible to adjust the size of any bracelet or necklace. She gives you two versions of this very handy adjustable ending.
There are many attractive projects in the book ranging from leather cord bracelets, macrame rings and earrings, to complex necklaces and even a purse using yarn and ribbon.
This book is available from Amazon.com and other books stores.

Hot from the kiln today

Here is a photo of some of the pieces I took out of the kiln this morning. I am putting them on my website under a newly created category, New Work. These pieces will be there for a month. They are one of a kind and are ready for immediate purchase.

Potsdam Summer Festival

Again this year, the Potsdam Summer Festival Arts and Crafts Fair was on a beautiful sunny summer day. Before and after it rained and sadly it is still raining here in the North Country. The river is so full from all this rain, it looks like our dock is going to set sail. Hopefully not.

The photo above is a shot of some of my hand made bracelets that I had on display.

I want to thank all my friends and customers and return customers for visiting my booth. You made my day. I always look forward to this annual event. See you next year.