Inside the Studio with Erin Prais-Hintz, Tesori Trovati Jewelry

Welcome to Inside the Studio!

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

Congratulations, Julie of Outwest! You have won a ceramic leaf pendant from Mary Harding Jewelry.  Please send Mary an email with your information so she can mail that out to you!

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Today we visit the studio of

Erin Prais-Hintz

of

Tesori Trovati

 

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How can it be March already?! 

 

Spring seems like a dim light at the end of a seemingly never-ending tunnel of snow. And March means that I should have my tax prep done. Haven't.Even.Started. In fact, I was so bad last year I never even filed one scrap of paper. Just piled it all in a heap on the middle of my studio floor. (Obviously, I am organizationally challenged!) This year I have been keeping receipts and orders on a clipboard so that I can file them by month. And here it is, month three, and I haven't even started that. The good news is that I have not bought much (you have to see my studio to know that this is not such a big sacrifice as I have enough art beads and materials to go with them to last me until my last days). The bad news is I have not sold much (of course, if I listed something for sale I might actually sell something!). So this whole start to the new year is not going very smoothly in terms of organizing my files, and it is getting a bit depressing that winter won't end (my son's Varsity baseball team season opener is scheduled for a double-header on Saturday, April 5th. Um. Probably not going to happen). With the endless vista of white outside my door, and the seemingly endless stack of receipts I really must start sifting through, I really needed a something to get me out of this rut. 

Luckily, the Bead Cruise is just around the corner, because a dose of tropical drinks and sand would do wonders for my mood. Am I going to a tropical destination to have fun in the sun with my friends? Nope. But my beads are!

I have contributed to the Goodie Bags that Heather puts together for the Bead Cruise participants the past few years. Now, I could just clean out my Simple Truths stash (I have so many new ones and samples that are waiting for me to list them already in my lonely Etsy shop!), but that would feel like cheating a bit. So I used this as an excuse to experiment. And I am quite happy with the results!

I almost never work with colored clays. But last year I took a class with Heather creating canes and got so inspired that I went a little nuts buying every color of polymer clay available. But of course, I never did anything with them. That is the way it goes with me.

 

When I think of tropical locales, I think of bright, citrusy tones. I think of resort wear with strappy sandals and white accented with touches of gold. So I dug in my stash and pulled out lime green, lemon yellow, mango orange, hot pink and turquoise clays. I found a texture plate that had a sea-theme to it. I happened upon some ocean charms. And I used a lot of shiny gold paint for a patina. 

 

I thought of tide pools and all the creatures that are massed together in a shallow little world, like some saltwater commune living together in harmony. I set out to create beads that looked like fossils that were dug up. Irregular. Rugged. Little treasures just waiting to be found.

After I pressed them and baked them, I painted them with a soft gold that gave them a lustrous sheen. But I decided that they needed a little something extra, so I did the same to some wee ocean charms I found - fish, starfish, seashells, octopi, dolphins - distressing them a bit to show the detail. 

 

I paired them up so that each set had different colors, shapes and textures. No two are alike! Just how I like it. ;-)

 

 

Did I mention that these beads are double-sided? The reverse of the emboss is on the back of each bead. That sort of detail tickles me to no end! I strung each set on an eye pin and readied them for their packaging.

 

I tied them onto my cards and put each in its own wrapper. I hope that the recipients will feel the love that went into each one of them.

 

 

I may not be able to sit on the beach sipping drinks through an umbrella topped straw with my best beady friends, but it makes me happy that these little Tropical Tide Pool Fossils will be having some fun in the sun even if the only sun that I will see is the reflection off the snow!

Would you like to win a set of some of my new Tropical Tide Pool Fossils? I will give away a random set of three Tropical Tide Pool Fossils (just the beads, not the charms ;-) to one random commenter just for answering this question:

 

 If you could go any place in the world on a fantasy bead escape with your best beady friends, where would it be and why? 

I'll start... while I would love to go on the cruise, I think I would love even more to go to someplace like Morocco or India or Nepal because the colors and patterns of people in faraway cultures intrigues me!

Your turn!

March Monthly Challenge Sponsors + Prizes

Our Wonderful sponsors for the March Challenge.
We will have 2 Lucky Winners this Month!

Mary Harding Jewelry

Mary Harding of Mary Harding Jewelry creates wonderful nature inspired beads, buttons, toggles and other jewelry components. Mary uses earthenware clay and underglazes for her pieces that have been cast from leaves and flowers.

