Bead Inspiration Through Embroidery

I'm always looking at other art and crafts as a source of inspiration.  Recently, I found this lovely blog by Mary Corbet, which offers free patterns, videos and tips & tricks.  I love beautiful needlework and wish that I had the patience to learn it, but instead, I buy it, receive it as gifts (that's what my sis used to do for me), or admire it from afar.

But meanwhile, I'll use some of the lovely patterns as inspiration.  I think this one is made for beads.  It's a great exercise in stringer control, layering dots and surface embellishment.  You could even take it a step further and make the leaves and flowers in murrine.  If you already tend to use these patterns, let us know your sources, if you don't mind sharing.  Google is my usual first stop.

See you tomorrow!

Etsy Owl Inspiration

I look all over the internet for inspiration when making different sculptural beads.  Often, I go directly to Google, but sometimes, I'll pop by Etsy for fun ideas.

For example, I love to make owls in different poses and with a variety of faces.  Here are some Etsy shop examples.  This first one came from SarahTrotterVintage.  And it's a pendant from the '70's.
I like the design in the center and the use of colors.

And here is a totally different look from Etsy.  This one is apparently rare and porcelain from NotTheBeatles' shop.

They both would make really cool beads and yet are so very different.

So I would encourage you to check out vintage Etsy.com for another source of inspiration.  And you'll see what fun ideas different decades have to offer.

See you tomorrow.

Inspiration Versus Copying In Every Industry

I was reading Refinery29's daily fashion page, when I saw their post about Justin Bieber's new perfume, "Someday", which is pictured above.  It's a sweet little container, and I can just picture the many tween fans thinking that its little red heart is so perfect.

But the email was asking, is this a rip-off from Marc Jacob's Lola perfume's packaging?  Here it is.

I'm not exactly sure.  I do see similarities, but the question reminds me of beadmaking or any other artistic endeavor's age old question...what is inspiration versus copying or a knockoff?  If the rule of thumb is three things need to be obviously different, I see that right away.  But I also see the obvious similarities too. 

So, I'm asking you.  How would you call this one?  

Inspiration Photos for Others

Choosing something that will inspire you, can be daunting.  For me, it's pretty easy, because I tend to view life a little like that.  But recently, I joined a bead exchange on LampworkEtc. and we needed to pick a picture for others in the exchange to make a bead for us.

For me, that was hard.  How do choose?  Colors, form, subject matter and other factors all came to mind.  I thought I'd show you the three that were my final and very diverse contenders.

I love this one, Navaro Rapids.  The movement, the colors, the subject matter and the style of it all speak to me.  I could picture beads with swirls, a little dark ivory with reactions, perhaps even a touch of coral for an accent.

And this one by Kandinsky also is a favorite.  It is playful looking, has some great sculptural essence to it and I think it could be fun for other beadmakers too.  It looks like a happy bead that could be different from what they are used to and would give them a little stretch.

And my other contender is this Maxfield Parish piece, Dusk.  It's the one I chose.  As much as I love the other two, this one somehow touches at my heart in a big way.  It's a place I would want to visit.  The colors are ones I love the most from my favorite aqua/turquoises, greens to the very warm brown of the little house.  I'd love to be inside of it, peeking out the windows at one my favorite times of day.  

Yes, once I put all three wonderful choices together, the decision was easier.  I chose the one that ignored my checklist and instead spoke to my soul.  I'm hoping that the other beadmakers enjoy working with it too.  (and I have to say, I wouldn't be surprised if just a touch of some silver glass makes its way into someone's work.  The colors reminded me a bit of that too!)

Red Riding Hood Bead Inspiration

I have an upcoming deadline for my Southern Flames glass group to make a bead to go on our Chapter's postcard.  We have quite a few members, so usually I make something that has a bright color on it to stand out, or is just plain fun to make.

So this year, with all the commercials for the Red Riding Hood movie, I thought a cute little girl might be fun to try.  So I went to Etsy.com and did a search for Red Riding Hood and look what I found.  I love this picture.  It's from a shop called "When Guinea Pigs Fly", which cracks me up.  And this sure is a sweet little painting.

