Lilyweeds

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Wishcasting Wednesday: What do you wish to delight in?

This is a short and easy Wishcasting Wednesday for me. I wish to delight in my artist book and its tutorial being published in the Interweave Press magazine 'PAGES 2012' and for continued success in my art work.

Also I wish to delight in the continued discovery and implementation of the ideas that the Universe gives to me. I'm working toward being skilled enough to interpret them all... well, at least a goodly amount. :)

Thank you to Jamie Ridler at Jamie Ridler Studios. Wishcasting Wednesday is such an inspiration; I look forward to each week.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

When You Give An Artist 30 Minutes...

...you get enough fantastic material for Martha Le Van's Lark Books series "30-Minute" Bracelets, Earrings, Necklaces and Rings! Every book features a compilation of artists and the work is inspiring. The layout of these four books makes them very user friendly... the pictorial table of contents is brilliant... making for an easy return to your favorites. With added lists for supply needs, the technique applied to each creation and exceptional pictures, each book makes you want to run to the work table to try your hand at making your own.

The cover of '30-Minute Earrings' caught my eye immediately. Featuring New Jersey-based artist, Liesl Carlson, the gentle bend of the silver petal encasing a plum pearl drop is elegance at its best. Nancy Wickman's use of wire and simple copper washers is an excellent showcase of 'less is more' and how perfectly applied texture makes that simplicity a winner. The 'found art' of Bryan and Andrea Ring's clever license plate earrings and the mixed media of Heather Crossley's little boxes add a whimsical dimension.

'30-Minute Necklaces' varied use of materials makes for a joyful book. In homage to my couture career, I would so wear Sarah Gazia's bobbin necklaces with bright rounds of polymer clay sitting in for thread and Sunyoung Cheong's imaginative incorporation of silver, pearls and tulle for a happy tutu necklace! LOVE them. Dilyana Evtimova uses square silver wire to take lowly illusion film to the ball (brilliant!), while John A. Sartin uses his metalwork talent to feature that perfect stone.

I fell in love with Rachel Sims' Copper and Silver Bar bracelet in '30-Minute Bracelets', really enjoying her use of a varied jump ring chain to set off her beautifully done metal bar. Dangles of Brazilian natural 'beads from seeds' highlight a beautiful leather braid by Lia Paletta. Carole Zakkour inspires you to take out your frustrations by hammering copper in her freeform wire bracelet. And, Karen J. Lauseng, you made me laugh with your happy bracelet made from snaps - yes, sewing snaps - and silver jumprings. What a great piece!

The last book in the series - '30-Minute Rings' - is as stunning as the first. What's not to like about happy little elastic bands? Nicole Jacquard adds them to her hammered fine silver ring to bring spots of playful color. Robert Dudenhoefer II finds his color in the art of enameling as he beautifully combines copper and silver with geometric enameled shapes. Victoria Takahashi's ring evokes the riding stirrup in it's simplistic combination of copper rod and patinaed silver. Lastly, who would ever dream that plumbing PVC pipe could EVER look like carved ivory? Karen Rakoski does just that in her lovely leaf-design band. Amazing, and oh so wearable!

There you have it... four fantastic books that compliment any artist's library. Head to toe... well, fingers... but I bet many of those rings would look awesome on a sandaled foot! Enjoy!!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Wishcasting Wednesday: How do you wish to grow?

Jamie's prompt today is "How Do You Wish To Grow?" I've thought about that off and on all day. My first sarcastic little comment was 'actually, I need to SHRINK' but after that moment passed, I thought 'actually I DO need to shrink'. Shrink my doubts, shrink my fears, grow my confidence and grow as an artist. If I fill my life with those positive paths, there will be no need for me to overfill myself with food and continue building that proverbial protective shell.
I've done a lot of shrinking already... finishing up commitments I took on to procrastinate with my artistic work. Self-made barriers set up so I wouldn't fail... or succeed... bc I'd so sidetracked I couldn't even begin.
So my wish is to grow true to myself, following the happy thoughts that pop into my head saying 'wouldn't it be cool if you did this?' Yeah, that's how I wish to grow.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Wednesday Words: Showcase 500 Rings: New Directions in Art Jewelry

Need Bling? Serious Bling? Original Bling? Finger Bling?

In Showcase 500 Rings: New Directions in Art Jewelry,
Lark Books - doing what it does best - offers the debut title in their redesigned Lark's Showcase 500 Series for our consideration.
And what an offering it is!
From the midieval-inspired simplicity of Aliki Apoussidou's hot-forged Siegelring Rund to Kristin Deiner's aptly named Ring Form: Contraption (truly, a party on your hand), juror Bruce Metcalf and editor Martha Le Van have selected an eye-catching collecton of jewelry from classic to quirky.

My personal favorites ran the gamut...

Would I wear Julie Lynn Romanenko's elegant diamond and 14-karat gold set Untitled? Absolutely! COULD I see myself wearing the polymerclay fantasy that is Jeffrey Lloyd Dever's Convergence?

