Too Late, Too Soon...

The Natural Resources Preservation Fund of the Mackinac Island Community Foundation is presenting a juried art exhibit July 3rd - July 29th. 

16 pieces, created by 12 artists were selected for the show.... and two of them are mine!

In my ongoing effort to use beads in non-traditional ways, I created two mixed media pieces. The first is titled "Beautifully Invasive: Hawksbeard". Right now this is a familiar scene on the Island, the darkness of cedar forests, blanketed in a carpet of bright yellow. I was surprised to learn that in Michigan, hawksbeard is only seen on Mackinac at such high concentrations.

I created the piece by using gel medium to create the tree trunks (lots of texture), painted the canvas and then beaded right through the canvas to emphasize the flowers.

The second piece, "Trillium" focuses more on the native flora and was started in a similar manner, using gel medium and paint, but the bead work was first completed and then added to the canvas.

The goal of the show is to be both visually pleasing and thought provoking - consider what may happen to any environment if invasive plants and/or animals overpower and destroy the native ecosystem. History shows many examples of what can happen and it is unfortunately becoming an increasing common problem in our modern world. 

Bead Journal Project - July 2011

This piece is based on a technique with no name, in fact, a technique I created out of desperation!

In 2004, the Mackinac Island Community Foundation hosted the "Turtles Around Town" - 21 giant fiberglass turtles were embellished be artists, displayed in a variety of locations and auctioned off at a grand celebration.

I was one of the chosen artists and, of course, I wanted to cover my turtle in beads - but there were a few issues I had to figure out how to work around.

1.) The size - did I mention that the turtles were giants? So big that they do not fit in the back of a pickup truck. And we were living in a a very tiny studio apartment, while our house was under construction.

 2.) They were delivered in early spring, snow still on the ground and had to be completed in just three weeks time. So I needed to come up with a modular method of construction - something I could construct in the warmth of our apartment and then assemble in the freezing cold basement of our new home.

I decided to create typical Island scenes, one for each of the turtles shell plates.

I drew an individual cartoon for each plate:

I then filled in the cartoon with wire and beads - much larger beads then I usually use - my cat supervised the bouncing wire very closely.



I then wired all the individual pieces together and finished with a border. He then went for a ferry ride to St. Ignace to be clear coated.

I used the same technique for this, much smaller piece, my inspiration photo serving as the cartoon. I wanted to keep the background light, so as to highlight the trillium; my background is roughly woven wire.

 

 Not a technique that I'll use very often, but it does have it's applications.

My husband is now the director of the community foundation and they have been considering hosting a similar project - if they do, I will NOT be beading my submission!



Bead Journal Project - June 2011

No, you haven't entered a time warp - it's really is January 2012!

But I'm far behind on last year's BJP, I've just finished June, 2011. This month the technique is bead embroidery. Here's the inspiration photo, yet again:

It's starting to become a bit tedious, working the same image over and over - maybe that's why I'm so far behind.

I added a small snail shaped cabochon, just to break up the background and I do often find snail shells when walking in the woods.

I used all size 11/0's for this piece, in a large variety of colors, some matte, some shiny, some opaque and some not. I'm pleased with the final result and I'm now officially half way done with 2011!



Bead Journal Project - May 2011

Well, here's the inspiration photo yet again:

This time the technique is 3-drop peyote stitch. 3-drop peyote stitch is a variation of basic even count peyote stitch that involves adding three beads at a time rather than just one bead. 3-drop peyote stitch thus works up faster than basic even count peyote stitch.

Peyote stitch, also known as Gourd stitch, is an off-loom bead weaving technique. Peyote stitch may be worked with either an even or an odd number of beads per row. Both even and odd count peyote pieces can be woven as flat strips, in a flat round shape, or as a tube.

