Happy Halloween to me indeed! Yesterday I got notification that my work will be published in a book in 2014! Weeeeeeeeeee! Goal set. Goal met. 1000 beads by Lark Books. It will hit shelves in April 2014.
Next up: getting a piece including in the permanent collection of a museum. That might take a little more time, but I’m comin’ for ya world!
I originally started this piece back[and two others] in March and documented the process on Instagram[man, I love that app]. Not much explanation is needed here just follow the photos and captions beneath each image to the finished product:
‘It may not looks like much, but this is how I lay out the armature for a new vessel. It’s gonna be a beast.’
‘Some beads already strung. Down to business.’
‘The all too real tangled mess that inevitably occurs at the beginning of each new vessel. Total nightmare. So this looks finished right?’
‘4 hours and 2 solo dance parties into the weaving process.’
‘Inside the belly of the beast.’
‘How far 1/2 a kilo of see beads will get you. And the Blue Lace Agate stones that will be added to the piece soon.’
‘Finally nearing completion on this particular piece.’
Finished! Ta-dah!
The piece measures 15″ x 10.5″ x 9″ and I completed it to submit it to a contemporary basketry show in Tennessee at the Arrowmont School of Craft. The jury has not assembled yet to determine which pieces to accept so I do not know yet whether it will be accepted in the group show, but I hope that it will!
I’ve been playing with some ideas in the studio lately to come up with new wearable designs and I just finished this prototype today! What do you think?
If you have attended or exhibited at a professional craft show you may have seen a dapper gentleman with a harmonica in hand, and several in cases around his neck, waltzing around the show floor. It took me two years of seeing him at nearly every show I was participating in until I agreed to construct a beaded vessel version of a case to add to his extensive hand-made collection. Artists from all over the world refer to him fondly as “Hoff the Harmonica Case Man”. And his one-of-a-kind harmonica case collection is no joke–he has already had exhibitions of the set and will be having a book published in the future. Be on the lookout the next time you’re at a show because you may even be lucky enough to hear him play a little tune:
Here are some informal studio shots of my harmonica case! I’m pretty proud of this creation and I am sort of wondering why I put off making it for so long…
Experimenting with new ideas. Where it will lead? Nobody knows!
The time has come…to edit new portfolio images. One of the less exciting aspects of being an artist I’m afraid. Because I have the equipment and know-how to photograph my own work I do. Frugal–party of one! And with expenses mounting around every corner it certainly makes sense to save a couple hundred dollars where possible. The negative to wanting to do everything yourself is it drains your time spent creating new work. As promised here is a far more professional shot of the completed piece I have been documenting over the past couple of weeks.
I’m up for making another…who’s buying this one?
Looks a little bit like a rainbow threw up on my studio floor right now.
I’m really going balls to the wall making these little spheres. My hands hate me just a little bit, but I have some big ideas floating around in my head that have no where to go until I have amassed a large enough collection with which to experiment. For those of you that happen to be social media fiends you also find all these images by following me on Instagram.
And in this corner…weighing in at an impressive 4.8 lbs.[I swear it feels MUCH heavier] with a record of 5 wins by knockout via needle nose pliers gouging my hands and a near miss to my face…wearing all the glorious colors of the rainbow…from the York, PA studio of moi…I give you BALL BOWL 2.0! [two point ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]
51 spheres total for those curious.
It’s finally taking shape. Just a little bit more to go.
And I mean that in the best way possible. It may not be the best to apply a generalization to an entire group of professionals so I will just speak for myself on this theory.
When presented with a collection of random inanimate objects I see possibilities whereas others might see trash. If given the option to keep, donate, or dispose I will almost always choose keep. Hence teeny-tiny hoarder. I like to take comfort in the belief that I am of the highly selective teeny-tiny hoarder variety. There is always the very real possibility that these ‘things’ could find a purpose or use in a future project.
It is that reluctancy to throw away possible supplies that necessitates a lot of storage in my studio space. It is mostly beads that are taking over. Baskets, bins, and tins [oh my!] full of them. So I guess it should not have come as a complete surprise that, when looking for another spool of copper wire, I stumbled upon a two gallon bag full of beads squirreled away on a shelf. That teeny-tiny hoarder stashed them everywhere like I was stocking up for some bead-apocalypse. In the unlikely event that currency becomes obsolete in the future and beads are chosen as the replacement I will be filthy rich.