You'll need to wait a bit to see whether I made an animal in the red cloak, or a little girl.  But there is no wait to find what inspired me.  You're looking at it.  (BTW, I did NOT make a guinea pig)

And I'll see you tomorrow with more fun stuff.

Whisper Owl Garden Statue

I saw this Whisper Owl Garden Statue on MyDeco.com website. I couldn't help thinking, this sure looks like inspiration for a bead for me. What do you think? I like the swirls and texture, and the shape. Elements will be perfect to take and run with them.

What do you think? Which elements inspire you or interest you?

Bird in Hand...

You probably already know how much I like making birds in glass, so when I see inspiration, I want to remember what it was. Having just arrived from the airport (note the brain dead expression), my husband I went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. (yum- spicy basil noodles!) Anyhow, while waiting to be seated, I spotted a small statue and not having paper, I quickly sketched it out on my hand. Which goes to show you, a bird in hand is worth two that this middle aged brain can't remember. My rendition in glass will be completed next week. Don't you love the huge beak and the angle of it? It's going to be fun!

See you tomorrow.

Lights, Camera, Action-

This past weekend a group of friends and I went to a nice beach resort for an end of summer get together. Of course it had the delicious food, beautiful beach and the other qualities that resorts normally require.

But as usual, I tend to look for the details of a place. What is interesting to me? What might relate into the glass world? Lighting often does. And I was busy snapping photos of their lovely ceiling lights that were metal over glass.

The top photo is of one that I spied in their spa building. The combination of geometric with swirls intrigued me.

The center section reminds
me of blossoms with leaves in a very graphic design way. It fit its surrounding.

I found the second fixture in a more social setting. It too was in a hallway, but near their upscale restaurant. The leafy pattern swagging the side along with the swirly design that has a hint of floral again caught my attention. How would one interpret this pattern? It's much more intricate and less easy to replicate. (not that I'd want the exact one anyhow).

So next time you go out, don't forget to look up.
You might be surprised at what you see. It could be the inspiration for your next bead design.

See you tomorrow for my next blog post on http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com. I have some glass comments that I think you'll enjoy.

Keeping an Inspiration Folder- What's In Yours?

Keeping a folder with pictures you like is a great way to have a ready jumpstart, when you aren't sure what to make.

Mine is quite large and ranges from cartoons to exquisitely expensive jewelry. I know that I won't make beads that directly relate to each one, but having an assortment helps when I'm feeling low in the inspiration scale.

I literally chose two sight unseen to show you examples of my file. The top one is a screen shot of a cat who sings and dances. I like the body position, which could be used for multiple types of animals. I've been wanting to add more movement in my animal beads.

And the second photo of the turtle intrigued me. I look at the decoration on its shell and think how cool that could be.

Melted in layered dots would be a natural way to show the shell, but wouldn't it be fun to experiment with murrinis placed near each other? (Of course I'd make a test bead before trying it in actuality.) Or perhaps I just want to use a little surface decoration to give a turtle a new look. Even colorful frit could be fun.

So if you don't keep a folder, perhaps it's time. As you can see, I hang onto photos for different reasons. A little bit here, and shape there or perhaps it's just the color combination that you like. It goes a long way when you're contemplating, "what should I make today?"

And of course I know that you've got some cool photos stashed for a rainy day. So what's in your file? What kinds of photos do you hoarde?

Venus on the Half Shell- Bless Her Heart

I love the painting, The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. And I am guessing that he's probably rolling his eyes in disbelief right now. But being the adventurous spirit that I am, I had to see what happened when I sat down and attempted a very simplified glass version in my characteristic style.

Well, as my friend said, "she's a little short waisted". Which of course made me burst out laughing. For one thing, my Venus needs longer legs. All I could think of was the Southern way of adding, "Bless her heart", when they are ready to say something unkind. For some reason, that makes it okay to say.