Many cultures around the world have used peyote stitch in their beadwork. Examples of peyote stitch have been found in artifacts from Ancient Egypt, and the stitch has also been used in historic and contemporary Native American beadwork. The name "peyote stitch" derives from the use of this stitch to decorate objects used in peyote ceremonies by members of the Native American Church. The name "gourd stitch" similarly derives from the use of the stitch in decorating gourd containers.

I've not used the 3-drop technique before; I was surprised at the stiffness of the finished work.

I did rather like texture that resulted, both aspects are something to take into consideration for future projects.

I'm disappointed that it's now December and I have only managed to complete May's piece, but I am committed to completing this series. But it won't be by the end of the year!

Bead Journal Project - April 2011

Playing "catch-up" yet again this year - it's just so hard to accomplish much during the busy season on the Island.

Here's the inspiration image; each month will feature this trillium using a different beading technique.

This time I started by stitching a fabric background:

I used St. Petersburg chain to form Russian leaves for the petals and leaves.

I filled the petals with a a mixture of beads in various sizes and finishes. The leaves were given more of "vein" affect.

The background seemed a bit plain, so I added some freeform embroidery - a mixture of French knots, feather and chain stitch.

While I cannot guarantee to finish by the end of the year, I WILL finish...and I even know how I'd like to display the pieces - anyone know a good metalworker willing to work with a beader?

Bead Journal Project - March 2011

This month, I decided to attempt something new, a piece in the style of the Northeastern Woodland Indians, a technique I've not used before.

Here's the inspiration image (are you tired of seeing it yet?):




Native American “whimsies” are beadwork items attributed to Woodland Indian women during the Victorian era, which they made for sale as souvenirs in areas such as Niagara Falls and Mackinac. These non-utilitarian “whimsies” became an important source of income for these women, helping to support their families.

The whimsies show a definite European influence, after 1800 among Northeastern Woodland Indian women, appliqué beading follows a distinctly different style from the mostly geometric Plains styles. Curvy flowers connected by spiraling vine tendrils are beaded onto black velvet or velveteen show the use of traditional themes adapted to the Victorian tastes of their buyers.

Usually the beadwork is sewn over a pattern cut out of paper, as can be seen in this antique example:





I did the same, cutting a paper template to bead over. It actually serves two functions - providing a pattern and masking the dark background which would dull the colors of white or clear beads.

Designs are usually quite stylized and this did cause me some problems, as my design is naturalistic. This shows up especially in the flower petals, as some unfortunate bead placement.






Overall, I'm pleased - I was able to achieve a lot of texture and depth - but next time I'll stick with simpler forms!

Distractions

I've been distracted lately - too many projects (which I will be sharing, hopefully in the near future) but even more so by spring having finally arrived, making it just too tempting to be outside.

There's new growth bursting out everywhere you look and there's just something so enticing about those new greens:



We've had a bumper crop of trout lilies, the flowers are so cheerful, but it's the namesake leaves that I find very interesting:

The trillium have come into bloom in just the past couple days, dappling the forest floor with bright white:

The beauty of the blossoms draws us to them, but the real purpose is to entice the proper pollinator, thus allowing the plant to reproduce itself. This is potentially a future wild strawberry .


This last one isn't a wildling, but a carefully cultivated magnolia, tucked away in a sheltered corner. The blossoms look as if they could take flight and float away if they weren't tethered to the tree.


Surrounded by such delightful distractions, is it any wonder I'm having trouble keeping myself on task?

Bead Journal Project - February 2011

Finally!!! February is finished.

Here's the inspiration image:

I'm using the same image but varying the beading technique each month - this time I used square stitch. Superficially, it looks the same as January's loom work but the techniques are quite different. With loom work, an entire row of beads is added all together, with square stitch each and every bead is added individually - one by one by one by one....


Square stitch is great for small projects and there are no warp threads to finish, but I will never do a piece this large in square stitch again - it just takes too long and it's difficult to maintain proper tension and spacing.

Some additional changes from January's project are the size of the beads, this month I used size 11/o, which results in less detail. I also used a deeper toned color palette.