You know you want to collect more of these beauties!

Mary is donating a $50 gift certificate to her Etsy Shop.

Visit Mary at her Etsy Shop, Website, Blog, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

: : :

Eclectic Prairie

Jenny Gholson-Morris of Eclectic Prairie creates hand shaped, carved beads and jewelry components. She uses various clays and glazes to produce differents looks to each piece.
Great additions to your bead stash!!

Jenny is donating a $50 gift certificate to her Etsy Shop.

Visit Jenny at her Etsy Shop, Pinterest and Facebook.

: : :

Submit photos of your wonderful creations using one or more Art Beads.

Birds on Riser by Adolf Dietrich has with many different elements that can be used for inspiration: Birds, houses, bird feeders, snow, bright pops of color and windows.

We can't wait to see where your creativity takes you with the art for this months challenge! 

Please remember to put MAR ABS in the title or tag of your submission(s).  

Provide us with the artist of the Art Beads used and we always love to know all the materials you used. 
***Art Beads MUST be used in your entry.***

March Monthly Challenge

Birds On Riser, 1944 

by Adolf Dietrich

Oil on wood

22.6 x 19.7 in. (57.5 x 50 cm)

* This art is copyright protected and should be used as inspiration only.*

About the Art

Naïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true. The words "naïve" and "primitive" are regarded as pejoratives and are, therefore, avoided by many.
The term naïve art is often seen as outsider art which is without a formal (or little) training or degree. While this was true before the twentieth century, there are now academies for naïve art. Naïve art is now a fully recognized art genre, represented in art galleries worldwide.
The characteristics of naïve art are an awkward relationship to the formal qualities of painting. Especially non-respect of the 3 rules of the perspective (such as defined by the Progressive Painters of the Renaissance):
decrease of the size of objects proportionally with distance, muting of colors with distance, decrease of the precision of details with distance,
The results are :
effects of perspective geometrically erroneous (awkward aspect of the works, children's drawings look, or medieval painting look, but the comparison stops there) strong use of pattern, unrefined color on all the plans of the composition, without enfeeblement in the background,
an equal accuracy brought to details, including those of the background which should be shaded off.
Simplicity rather than subtlety are all supposed markers of naïve art. It has, however, become such a popular and recognizable style that many examples could be called pseudo-naïve.
Whereas naïve art ideally describes the work of an artist who did not receive formal education in an art school or academy, for example Henri Rousseau or Alfred Wallis, 'pseudo naïve' or 'faux naïve' art describes the work of an artist working in a more imitative or self-conscious mode and whose work can be seen as more imitative than original.
"Primitive art" is another term often applied to art by those without formal training, but is historically more often applied to work from certain cultures that have been judged socially or technologically "primitive" by Western academia. This is distinguished from the self-conscious, "primitive" inspired movement primitivism.

About the Artist

Adolf Dietrich (November 9, 1877 – June 4, 1957) was a Swiss labourer and, as one of the most renowned naïve artists, one of the leading Swiss painters of the 20th century.

Adolf Dietrich was born to poor farmers as the youngest of seven children. 
Dietrich would remain in the house of his parents, as a bachelor, for the rest of his life. Only on Sundays was he free to engage in drawing and painting. His first sketchbook dates to 1896, his first paintings to 1900. He created his works without any training or examples; but he did heed the advice of passing landscape painters to trust in his powers of observation.
For years, Dietrich tried without success to have his works shown in public. After his works were first shown in Konstanz in 1913, he received some recognition in Germany, where he was associated with the Neue Sachlichkeit movement and called the "German Rousseau". In 1924, Dietrich was able to cease his home work thanks to the still meager income provided by the sale of his works in Germany.
His international breakthrough came in 1937–38, when the exposition Les maîtres populaires de la réalité in Paris, Zürich und New York fêted him as the principal representative of naïve art.
Dietrich retained his modest lifestyle in the face of sudden fame and demand for his works. He was, however, industrious in marketing the output of the "master painter of Berlingen", as he now called himself. At times, he used (upon his clients' wishes) cardboard templates for the serial reproduction of particularly popular motives. Only Dietrich's few late works prior to his death in 1957 indicated any stylistic development.
The motives of Dietrich's works are limited to his immediate surroundings in Berlingen, and include rural landscapes, animals, people and still lifes. He created all of his works at home in his room, using pencil sketches, self-made photographs, stuffed animals and books as models. Drawing on his powers of observation, Dietrich imbued his still lifes and animal paintings with a strong sense of materiality and executed them with what was for an untrained painter an exceptional precision. His images of people and scenes of the imagination, on the other hand, appear comparatively plain or even awkward.
The artistic merits of Dietrich's works are found in his strong intuitive sense of colour, which intensifies the impact of his brightly coloured works, and in his outstanding power of observation, which allowed him to combine precision with great attentiveness of his subjects. 