But the problems was, that I made her head first, instead of her body and started working my way down and ran out of room. So that was a big lesson learned. I think I was concentrating to make sure her hair and hands covered every body part, that I wasn't focused enough on the big picture. A little cleavage wouldn't have hurt anything.

And if you look at the background, I was pretty happy with that. I made the colors blend to give it a similar coloration to the original. I know that in the real, gorgeous painting, her skin is luminescent against it. Needless to say, I used pale ivory to try to achieve that.

All in all, I was happy with this first attempt. Sure she is not tall, elegant and gorgeous, but she is a fun characterization of the original, which definitely has always been my style. And I like being able to look at a bead and dissect it to see what I would do differently next time. I made four little sculptural seashells to go with her, so now I'm off to photograph them and upload this bead into my Etsy shop. You'll be able to find her there. Bless her heart.

Happy St. Patrick's Day via SuperPets

Have you ever checked out SuperPets on Facebook?  I'm afraid for me, it's a little addictive.

You choose a pet and then by paying attention to it and other pets, you receive points.  With those 

points, you can buy items for them and  their habitats.

Who knew how creative some of these people could be?  With the same items available, I find such different, creative environments.  I can't help but be inspired for my little glass creations 

by them too.

For example, this little pig wearing a green bowler and a necklace totally amuses me.  I love how all the little stuffed animals and plants are lined up in rows too.

So if you're on Facebook, you might consider checking into this program for a little inspiration.  And please play with my pet dragon, Chambord, if you're in the neighborhood too.

Happy St. Patricks Day to you.  See you tomorrow.

You Know You're A Beadmaker When...

One of my recent fixations has been joining Facebook, because I've found a lot of beadmakers, as well as friends from the past and relatives too. To me, it's like having an international small town with your best buddies and new friends all in the same place.

(If you join it, please "friend" me, Marcy Lamberson, and if we haven't met, just write "blog" on the note so I know that you're okay to be one of my new friends)

Well, one of the things that one can do on Facebook, is to have little questionaires that you ask your friends to fill out and you get to know them better. Here is a current one for beadmakers. I thought I'd answer it and then you feel free to answer also in the comments.

You Know You're a Beadmaker When...

1. You know you're a true beadmaker when - You look at life as beads. "Look at that child over there, wouldn't she make a great bead?"

2. Your favorite glass- No favorite soft glass, but currently I am loving some of the colors of CIM glass.

3. Your favorite torch - I own quite a few, but right now, I keep going back to my trusty old Minor that I've had for 8 years.

4. Name 1 or more beadmakers who inspired you - There are many who have inspired, but I have to say that Deanna Griffin Dove's early classes, when I was beginning were outstanding. She knows so much and expressed and shared her knowledge so well.

5. My inspiration comes from - Life. Books, people, inanimate objects, photos, fabric, nature, everywhere....

6. When I'm making beads I listen to - a variety of things...always the ka-chunking sound of my concentrator as well as sometimes television, books on tape, music or the birds in my backyard.

7. I love making - whimisical sculptural beads that stretch my abilities. If they make me smile and are a challenge, then I'm really happy.

8. My favorite drink at the torch - homemade lemonade, but I seldom have it.

9. You know when you've been at the torch too long when......you've burned yourself and you finish your bead instead of tending to it right away.

10. I love being a beadmaker because - there is a mild euphoria when I sit down at the torch or when I teach this art form. Stretching what I know through the molten glass makes me feel joyful.

And one that I am adding...
You know beadmaking is in your blood, when you unintentionally buy a jacket that matches your didymiums and then wear it to the Southern Flames demo and you still haven't noticed, until you see the photo a week later. Seeing this photo made me laugh. And don't ask what I was doing. I must have been explaining something serious that required two fists. It's got to be one of the very few photos out there where I'm not smiling or making a goofy face.

And now I'm off to finish adding more beads to my Etsy shop and then take the rest of the day off to see the outstanding American Craft Council Show which is in Atlanta for a few days. Ah, bliss.

