April Monthly Recap

Frida Kahlo was a fascinating woman. Her short life was filled with great pain and great passion. This month's challenge painting was filled with a great array of images rich with symbolism and perfect for finding your interpretation. I was blown away by the awesomeness in beads and the inventiveness in jewelry design. I am sure Frida would be proud of all we've created. Let's start the show!

April 2015 Monthly Challenge by Slidely Photo Gallery

Just click the picture above to start. Best viewed in full screen mode.

If that doesn't work, try this link: April 2015 Monthly Challenge Slide.ly

An InLinkz Link-up

Get the InLinkz code for your blog:

get the InLinkz code

When Inspiration Strikes...

... you must follow her wherever She leads!

You might know that I do a little thing called Simple Truths. And I offer these Simple Truths in a Sampler Club. Over the course of the past few years of doing the Club it evolved into being about the Art Bead Scene. The purpose of the Simple Truths Sampler Club is threefold: (1) I want to push myself to come up with a new design each month; (2) I want to challenge myself to learn new-to-me techniques in polymer clay; and (3) I want use the inspiration artwork for the month to guide my creative endeavors. Basically, the members of the Club on any given month are fans of my work and must love surprises. That is not only a great honor, but a nerve-wracking proposition! I truly don't want to disappoint.

One my greatest disappointments is that I am not usually ready to go with the pieces to send to my Club members in the first week of the month. That has happened on occasion, but often I have to wait to clear my schedule to have a play date and then hope that Inspiration will come to play. Now I do get a bit of a heads up as an Editor to see what is coming... and I print off those inspiration artworks making notes about what I might do or what motifs grab my attention... and I even go about ordering supplies for things I think I might need (I am waaaayyy ahead of the game for October right about now)... I even seek out tutorials or books or online classes that might help me with my quest to learn. But that desire to learn and try new things often means that it takes me longer to fit it into my busy life than I think!

With every installment of the Simple Truths Sampler Club (participants sign up for 3-, 6-, 9- or 12- months at any time (and there is a limit of 20 in the Club at any given time - but I have never come close to filling it up), I send the piece with a full page synopsis of what I made, what inspired me about the artwork challenge, and a little bit of my process. Normally, that is reserved for my Club members, but at the risk of ruining the surprise for what is coming to them this month, I am going to share with you the letter that is on the way with the bead for the month along with some of my in process shots.

Simple Truths Sampler :: April 2015 

I have to admit that I didn't know much about Frida Kahlo before this month, just that she was a fiery Mexican artist who painted a lot of self-portraits in a hyper-realistic style. Oh, and she had those eyebrows. 

So on Saturday, I finally had a chance to sit down to devour this art. I sat with it. I put it as the background on my computer. I re-read Tari Sasser's post with the back story. I poured over every detail. Truthfully, there was so much going on in this painting that I think I was having a sensory overload! 

Layered leaves, transparent dragonflies and butterflies, the monkey, the cat about to pounce, the dead hummingbird dangling from the thorn necklace, the drops of blood, the infinity shaped knot in her hair... where to start? 

You know that I love quotes and words. So I turned to the prolific writings of Kahlo, who kept diaries throughout her short, tragic life. A few that stood out to me...

"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly."

"I want to be inside your darkest everything."

"Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away."

"At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can."

(That last one is my favorite.)

But I still wasn't sure how to pull this all together. So I watched the 2002 movie with Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo. (It is a great film, totally transporting, evocative, tender and passionate.) What I kept coming back to was that Kahlo lived life deeply. She tasted every experience with a great hunger for more. She painted not because she needed to, but because she had to. Her body may have been broken, but her spirit soared. 

Looks like I am ready for the bonfire! ;-)

Her paintings are very raw, deeply personal and highly symbolic. That is when I remembered a tutorial that I had purchased from CraftArtEdu called Symbolic Beads by Aussie artist Debbie Crothers. I really enjoy her style and knew that these beads would be the perfect way to capture the meaning and beauty of Kahlo's style. 

Hard to see when everything is all in white. Sometimes the details won't even be clear to me until the next step!

It took me some time to get the first two beads done, as it was all just an experiment at this point. That is what I love about doing this Club, that you all trust me enough to let me be freely expressive in my miniature works of art! Part of this technique involves making a lot of molds. Thankfully, I had a lot already but it was a good excuse to make some more. I found some things that worked perfectly... a bunch of leaves, a tiny dragonfly, a hummingbird, a butterfly, and even some twigs that looks like those tangled thorns. 

Misshapen lumps of clay magically transform with antiquing. Now I can see the details! Time to hand paint each one.

I created the bead cores and then used the molds to create a multi-layered effect with the clay. Layers of patina, added color and sealed for durability. A true labor of love. Each bead is completely different and has either a hummingbird, butterfly or dragonfly on it along with leaves and flowers and twisted thorns in a soft matte finish. I think that Miss Frida would approve!