Our Sponsors

Our Sponsors this month are Mary Harding Jewelry and Eclectic Prairie.

Please visit us tomorrow to see the prizes!

Monthly Challenge Recap

• Please post at least one single shot of your creation in the Flickr pool. This will be used to make a collage for the Monthly Challenge Gallery. Every creation will be added to the collage, regardless of a blog post. So everyone gets included!
• Be sure to share with us the name of the art bead artist in the description of your photo so that if you are selected for the weekly Perfect Pairings on Mondays, both you as the designer and the art bead artist can get the credit you both deserve!
• An InLinkz button will be added to the bottom of the Monthly Challenge Recap post. Here you will be able to link up your blog post if you have one. It is no longer necessary to add your blog post URL to the description unless you want to. Be sure to hop around and see all the great inspiration and leave some comment love!
• The Monthly Challenge Recap with Blog Tour will be posted on March 31st.

Monthly Challenge Winners
• One prize winner will be selected at random from all pictures posted on the Flickr pool.
• One prize winner will be selected at random from all blog posts added to the hop for the Monthly Challenge Recap post. So if you want to be in the pool for the second prize, be sure to use the InLinkz code at the bottom of the post to share your process and inspirations!
• Winners will be randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries on April 1st.

Perfect Pairings :: Designer + Art Bead Artist
• Formerly the Featured Designer of the Week, our new Perfect Pairings will now focus on both the jewelry designer and the art bead artist. Be sure to point out all the art bead artists in your work in the description of the photo in the Flickr pool. Links to their website or shop are appreciated. That way we can all find new art beads to love!
• From all the entries during the month, an editor will pick their favorite design to be featured every Wednesday here on ABS, so get those entries in soon.

How to enter the Monthly Challenge:

1. Create something using an art bead that fits within our monthly theme. We post the art to be used as your inspiration to create. This challenge is open to jewelry-makers, fiber artists, collage artist, etc. The art bead can be created by you or someone else. The challenge is to inspire those who use art beads and to see all the different ways art beads can be incorporated into your handiwork. 

An Art Bead must be used in your piece to qualify for the monthly challenge.

***Beads strung on a chain, by themselves and beads simply added to wire or cord will not be accepted.***

2. Upload your photo to our flickr group. Detailed instructions can be found here and click here for a tutorial for sending your picture to the group.

Please add the tag or title MAR ABS to your photos. Include a short description, who created the art beads and a link to your blog, if you have one.

Deadline is March 31st. Photos are approved by our moderators, if a photo hasn't followed the guidelines it will not be approved. You may upload 2 photos a day.

What is an Art Bead?

An art bead is a bead, charm, button or finding made by an independent artist. Art beads are the vision and handiwork of an individual artist. You can read more about art beads here.

***A bead that is handmade is not necessarily an art bead. Hill Tribe Silver, Kazuri ceramic beads or lampwork beads made in factories are examples of handmade beads that are not considered art beads.

Beaded beads, stamped metal pendants or wire-wrapped components are not considered art beads for our challenge.***

p.s. If you have a blog, post your entry and a link to the ABS challenge to spread the beady goodness.

February Monthly Challenge Winners

Congratulations to this Month's winners! 

1 winner was chosen randomly from all the challenge entrants.
1 winner was chosen randomly from the InLinkz blog entries.

Our first lucky winner is Sara Juno.

She has won a over $50 in findings and curiosities from Songbead.

Our second lucky winner is Shaiha Williams.

She has won $50 gift certificate from Earth Butter Beads.

     Songbead                   Earth Butter Beads

                 

Thank you Songbead and Earth Butter Beads for being our February Monthly Challenge sponsors!

Winners, please E-Mail Tari, tari@claybuttons.com with your information (Name and address) so your prizes may be sent to you.

A Big THANK YOU to everyone who entered this month using "Rose Garden" by Paul Klee, as your inspiration. 

