Janis, Jimi, Jim, Prince, the Hotel California, the Grateful Dead on hollow pods!
Perhaps Donna Kato’s beads are a strange choice for Christmas Eve but a it’s a tip of the hat and a nudge for my hippie husband.
These are compelling class samples from Donna’s half-day class at the Atlantic Clay Escape next October 6-10. Plan ahead! Put this class under your tree!
Texas’ Deb Hart shows the start of these petroglyphs on Instagram but how she arrives at the small squares with caned petroglyph images in the middle is still baffling.
They are built into an extruded string outline. Wow, that looks labor-intensive. She’s releasing more photos of her progress on the new inlays as she goes.
Here, she shows a Zuni Bear petroglyph and a coiled snake. Maybe she’s gearing up for a tutorial about her newly developed methods.
See an overview of Deb’s Southwest and Native American-inspired sculptures and jewelry on Flickr.
Germany’s Eva Thissen says that she doesn’t work as intensively with polymer these days but she still enjoys it immensely. Her current crop of minutely appliqued beads has already sold on Etsy after only days.
Eva used to create narratives around a single character. Now her stories are bigger and focused on groups as in this community garden, part of her Saturday series.
It’s hard to imagine working this small. A needle, good eyes, and steady hands are the only tools required.
Italy’s Allesia Bodini keeps her options open. When confronting the decision of whether her beads should be faceted or striped, she merely says “Yes.”
Are they cut from solid blocks of stripes? Or created as faceted beads and covered with slices of stripes? Is it too early in the week for this brain teaser?
Inquiring minds want to know. Take another look on Facebook.
Here’s a first look at one of Dan Cormier’s newest beads from his initial Matrix Canes online canework master class. But what does one do with beautiful veneers?
The sequel to the story is lodged in his second online adventure, Building Better Beads which runs from June 14 to July 14.
In this next step, Dan shows you how to turn a flat veneer into a finely finished piece. Registration closes Wednesday, June 5. Hop on over to the class site to read up on the details and register.
Spain’s Cristina García Alvarez (espiralarte) gives us a window into her journey through a 100-day project on Instagram.
On day 20 she took a turn that you may like when she paired Skinner blends with Bettina Welker-like retro canes. She added quirky textures and sped along with variations on the days that followed. Cristina gives us a window into her world as she continues to explore these designs. Click through her days and watch her progress.
We’ll be looking at how artists grow and change in the StudioMojo weekend newsletter this Saturday. Instead of sulking about how I haven’t participated in 100-day efforts like Cristina’s, I’ve decided to celebrate that StudioMojo has been perking along for 408 weeks. Yikes! It’s my own kind of long-running project that you can join at any time!
These beads from New Jersey’s Barbara Baatz (baatzbeads) are unpretentious and relaxed. They’re full of heart and devil-may-care attitude. They match but they’re not matchy-matchy.
It’s sometimes wise to step back, ease up and let that inner wild thing have some fun. Maybe it was taking yesterday off that has me appreciating simplicity.
Perfection is overrated and aiming for it sometimes sucks the energy out of our work. Do you need more spontaneity? See more on Instagram.
Moscow’s Juliya Laukhina covers her dark round beads with dense delicate dots of pastel colors. Is she using mokume gane off-cuts? Or has she taken another path?
It doesn’t matter, of course. She mostly uses round beads of this size as her canvas and every time I check, she’s trying another method to decorate them.
Juliya must have a science background since she’s methodical in her experimenting, only changing one variable at a time. These tight dots look like spring blossoms. She’s on Instagram and Etsy.
It’s not easy to be productive at a busy event like Clayathon where you are bombarded with ideas and opportunities to socialize.
Loretta Lam bravely used her time to play, trying out an idea that had been rattling around in her brain. She envisions a long chain of these 3″ tubes covered with mix and match patterns. The neutral palette keeps her focus on shape and design.
Passersby help her with a thumbs up or down. The patterns are all Loretta and the shapes allow us to see them in a new way.
The pop of spring colors against the black background gives an element of surprise to Genevieve Williamson’s extruded tube necklace. (I’d extrude but maybe she rolled them by hand.)
Genevieve says she’s home from the ACC Baltimore show and ready to jump back in and refine this design. The tangle of loops on one side adds to the surprise. Let’s watch and see how her idea develops.
Speaking of new developments, you’ll want to be sure to attend tonight’s free I Love Tools podcast on Craftcast at 7:30 ET. I’ll be there covering some of the hot tools for polymer artists. Mags Bonham will cover the latest developments from the Silhouette side of things.
It’s free and fun and available later if you’re too many time zones away. Bring a beverage and party with us tonight!
