Hints of spring
Patterns and colors skip around this necklace from Loretta Lam. A dark oval focal bead anchors the piece.
No dramatic shapes or crazy textures but a subtle mix of earthy colors that draw your eyes in with hints of spring.
Serene beads
There’s a serenity in these beads from California’s Eriko Page on Instagram and on Facebook.
Her dark, limited palette beads on a single leather cord calm us on a Monday morning. You may want to drink in the feeling emanating from Eriko’s cane-covered black rounds before you head into your week.
Polymer terrazzo
All the trends point to a resurgence of terrazzo (the chips of colors you see embedded in commercial flooring and old linoleum).
South Carolina’s Kathy Koontz (flowertown_originals) shows her way of bringing the trend to polymer. She grinds and grates baked scraps then rolls the small grated pieces into a solid color of unbaked clay. Voila! Terrazzo polymer style.
She shows her process on Instagram. Who says polymer can’t be trendy?
A polymer bird in the hand
Ukraine’s Darya Podorozhna (sofoxyclay) gathers a flock of polymer birds on a delicate chain for bird lovers to wear and admire.
While these little beads don’t require much clay, they do demand a keen eye and attention to detail. Birders know their birds. You can catch them on Etsy and here she is on Instagram.
The first week after vacation has rushed by and already I could be back in the holiday frenzy. Over at StudioMojo, we’ll try to slow it down and move into the holidays with grace, a smile, and gifts from our hearts. Join us.
Playing with bright bits
The way Germany’s Eliska Koliosova (fimeli) experiments with tube beads and plays with extruded patterns makes me want to know more about her and her work.
She’s quite elusive on her Flickr pages that contain mostly dreamy photographs with polymer experiments sprinkled in. Look at how she plays with shapes and scrappy bits in this necklace.
My interest in finding meaning in beads made from scraps has taken me to strange and interesting areas. I’ll be taking the month of November off to explore this phenomenon and write about it. No PCD for a month!
Writing daily is such a habit that taking a break scares me. This week and then some time off. It will be good for our relationship, right?
Waffled beads
Germany’s Vera Kleist Thom twirls extruded strings around a ball of clay and carves (or maybe she just textures) the surfaces so that they look woven. The result is a necklace with a thermal waffle weave accentuated by its muted winter colors.
Vera has perfected her woven methods and I’m only guessing about how she makes it happen. Go to her Flickr page to study how she applies similar strategies to vessels, disks, and other beads.
As the season changes, Vera shows us how to shift our palettes and our wardrobes.
Inclusions add a cosmic touch
Chicago’s Marina Rios (FancifulDevices) creates rustic, Victorian, tribal style mixed media assemblages. Her antique and vintage materials are heavily altered and combined with artisan components to create evocative objects.
Marina adds sand, ground and dyed oyster shell, embossing powders, pre-baked and chopped polymer and more as inclusions in the beads that stack up into this Regolith totem.
After firing, she begins painting – back-painting, resist, dry brushing, glazing and more to give this 3.4″ stack of beads its history and mystery.
If you like it when cosmic collides with tribal in polymer, check her out on Instagram and Etsy.
Changing colors
These beads from California’s Leslie Aja ease us back to fall. Leslie was inspired by early beads created by Cynthia Toops.
On Leslie’s Instagram, she features several groupings of simple beads in striking colors. Their simplicity and strong colors strike just the right note as the season begins to change.
Need more? Come on over to StudioMojo this weekend where we’ll finish our wrapup of fall events and look at what products and ideas are on the horizon.
Beads to fondle
Since my network is taunting me with an intermittent signal, we’ll lean on New York’s Doreen Gay Kassel for a post that requires few words and a quick upload.
Just look at those beads! The colors and textures beg us to fondle them. You can look more closely on Instagram.
Wifi repairman has been called! I had to walk over to my studio to post. They have a fiber connection that has spoiled me.
Summer palette
If you’re looking for sunshine and summer colors, head on over to Anna Nel’s site.
This beachy combination of layered luminous beads on a necklace wire has become the header on her Facebook.
On Instagram, you can see a whole range of her work and let the colors wash over you.
Anna’s working on some grasshoppers and the canes at right will make stunning bodies.