We were so fortunate to have so many beautiful entries and experience such creativity from our wonderful readers.

Visit us tomorrow to see what March's challenge brings.

Amuse Your Muse Monday - Stringing Materials with Rebecca of Songbead

Happy Monday! And it's a new month. Welcome March - I am hoping for sunshine and a few flowers starting to peep through, maybe not so much warmth but longer days and more light. Today, the sun is shining and the sky is blue, and I'm planning on going for a little walk once I've finished writing this post, get some air into my lungs. 

A new month also means a new theme! This month is stringing materials - particularly those which are either artisan-made or -altered. I have a few lovely things to share with you today. I would love it if you could share some links in the comments below too! I know there is such a wealth of talent out there that I don't know about - I want to share all of those artists and resources here too so we can all enjoy them.

First up, Claire Braunbarth of Smitten Beads. She hand-dyes this beautiful chiffon silk ribbon. She works in relatively small batches so once each colour lot is gone, it may be gone for ever! Here's just a few of her colour lots:

Sea Breeze

Almost Aubergine

Light Periwinkle

And there are many more over at Smitten! 

Next up, one of my all-time favourite jewellery and component artisans - Patina Queen. When I went on holiday to California last year, we met up several times and it was so fantastic to meet someone whose components I'd been working with for so long. We had lots of laughs, particularly over British-English and American-English language differences. I'm sure some of you will know some of those funny words that mean one thing over here with me and another over the pond! 

She has a huge range of different components available - here is some of her beautiful antiqued brass chain, Fancy Figaro:

My personal favourite, the Round Snake Chain:

And Psst! If you shop over at PQ's website rather than her etsy shop, she's got a sweet 10% off coupon code! Hop over to her front page to check it out. 

Lastly, little old me! I have hand-finished and sealed antiqued copper wire available over at my supplies shop at The Curious Bead Shop. I've been offering this for about a month or so now and I'm so pleased with how popular it's been. I know myself how nice it is to work with the real deal - pure copper rather than plated wire, and I'm glad other people feel the same. 

Antiqued and sealed copper wire in 0.6 - 1mm (gauges 24 - 18). 

Have a great week! Here are the Bead Blogger Links:

Art Bead Scene

It's February's Monthly Challenge Recap! Come and see what our amazing readers created based on Paul Klee's The Rose Garden. 

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton

Andrew hosted a Design Challenge on his blog! "Radiant Orchid" was the theme! Come check out what all the participants made in the blog hop!

Resin Crafts Blog

How to make a mold with a half doll body.

Carmi's Art/Life World

How to turn a group of brooches into a necklace!

Anniversary Quilt: Middles and Ends

Cherie continues working on her quilt project.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! 

Jean writes a poem about (what else?) jewelry making as she participates in a fun 30 word blog hop created by Erin Prais-Hintz

A Bead A Day

Ever been to sunny Beadland? Lisa shares details of her recent trip...Is this the real life or is this just fantasy?

Cinnabar Chinese Lantern Earrings & Necklace 

Eileen set out to make a set of jewelry for Valentine's Day. When she went to her red bead stash, her eyes locked on some beautiful red carved cinnabar beads just perfect for the design she had in mind anyway!

Mixed Media Artist

Check out how you can use dryer sheets to "paint" a quilt!

Beading Arts

Cyndi is struggling to keep up with the Bead Journal Project this year, but that's probably because she decided to do much bigger pieces!

#Durathon Iron Giveaway!

An iron is used for everyday house chores, but it is also an important tool for many needlework crafters. Find out how you can win an awesome new Hamilton Beach Durathon irong.

Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer, currently living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. You can read more about her and her work at her blog, songbeads.blogspot.com and see more of her jewellery at songbead.etsy.com. She also has a supplies shop at thecuriousbeadshop.etsy.com.

Inside the Studio with Mary Harding

Welcome to Inside the Studio!

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

Congratulations Michelle W.! You have won a set of heart pins in your choice of finish:  6 in Sterling Silver or 10 in copper, antiqued or shiny or a mix of both from Rebecca of Songbead and The Curious Bead Shop.  Please send Rebecca an email with your information so she can mail these out to you!!