I call these beads 'Frida's Triumph', the first in a series of Symbol Beads. Click HERE for a link to purchase your own Limited Edition 'Frida's Triumph' Symbol Bead.

 Where is your INSPIRATION leading you today?

Art Beads Inspired by Frida kahlo's painting Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

                   K
                         Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird by Frida Kahlo

Each month Art Bead Scene posts a painting, or other piece of art work to inspire readers to create a piece of jewelry and or an art bead.  On our Beads Monthly Challenge Pinterest Board this month we have several new art bead artists to introduce you to: Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads; Cate Van Alpen of Fulgorine Beads; Julie Wong Sontage of Uglibeads and Sue Evenson of Tres Jolie Designs by Sue.
Last month, you may remember I wrote about the bead artists inspired by Emily Carr's painting.
You can view that post Here.  This month the artists I mentioned above have been inspired by Frida Kahlo's painting Self- Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.

I will begin with Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads.  This is her first time submitting beads for the Art Bead Scene Challenge.  She writes that she was inspired by the primitive aspects of Frida Kahlo's work in combination with  the sophistication of her style.   She believes the beads pictured below capture these two elements of Kahlo's painting.


                     Ceramic Bead by Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads

Andrea's career as an artist has involved many different mediums but  now her favorite is clay.
Here are a few examples of "her tiny works of art" as she calls her beads.

          Set of 10 handmade ceramic glazed art beads cubes "box numbers" on Etsy         

  When I corresponded with Andrea about her work she shared her ideas about bead making with me and gave me permission to post them here:

My objective is to challenge the definition of the word “bead”, to enable jewelry artists to stretch their imaginations, exploring ever changing possibilities in color and texture.

Wikipedia defines the bead as ”a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes….and that is pierced for threading or stringing”.  This seems very narrow to me. Having painted on many mediums in my life, I consider my ceramic beads and pendants as intimate 3 dimensional canvases. The options are endless and take me on a never-ending journey. I truly hope that those who love to create will travel along with me, incorporating my bits of art in their own creations.

Beads have been in existence for over 40,000 years. Buried in ancient tombs to carry their story into the next life. These little objects of adornment tell my story…a diary or journal so to speak, leading up to where I now am and where my dreams might take me along life’s journey."

When I asked Andrea to share some pictures  with us of her beads illustrating some of these ideas she sent me the following ones:

Set of 7 handmade quirky wordy ceramic glazed hollow art beads jewelry pendants "stream of consciousness" by Andrea Solkowe


Set of 7 handmade ceramic glazed art beads cubes with amazing surfaces "crawling cubes2 by Andrea Solkowe

You can find more of Andrea's work at Josephine Beads on Etsy

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Next we will meet Julie Wong Sontag of Uglibeads. Julie is a lampwork bead artist from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  She tells that she first was smitten with beads at a very early age by a necklace in her mother's jewelry box--a loom woven piece made by a Canadian First Nations craftsperson.  At 12 she bought her first bead book  Beads!! by Stephanie Tomlin.  Today she is a  full time  self supporting lampwork artist.  She is proud to report that she is not self-taught and that she loves to learn.  She has been making lampwork beads since 2001 when she made her first strand of Ugly Beads.  She still has it and it morphed into the name of her business:  Uglibeads.  Julie says she picked that name because it "reminds me of the importance of learning and growing, and giving myself permission to try - and fail - at new things. When you first start making stuff, whether it’s jewelry, art beads, poetry, music, whatever - your first attempts aren’t always pretty. Why should they be? You’re a beginner, right?"

Julie's submission on Pinterest for this month's ABS Challenge is pictured below:


When I asked her about her inspiration for this bead she told me "Most of the time, inspiration happens organically for me. When I saw this month's challenge, I was very drawn to the colors and symbolism in this powerful, almost hypnotic self-portrait of Frida. I saw in it her strength, bravery, and resilience. The color palette was informed by the Monthly Challenge, but the meaning in the bead grew out of a very emotional and moving experience I'd had that day. When my beads can tell a story and communicate a feeling, I feel I've done my job.

When the bead emerged from the kiln the following day, I was not surprised to see the subconscious influence of the painting's intriguing details. Of course, the leaf motif, but also the shimmer of the dragonfly and butterfly wings, and the mysterious penetrating eyes of the cat echoed in the dot patterning."

