Bead Soup is Served!

In February I received an wonderful package from my bead soup partner Leslie Scholz that looked like this:

And inside that tiny little pink packet was this:

And from those delightful wonders I made the following creations!

An "Accomplishment" Jar from the beautiful pink pressed glass button, including upcycled sari fabric strips, assorted beads and embellishments, yarn-wrapped wire, an old peacock earring, and a handmade clay leaf that says "Proud as a Peacock."  I used a 1-quart Mason Jar, and used a creamy thick gesso to coat the inside.  Inside the jar I'll write down my accomplishments and things I'm proud of throughout the year.  Here's a closeup:

And next I wanted to create a set of earrings from the cool lavender/pinkish tin flowers.....

....so I could wear them with the exquisite Venetian glass frit beads that I turned into a very simple necklace with sterling chain.

And with the small but fabulous sterling purse charm I made this!  Meet "Angel" - an Heavenly creature made from found objects and fused glass arms and legs that I made in my kiln.  

Check out the purse - I absolutely HAD to make something special with it and am thrilled to add this new little doll to my growing collection of found-object art pieces.

Having Leslie as my Bead Soup Partner this year has been a wonderful experience, and I'm excited to see what she makes with the package I sent her which included a bead from a favorite lampwork artist, Anastasia; a couple of my own lampworked beads and a brass coin and silk ribbon.

  

Be sure to check out her blog here as well as the rest of the Bead Soup participants here.  I advise you grab a big cup of coffee/tea or cold/hot beverage and enjoy the journey as you check out the eye candy of nearly 150 bead artists from all over the world as they show off their Bead Soup creations!!

Lori Anderson :: Hostess

Claire Fabian

Jennifer Strehler

Rochelle Brisson

Annita Wilson

Melissa Trudinger

Loralee Kolton

Valerie Tilghman

Mischelle Andrade

Elizabeth Bunn

Marianna DeLuca Wehner

Johana Nunez

Jenny Kyrlach

Elizabeth Hodges

Lennis Carrier

Candida Castleberry

Mary Govaars

Sandi James

Arlene Dean

Kristina Eleniak

Nan Smith

Nadine Edris

Denise McCabe

Donna Marie Hanna

Audrey Belanger

Nicole Rennell

Robin Reed

Gail Zwang

Terry Jeanette Carter

Donna Hoblit

Ann Schroeder

Klaudete Koon

Veralynne Malone

Lorelei Eurto

Ann  Sherwood

Jackie Locantore

Mowse Doyle

Dorit Woldenga

Cheri Reed

Dolores Raml

Palak Udeshi

Laurie Vyselaar

Heather Canepa

Dorothy Supri

Sharyl King

Elaine Robitaille

Heather Marston

Terry Matuszyk

Andra Weber

D'Arsie Manzella

Sooz Anzalone

Karin King

Leona Smith

Tania Spivey

Jasvanti Patel

Danielle Kelley

Shai Williams

Jacqueline Marchant

Erin Kenny 

Becky Pancake

Kelly Schermerhorn

Renetha Stanziano

Rana Wilson

Janine Lucas

Kelly Hosford Patterson

Andrea Glick

Joanne Bell

Sarah Strover

Sam Waghorn

Helena Hatten

Jackie Ryan

Bridget Torres

Inge von Roos

Krafty Max

Iveth Caruso

Rebecca Ednie

Amy Severino

Sandra Wollberg

Blanca Medina

Dyanne Everett-Cantrell

Samantha Wescott

Christine Stonefield

Silke Groeber

Alenka Obid

Lori Bowring Michaud

April Grinaway

Yvette Goodridge

Kathy Lindemer

Kathleen A Breeding

Joyce Becker

Pam Farren

Divya N

Sherri Stokey

Terri DelSignore

Kate Gonska

Jean Wells

CJ Bauschka

Bonnie Coursolle

Barb Fernald

Noemí Baena

Dana Phillips

Karen Firnberg

Michelle  Escano Caballero

Natalie Ettinger

Valerie Norton

Rachel Mallis

Denise Milward

Bobbie Rafferty

Vonna Maslanka

Elisabeth Auld

Hannah Rosner

Carla Fry

Terri Gauthier

Teresa Fischer

Tanya Goodwin

Barbara Judy

Leanne Loftus

Carrie Stalcup

Lori Schneider

Joelyn Bissing

Kate Dufour

Gail Poveda

Katie Nielsen-Nunez

Pam DeBoer

Dee Elgie

Judy Jacobs

Elisabeth Matouschek

Shawn Elkins

Sally Russick

Susan McClelland

Tracy Stillman

Robin Lynne Showstack

Marianne Baxter

Maria Rosa Sharrow

Therese Frank

Sandi Volpe

Leslie Scholz

Joan Williams

Laura Guenther

Liz Engriser

B.R.Kuhlman

Bev Breisinger

Radel Vela

Kim Dworak

Carol Dillman

Alice Craddick

Janeen Burlingame

Leah Curtis

Ann Marie Hodrick

Donna Millard

Hajer Waheed Khalil

Lucy Clasen

Michelle McCarthy

Maria Rios


Babette Cox
Natalie Davidson
Brenda Ballou
Christina Hickman
Heather Gunther

I'm very grateful to our  amazing hostess, Lori Anderson of Pretty Things for all of her hard work and efforts putting this Bead Soup Hop together. Thanks Leslie and Lori for making this another fantastic Bead Soup experience for me!!

I'm in the 20/20 Show!!

Works in Progress for my upcoming show at Kennedy Gallery

I'm doing the happy dance today because I just got notified that my application was accepted for Kennedy Gallery's upcoming "20/20" show 🤗🤗🤗   I'll be painting a total of 25 paintings and my theme is "Indigo Blooms" based on the mid-century style of my ongoing "Vessels" series.