Today we visit the studio of

Mary Harding

of

Mary Harding Jewelry

My studio is inside of an 1850's dairy barn.   There was a time about 20 years ago that we had an operating dairy farm.  Where I work in my studio was once where our beautiful Jersey and Holstein cows lived. 

photo of our cows in the field in the fall

And before we lived here several other families had Holstein dairies housed inside.   So I feel that my studio has very good Karma.

I thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures of the structure of this lovely barn that has been saved from the fate of many in this large rural county in Northern New York.  All the work  has been done by my wonderful husband and with the help of friends. 

This first picture gives you a glimpse of the very large beams that were used to make this barn.  The part that I am in is just to the right of this section and is actually the older part of the barn.  

This picture is taken from the oldest part of the barn.  Those burgundy doors lead into my studio.  They are kept latched to keep out dust and cats etc.  They also give me a much needed level of privacy and quiet.  If you look up at the ceiling you will see more of the rough hewn beams that were used to build the barn.  Also of note is that the ceiling is fairly low about 7 feet.  Right above the burgundy double doors you can see one of the very large  beams. The ceiling height at the top of the double doors is about 6'2".  Not sure why the ceilings were so low but it did help keep this part of the barn warmer and allowed for more room above for storage of hay.

Another view of the very large rough hewn beams.  You can see the axe marks on the edge.  They were roughed out by hand.  Note how they are given additional support from the steel posts under them.

Upstairs or above my studio and this part of the barn, my husband is making a book store.  This is the area where  we used to store two thousand hay bales.  Notice the dark wood above the shelves.  The large beams have been integrated into the book shelf structure.

an upper level in the bookstore to be

Back to my Studio

My studio set up.  This table closest to you is where I do the hand painting and glazing of my ceramic beads, buttons and pendants.  I try to keep this area very clean.  Clay can be quite messy and the dust from clay can cause serious lung problems.  It is best to wear special small particle mask protection and clean up dry clay with a wet cloth so the dust is not dispersed.  Dust bits can also get into the clay glaze and distort the surface of a piece.

Here is a picture of one of my ceramic kilns.  All three of my kilns have digital controls which  means that a ceramic clay firing program has been keyed into the computerized controls and will go through the steps of the firing without out any help from me.  In the past kilns had to be  turned up for each step of the firing and then turned off at the end.  Many potters have gone over to the digital method but some still prefer to hand manipulate their kilns and use actual Orton cones to determine when the clay is ready.  All ceramic clay needs to be fired i.e. heated up to its chemical maturity in a kiln.  Clay matures at temperatures that are much  higher than can be achieved by a kitchen stove or a toaster over.  Ceramic kilns are built to handle these high temperatures and are made with a special kind of ceramic brick that can withstand these hot temperatures.  For example, one of the clays that I like to use which is classified as an earthenware clay needs to be fired to at least 1820 degrees Fahrenheit  to mature.  Many ceramic bead artists use stoneware and porcelain clays and these require even more heat to mature:  about 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.   

Recently I have been working on making a number of toggle clasps and hearts.  Some of these will be going to the Bead Cruise.

All of these  have been fired 3 times in my digital kiln.  Each firing has a special purpose.  The first or bisque firing it to initially harden the clay enough so that it can be colored with glazes.  I like to do a second firing after I  have used stains to color the white clay and add contrast to my image.

These 2 hole beads are drying in a food dehydrator and then will be sponged off to remove rough spots and put in the kiln for that initial bisque firing.  These bead seem  hard at this stage but they break easily and if they come into contact with water they will dissolve into mud. and just wash down the drain ( not a good idea for your plumbing.)

These beads have been through that initial bisque firing and then have been stained and fired a second time. Now they are ready for the hand painting and the final glaze firing.

Leaves which have been hand painted and are awaiting the 2 coats of clear glaze  they need before the final glaze firing.

Now that we have had a tour of the barn and  my studio, I have a question for you.  As you can see my studio is not inside of my home.  I love that it is in a  place that can handle messes and keep the clay and glazes away from my living space. I also love being able to focus totally on my creative work when I am in my studio as there are few distractions and I can't exactly double and triple task while I am there.  On the other hand, on days when it is very cold outside, or when I have a lot to do in the house, I think I would like my studio to be in my home.

Where do you think is the best place for your creative activity? and why?

  Tell us by leaving a comment below and I will enter your name to win ONE of my ceramic leaves like the ones above.  But of course they will be all glazed and bright and shiny.  Like these below.

ceramic leaf pendants by Mary Harding

Thanks so for stopping by.  The winner will be announced next week.