Here are 3 more photos of Julie's Work

     Aurora Headpins  by Julie Wong Sontag

 Hollow Beads by Julie Wong Sontag

Crossroads by Julie Wong Sontag

If you would like to see more of Julie's work, I have listed several options.  Currently her Etsy shop is closed but it will reopen soon.
www.facebook.com/uglibeads   she tells me this is her most active online presence
www.uglibeads.wordpress.com  this is her blog and has lots of information about her beads
You can read an interview Julie did with Esfera Jewelry HERE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Our next bead artist is known to the ArtBeadScene community as a jewelry designer but this month she  posted on our art bead Pinterest board her first attempt at bead making.  But truly she has been making many many beads for her jewelry pieces for some time now.  She is excited about being able to offer some of  her beautiful work as jewelry components.  Lets meet Sue Evenson of Tres Jolie Designs by Sue.
Below is pictured her beads Frida's Leaves


Frida's  Leaves from Tres Jolie Designs by Sue

Sue Evenson says that she has  loved working with her hands and making small things since childhood.  She took those skill into her career as a dentist for 15 years. While a dentist, she used her free time at home to let her "creative spirit go wild" painting on walls, furniture, fabric, clothes and glass.  Fifteen years later, when she decided to stay at home with her 2 young children, she began making jewelry.  Her medium is polymer clay.
Sue tells us about how she works and makes her "beads.
"When you speak about beads, as far as my work goes, I guess they are not your typical beads. Because of them not being traditional, meaning having a some sort of ‘hole’ in it, I have really never entered the ‘bead’ challenge board.  When I design a piece, I have some sort of plan in mind, but I don’t usually put any holes in them until I actually start piecing it together. This allows me to have more freedom as to where I may want the ‘beads’ to go.
I may try and make more beads that I can envision other artists being able to use in the future.  But, having a piercing tool is so important!
I really do so enjoy these challenges.  They have really made me push the envelope!"

Unique Hand Made Polymer Clay Abstract Medallion Statement Necklace by Tres Jolie Designs by Sue

               

Unique Handmade Polymer Clay Statement Floral Necklace~Swirling Flowers by Tres Jolie Designs by Sue

                                  

Unique Handmade Polymer Clay Statement Necklace~Crackled Black Feather-Like Shapes by Tres Jolie Designs by Sue

I am looking forward to seeing Sue offer some of these beautiful leaves, medallions and flower as beading components.
You can see more of Sue's work
Sue's Etsy shop
Her  Flickr Site
Her website 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Our next artist is Cate Van Alphen of Fulgorine who currently hails from the Uk England but spent the first half of her life in South Aftrica;  She is a polymer clay artist who has a varied career as an artist including traditional painting, stained glass and computer animation (she has a degree in computer science.) Cate began working in polymer clay in 2009.  She likes polymer clay because it allows her to work with with both color and texture.  She reports that she has even used polymer clay as paint--again combining her two passions: color and texture.

Cate's 2 submissions to the Bead Pinterest board this month follow.
 
Hollow Polymer Clay Cabochon by Fulgorine


Unique Polymer Green Beads By Fulgorine

When I asked Cate about her inspiration for her beads this month she tells me that

"I'm fairly chaotic and intuitive when I work. When making beads my inspiration usually starts with a colour combination that speaks to me. I try to make my beads with different shapes, sizes and textures so that I can combine them in interesting ways to make a finished piece of jewellery. Often my pieces of jewellery start because I'm inspired by the interaction of beads I find together in my workspace. There's generally a lot of trial and error to find something that looks right. "

Her beads cover a wide range of expression but always reflect her love of color and color combinations.

Kinetic Cylinder Bead by Folgarine



Polymer Clay Orchid by Fulgorine  


an example of some of her textured beads  --you can find out how she made them on her blog post
here

You can read more about Cate van Alphen at the links listed below
She has some free tutorials Here
She actively blogs Here
You can find her on Facebook Here
She has two Etsy Shops: one for beads and one for her jewelry
********
I hope you have enjoyed meeting these art bead artists today.  If you would like to participate in the art bead challenge you will find all of the necessary information on how to do it HERE

The ArtBeadSceneTeam and our readers look forward to seeing what you make and how you were inspired.
Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Mary

Etsy Picks

How is everyone getting along with the challenge?  Today I'm going sharing some Etsy picks which might help you on the way if you're struggling a little. When I first started searching for beads to fit this month's challenge, I initially had a bit of a challenge.  The most conspicuous figurative elements aren't that commonly found in art bead form. Sure, there are some monkeys and quite a few cats about, but the examples I could find of both were far too benign to suit this painting.  So, I thought about the colour's in the piece. For some reason, there's something about Kahlo's aesthetic which turns my mind to fibre beads.

Fiber Beads

Then I thought to see what this month's sponsors had on offer that might fit the brief. I love the range of vibrant greens in this bracelet connector.

Bead Swede Studios

And I love the array of textures in this deep green set.

NKP Designs

Too Aquarius 

This set of leaf beads had me thinking about all the leaves in the painting and looking for other leaf beads. I really like these earring charms.

Grubbi

Finally, if you're still struggling, what could be simpler than a pair of little red blood drops hanging from some earrings?

Scorched Earth

 Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodo.etsy.com

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

somethingtodobeads.etsy.com