Hamsters....

Camillia is hanging around my Etsy shop and needs to be adopted. Know anyone who loves hammies? She is a little shy, but has a sweet personality. You can find her hanging out here.

Just Discovered Artist

My husband and I were visiting West Greenville, S.C.'s art fair and stopped by ArtBomb Co.'s artist co-op to look around. The first artist we encountered was pushing her scooter on the old hardwood floors and offered to give us a tour. It's always a delight to view art through a child's eyes, especially one who has grown up in the environment.

Helena not only showed us her work, her studio -(pictured above) located in a hidey hole underneath the staircase, but other important places inside and outside of the building...including the outdoor shower, the garden and pictures of the resident dog.

I'm sure you have already guessed, but I bought her piece and it's in my office now. In fact, I offered double of what it was for sale- $2.

I will be blogging more about our adventure. I met some very interesting artists, each who deserve their own post.

See you tomorrow.

Found: Custom Stenciled Portraits

I saw this Etsy item featured on iVillage and had to take a closer look. What a great idea!

For those of us who tend towards "non-traditional", this could be a lovely substitute for the pastel portrait of children. (although I have wonderful ones of those too which my Mom painted).

I can't see this arriving in time for Mother's Day, but why not keep this idea for other gifts? This kind of personalization, is what I love. Faces, places, memories...and reminders of those special times. Here is the link to the Etsy shop. You'll find other options open too.

Amelia's World

I came across photographer Robin Schwartz, whose daughter Amelia, is often featured in photos with animals.

Schwartz mentions that animals, fantasy and of course her beloved, only child, Amelia dream and discover a world that they invent together.

(Wait until you see the rest of them!) None of the photos were photoshopped and yet, they all look magical in their own way.

Schwartz's photographs are in the National Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and many others.

See you tomorrow for a little more magic.

Winter Snow Scene...Choosing Colors for an Assemblage

Here we go... the last glassy post for 2008!

Today I have a photo of my entry for the Winter Challenge.

It's a three bead Winter scene, with a bobble head snow woman and a child with a carrot for her nose and a dog with a tennis ball.  They are on a white glass stand which is a bead also.

Today, I wanted to write about how I made some of my color decisions for this scene.

Of course I knew that the snow chick would be basically white.  I wanted her to look "girly", so decided to have her wear some clothes.  Periwinkle looks so pretty with white and as light blue is associated with winter sometimes, this would be a little stronger color that would show up better.  I added the swirls on her apron for interest and to tone down that amount of color in one place.  Her hat is periwinkle also with band of variegated greens, one is the bright key lime green that you also see on the child.  There is a crow sitting on the side of the hat, and that black is mirrored in the faces of all the characters.

I wanted the child's clothes to complement the snow woman.  I used the bright green on the jacket which would draw the eye in towards the face and make the child the focal of the assemblage.  I added some purple swirly details to the jacket and a small scarf.  Lapis blue is the other main color which although it's bright, still recedes a bit compared to the green.  The child is wearing blue gloves while holding the orange carrot.  They are opposite colors on the color wheel and will frame and bring more attention to the carrot this way.

The little dog adds a touch of detail to the scene.  Often I make white dogs with brown spots.  I knew that I needed a neutral color that would show up against all the white, so I made him from dark ivory glass with silvered ivory stringer spots for fun.  (Just had to try it to see what it would look like.)  He has a bright green tennis ball in his mouth, which helps your eye travel down to notice him.  I had thought to have him turned more to cover more of the snow lady, but liked this angle in the photo, because it looks like he's in motion.

And finally, the base.  I used four rods of white glass for it.  Holy cow, it got a bit heavy.  I had made a "pattern" out of play-doh in advance.  I figured out where each piece would stand and how much room was needed between them to keep them close enough together, but so they would easily fit too.  That play-doh is great stuff for working out logistics.

One of my 2008 New Years Resolutions was to be more "deliberate" in what I made and how I made it.  I still have a long way to go.  But today, I wanted to show you the thought that went behind this particular assemblage regarding one single aspect of it... choosing color.   We tend to talk technique, patterns, shapes and other more technical aspects, but deliberate color choice can be equally important.

Wishing you a happy ending to a crazy year.  I'm sure you can guess...tomorrow I'll write some of my beadmaking and glass resolutions for 2009.  Start thinking of yours, because I'm going to ask you to join in and post them.

Kids, Dogs and Other Fun Stuff

Usually I choose a bead that illustrates what I'm thinking about, but today I just chose one that makes me smile. Jenny with an Attitude, does just that. I have seen my share of little girls who get in a huff, and they make me laugh.

For you bead lovers who read this, Jenny was made on a 1/16th mandrel and started as a tab. I had some extra green stringer that made a nice base and then added the head, arms, legs and extra details. The puppy came next, because she really needed to be carrying something special, and the sunglasses and tiny details are stroked on last.

I'll be posting again soon. Lots of thoughts floating around in here.

Take care,
Marcy