The artful sprite in me is screaming "Sure, you can!"

I am longing to own every letter in Trudee Hill's imaginative Letters From Words: Alphabet Rings!

Think of the creative fun you could have wearing those! Ask me how I feel today?

And last, but far from the least, Stefanie Kölbel's Striped Rings spoke to the fiber artist in me with her exquisite translation of a traditional bobbin lace techinique.

This book lives up to the Lark Books tradition. It's a jewelry store between two covers.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Sewing "Little Doll" and Other Angel Projects

Today was spend sewing... sewing on white fabric... sewing lots of different white fabric. A lovely lace covered wedding gown. One of the last five I'd promised. (Always keep my promises) The second a tiny First Communion dress for a friend's daughter... the college trainer friend who picked my son up off the field several times when he was bloodied, broken or injured during his college baseball playing days.

Lastly a tiny doll from old white linen and wool who will fly through the mail... hand-stitched from a simple pattern taught to me in childhood by the wonderful woman who cooked for my grandmother and one of her friends; a woman I so respected but who wasn't always respected by society or that era at large. Miss Julia's ancestors were surely enslaved as she was born of Southerners, but the independent Miss Julia was beloved by all who knew her and her talents were a large part of my life. I never learned to cook; she gave me a hard time about my lack of kitchen skills, but I still can hear her praise of my needlework skills. I think of her often, miss her a lot and daily thank her spirit for being such a patient teacher for a bouncy little kid like me.

(picture shown above - "Wanda's Wing" by Diana Welte - vintage quilt scrap, wire, foil, organdy ribbon - in private collection)

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Wishcasting Wednesday: Renewal and Grace

When I was a little girl, I wished on stars all the time. Lying in bed, looking out my window... sometimes lying in the grass outside on a summer night just as the stars were first blinking. I wish I may, I wish I might... It was fantastic and hopeful and sent me to sleep with a new excitement for the next day.

As grown-up girl, I find I still wish on stars... but as an afterthought. Isn't that sad? I was such a happy kid. In recent years, I have increasingly yearned to be that person again. Knowing that my life was much easier when I was that little girl and wishing again for a way to get back to that place of more hopeful thought, a Wishcasting Wednesday post from Jamie Ridler Studios caught my eye.

So beginning this week, I am casting my wishes upon the waters. They will come true... they always do... I just have to make sure that I have the courage to wish them in the first place.

This week I am wishing for a renewal of spirit and a measure of grace. That's a good start, don't you think?

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Welcome To The Party!!! - The Postman Bracelet...

Through rain and hail and sleet and.... well, you know the rhyme.
Although for me and mine, it's been Hell as well as hail and we've yet to see sleet and snow.
(Sssshh! Diana!)
I excitedly signed up for the 5th Bead Soup Blog Party because I wanted to challenge myself.
Little did I know the challenges would be external
and have nothing in the world to do with my beading skills.

As I'd made my sketches and had the components configured,
I received word just last Friday morning that my sweet, funny 21 yr old nephew
had been in a traffic accident on his way to work and didn't survive.
Levi thought me being an artist was 'cool'.
I had told him about what I was doing and he said, as he always did, "can't wait to see that!"

Well, baby boy, here it is.
I am proud I got something done at all.
More proud still that I got something finished that I will wear.
I thought about wrapping the focal stone, but I like the weight of it
and the 'cool'ness as it lays on the top of my hand.

My bead partner, Ann Sherwood, chose beautiful stones and beads and a clasp that I absolutely love.

I used copper wire in 20 gauge, 24 gauge as well as copper and gunmetal finish jumprings.

The bracelet wraps twice with the focal bead and the clasp close so they lay together when worn.

I have plans to go back and add more of the tiny pearls to the links,

and make earrings from the leftover soup.
This is a keeper. Thanks, Ann!

Also visit Ann's blog to see what she did with the lace agate focal bead
enclosed in Delicas that I sent her...
http://ann-sherwood.blogspot.com/

She and I seem so alike... right down to the wire girls... I like that about her.
It means she runs at life headlong just like I do...
with an enthusiasm for filling, or over-filling, her life to the brim.
Take on everything because you don't want to miss anything.
I think if we sat down over a cup of something
- soup, I am sure, is too tame for the likes of us -
we would find a friendship.

Coming late to the party because of a nasty storm that flew through Kentucky last night,

I am just happy to be online again and on my way to the blogs!
You may notice little X's on some of the thumbnails in the LinkyTools below...
click there anyway...
not sure what I did, but there are awesome treasures hidden in the boxes!
Join me, won't you?

Hostess, Lori Anderson

Special Book Sneak Peeks, Cindy Wimmer

1. Adlinah Kamsir (Kingdom of Bahrain) and Hajer Waheed (Singapore)

2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)

3. Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)

4. Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman

5. Alesha Conklin and Becki Mendivil

6. Alice Peterson and Carol Dillman

7. Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu

8. Amanda Dittloff and Brandy Thomason McNair

9. Amanda Tibbetts and Andrea Trank

10. Amy Freeland and Kay Mallery