Colourlovers.com Addiction

If you are ever stuck in a beadmaker's creative rut, this is a one stop shopping place to find crazy wild color combinations, patterns, palettes and to also design your own.

Caution: you may become addicted. I don't know, but this might be as much fun as Facebook.

I have just become familiar with Colourlovers.com, because this website is necessary for homework in one of Sylvie's Finding Your Voice creativity workshop, which I'll write about in a different posting, once I do the homework.

But for now, I'd like you to take 10 minutes and
go start familiarizing yourself with the website. It's wonderful. Want a new color combination? Go to the palette section. Inspiration needed for your next set of beads that is out of the box? Click on the pattern section. Want to just scan colors, you've got a section for that too.

There's a lot more for me to explore on it. After I picked up this week's homework pattern, I continued on to see what was there. I was looking to see what related to my sculptural work and it all does, just in a slightly different way.

Look for future blog posts about how I incorporate some of the resources of this website into my own art. Now more importantly, what can you do with this resource, or what have you found on this website that I didn't mention?

Off The Radar Inspiration Source

Over the years I have found some rather atypical sources for inspiration. And as the latest email advertising arrived, I decided to share it with you.

You see, I have a "thing" for the Antique Drapery Rod Company. Yes, you read it correctly.

I like the large photos and the sculptural shapes of a lot of their items. The bee and floral rosette pictured here
are just two examples.

You can find their website here. And don't forget to check out their finials. A lot of their products are basically "bead shaped", but have a twist on them. I would love to see what you make from using them or a similar product as inspiration.

And now it's your turn. What's one of your "off the radar" type inspiration websites that you don't mind sharing?

See you tomorrow for more creativity and glass talk...right here at www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Inspiration + Imagination ~ Non Traditional Shapes for Your Beads

Feeling like you might be in a bead shape rut? How about looking to non traditional shapes that are right in front of you? There are books all over the internet that would work beautifully, and one of my choices includes books on perfume bottles. Just think of all the gorgeous shapes waiting to happen. Using these beautiful shapes as inspiration doesn't mean that you need to make perfume bottles too, borrow the shapes and see where your imagination will take you.

(And then of course, show me, because I'd always like to see what you do!)
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Inspiration ~ From Famous Painting to Modern Furniture

I guess glass artists aren't the only ones who look to famous paintings for inspiration.

This is a chair which was inspired by Rene Francois- Ghislain Magritte's "Son of Man" painting, (below), was designed by Chilean architect, Roberto Sebastian Matta.

I love both the painting and the chair and now want to do a bead that relates to this painting too.  It's just a question of what elements from the painting do I want to use?  Should it be sculptural or not and what do I want to change?

This will be on my list for "when I've got some spare studio time" later this week.  I'll show you when it's done.  

What do you think?

Sugar Skulls and a BIG WOO HOO!

Let me start with my big WOO HOO first...
I won first place in the bead section of the FlameTree Glass Halloween Contest. It sure means a lot to me and I appreciate it very much. My prize is one of the many generous donations from GTT- Willy and Wally Horn - a Lynx Torch. This will make it easier for me to try larger stuff and perhaps a little in boro too. I'm thrilled. To see the contestants and other photos, visit FlameTree Glass.
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Now back to my daily topic. Sugar skulls. Today is Dia de Muertos, which takes its roots back to the Aztec civilization and Mexico. It honors family and friends who have passed on.

I think sugar skulls look like potentially awesome beads for practicing dots, stringer control, sculpture, surface decoration and possibly murrini application. Wow, that's a lot of potential in one item. I know some glass artists already make them, but it seems like this is an item that would be easy for people to add their own style to.

The photo on the left, I found on flickr.com, which is a wonderful site for reference photos. This one was by ArtofSkulls You can also learn how to make real sugar skulls through this other website. Or use it for more fabulous reference photos.

This little Frida Kahlo shrine, I found on etsy.com. This is not quite as "upbeat celebratory" or traditional as some of the holiday shrines go, but I thought that the artist must have felt a connection with Kahlo and that this one is hauntingly poignant. The same artist has an "Anima Sola" shrine with a lovely brunette woman in flames. I really like that one too.