I'm really excited to be participating in this very popular event in the Sacramento art scene.  The show has been happening for nearly 20 years, and originally began at the 20th Street Gallery owned by Jim and Joanie Ferry.  After the gallery closed, Michael Kennedy of The Kennedy Gallery has kept it going and artists from all over California vie to be selected.

The curator will be displaying 20 works from each of the 20 participating artists, and we will each have 5 extra works for replacements as the displayed ones are sold.  Each piece is 8" x 8" and there will be all types of mediums being used (I'll be painting with acrylics, charcoal and gesso on canvas).  

The show opens May 13th at The Kennedy Gallery located at 1931 L Street in Sacramento, CA and will continue until June 6th.  I'll post more photos as I complete the paintings.    

My Package Arrived for the Bead Soup Challenge - I Can't Wait to Start "Cooking!"

Look what came in the mail today?? My "Bead Soup" package from Leslie Scholz, my exchange partner from Denver, Colorado!!

The package is a small, delicate little box wrapped in pink tissue paper and tied with the most beautiful and soft pink bow.  I'm so saving the yarn for another project I have in mind.....and here's what was inside:

The picture does not do justice to these babies.  The little round beads are small multi-colored glass beads that go beautifully with the exquisite glass pink peacock button (which I believe is a vintage piece of pressed glass - truly a treasure!).  AND a sterling silver purse charm plus two small enamel metal flowers that Leslie made herself.  I hit the Mother Lode!  Here are some close-ups:

The color of this button is breath taking and I absolutely love it.  It will not become a piece of jewelry but will become a focal point of something else I'm going to create for the Bead Soup challenge - you'll just have to wait and see.  I don't know how old this piece is but it is definitely vintage and it's captured my heart big time.  

Leslie said she purchased these soft, delicate glass beads at the same vintage market and believes they may be Venetian glass.  I concur - they are tiny glass beads rolled in soft shades of pink, blue and yellow "frit" which is tiny shards of glass the lampworkers roll the beads in to create the mottled look.  They are gorgeous and I see at least two new jewelry designs happening with them.....

These small metal flowers were made by Leslie herself!  I haven't confirmed it yet, but I believe they are enamel on metal, and I'm making earrings out of them.  They are the palest of lavender, pinks and yellows, and they are simply fantastic.

And lastly, there's the sterling silver purse.  IT OPENS!!!  I've never seen anything like this before and I LOVE it.  I'm not sure how I'm going to use this particular gem but I do know I'm not ever parting with it.  How did Leslie know I love purses??  I think perhaps a small, dainty necklace or just keep it on a shelf, where I can tuck my mental wishes inside.....truly a magical piece.

So - these beautiful presents are what I'll be creating things with over the next few weeks.  I am so very grateful to have drawn Leslie as my exchange partner - her generous and thoughtful gifts have made me so excited to get started, and I'm anxious to share the new creations with you on the 25th March. Stay tuned - I'll post the links as soon as I get them.

It's Time for Bead Soup Again!!!

So what does a painter|glass artist do when she's not creating with sharp/sticky mediums??  Jewelry and beads!!  I'm excited to be participating again in the wonderful "Bead Soup Blog Party" again hosted by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things Blog .  

Despite raising a family and fighting Lyme Disease, Lori manages to somehow pull together the strength, time and energy to sponsor a very popular bead exchange event for us Beadies and let me tell you, I'm very grateful as are all the other participants.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the BSBP, we are each assigned a partner to exchange beads with; and we create something using those beads.  One requirement for this year's exchange is we must give something we treasure.  For me, I wanted my partner to have a lamp worked bead from the German glass bead artist named Anastasia.  Her beads are incredibly beautiful and intricate, and I own a few, but have never quite been able to bring myself to make anything with them.  When Lori said we needed to let go of something we hoard, I knew this was my opportunity.  You can see more of Anastasia's beads here and you'll see what I mean.....amazing, right??!!!

For my BSBP partner, I was assigned a wonderful jewelry artist from Colorado named Leslie Scholz. You can see some of her fabulous jewelry here in her ETSY store, and follow her blog if you get a chance.  I love her style, and am beyond excited to see what she sends for me to create with.  I know I'll be enchanted with anything she gives me.

Here are photos of what I sent to Leslie, including a focal and two spacer beads from Anastasia:

A photo of the box I used for the beads - of course I had to add my own creative touch!

Inside the box I put the beads in chiffon bags - I wrapped tissue around the Anastasia beads
because I didn't want them to get damaged in transit

Here's a shot of what was inside the box - I kind of went overboard with sending so many
things, but I wanted to make sure Leslie had plenty of options to choose from when designing
her piece for the reveal.  The only requirement is she must use the main bead - but she's also
welcome to make additional items with the other beads, if she chooses.  I included some bits
of jasper; a couple spacer beads from Anastasia, tiny round bone beads, one of my glass sea beads
and a round tan bead; a bakalite bead and some miscellaneous beads including a metal Chinese coin.

And here are the beads from Anastasia along with a sterling clasp 

Another closeup of Anastasia's beads and one of my own glass "sea beads"
at the bottom left.  I haven't torched in a couple years
and want to make more of these organic, frosted beads.

A closeup of the front of Anastasia's bead - check out that stringer work!

And here's a shot of the back of the bead.  Beautiful, front and back.

Leslie has already sent her bead package off to me and I'll post photos when I get it this week.  I'm excited to stop painting for a bit and start making some jewelry.  BTW - the big "Reveal" is Saturday, March 25 - stay tuned for more details!