So hopefully you've seen some different inspiration ideas through another culture and you'll look to other cultures too. I just ask that before you make something that might be sacred to a group, that you research it carefully to be sure that your interpretation would be appropriate.

What are some other ideas or websites that show multi cultural inspiration to you?

Creativity Class Challenge

I'm in a fun creativity class that Sylvie Lansdowne has designed and is running. She is one of the most imaginative people I know. And her beads are stunning too. http://www.SylvieBeads.com

Sylvie gave us each a black and white botanical photo with three colors and we were to interpret it however we wanted. This was mine.

As those three colors are not exactly in my soft glass palette, I had some improvising to do

I loved the photo immediately and thought how hard it would be.
It was. Those arms are too fragile to make in soft glass, so I knew I had to round them up a bit, but still give it a similar look. I could use the three colors however I chose, and I could only make one bead as an interpretation. It reminds me of drawing classes where you do the 15 minute sketch that gives you an idea of the picture, but not the details that practice and more work would give you.

That pink color was a tough one. I tried all kinds of glass to get that original shade, and knew that I needed a different pink to show up against my orange. So I have CIM Gelly Sty Pink cased in their Berry Transparent, (can't remember the name.)

After we made the first bead, (which I call my Tropical Palm), we could make a second one that uses elements of the first, or if someone suggested an idea, we could do that. I saw those little sculptural pieces and they looked like pigtails to me. So I made a face. Having only three colors limits you on facial features, so I used one of my tools to show them. (She is already spoken for, but the first bead is listed here in my etsy shop.)

After looking at my first bead, it was suggested that I make some flamingos out of it. That's a wonderful idea and at some point I probably will.

Have you started in one direction and then changed course because it inspired you to go in a different direction? What did you do? I'd love to hear about it.

And please visit my Etsy Shop. I add a few new beads daily and love doing custom order for you too.

Inspiration Monday ~ And You Wonder Where I Find It?

Halloween Costumes are a wonderful source of inspiration.

Chubby babies in funny costumes always make me smile.
What is nice about babies in costumes, is that they're are already pretty much shaped like beads, and they are always
adorable.

If you are looking for a character figure, adult costumes work well for those. They're online and a great resource. The thing about many costumes, is that they've already done the simplification and the research for you. If you're making a small glass figure, you can't have too much detail, but want the "essence" of what you're trying to convey. Costumes have narrowed those decisions down for you, and you can take the inspiration and go from there.

If you've used a costume as a bead inspiration, please send me a costume and then bead photo. Let's post them. And if this write up reminds you of some inspiration that you've recently used, I'd love for you to comment about it here too.

See you tomorrow,
Marcy

Adding A "Twist" To Your Beadmaking Voice & A 48 Hour Quick Contest

I'm just going to admit it and get it over with... I like quirky things. I don't like violence or scary, but I like a touch of "off beat" if it has humor or makes you think.

I found this Tarot deck. At the time, I had never had my cards read, but I was amused and interested in the illustrations. They fit my criteria....they look like inspiration for beads, so I bought the deck. I like the contrast of the bright colors with Graham Cameron's
oddball group of characters. So here is one bead I made using this tarot deck.

Often I give them names and stories. Let me introduce to you Heyward the Musician who travels with Cirque de Soleil. He plays the banjo and mandolin. His pet crow is Rasmussen. Needless to say, Rasmussen is always whispering in his ear and telling him what to do.

I have one other bead in my shop that is directly inspired from this tarot deck. I know, others may fool you, but there's just officially one of them. For the next 48 hours, anyone who comments and posts the bead's name, will have their name put in a drawing for one of my beads. (if you are an "anonymous" person, please be sure to let me know how to reach you, or check back on Friday) And if it is too hard commenting in public, I'll count an email sent to me, at StudioMarcy@gmail.com

Start looking for it...http://www.StudioMarcy.etsy.com and good luck!
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