Ready to start...

stringing...yuk :o(

I'm not good at it...I'm very indecisive, taking apart...putting back together. Thank goodness I got a good night's sleep.

Same old...

I'm just doing way too many of these, but since they sold well at the last show...I don't have much choice.

I must have ADD. I just get tired of making the same kind of thing much quicker than I ever used to. I find myself getting bored much easier. And...believe it or not, now I feel I must do some beads that need sanding. I guess I'm just wanting to feel the silkiness of hand sanded, hand buffed beads.

Have a great weekend all of you...

Didn't take me long...

to get tired of the pearly look...I'm back to more of the graphic/bold designs. I think the name Southwestern Orchids has stuck. I loved looking at Donna Kato's new work, so maybe that's what called me back to some black and white with intense color.

Loving the color...

I posted the autumn floral set already at PCC, but since I love how they turned out, thought I should get them here on my blog too. The new multi-colored set I finished last night in between watching the US open. We may go to the NM Wine Festival today, so not sure if I will be at the clay table...

Perfect pearls on Black

Made these last night...I used Perfect pearls again with my own home made textures. The copper blue center one is a little sloppy...I was tired, but wanted to finish these.

Sigh of Relief...

I made canes...thought about colors...nearly drove myself crazy. Then after working with rubbing texture to see what kind of effects I could create, I was "oh so happy" when I saw these cool drag lines on the middle floral bead. The big one in the center of the blue/black ones. See them? Anyhow, so I went merrily along...cured these and set out to make more using that same texture and making more drag lines.

Bing! Grabbed them out of the oven and was unhappy with the shiny surface...I forgot that straight Kato can make stuff very shiny. So, then I was sad again for a day, worrying about ways to get rid of the shine. I think someone along the way (Jana probably) told me to bake them in cornstarch to avoid the shine. But that just sounded like a big mess.

So, to make a long story as short as possible, instead of worrying...like I do...I worry a lot my kids tell me (*g*)...I decided to us the shine to my advantage. Which worked out soooo much better. Sparkle is supposed to be "in" anyway this fall and what better way to sparkle and shine but with perfect pearls and texture? And I can use virtually any cane that happens to be sitting on the clay table. Happy again...no worries... :o)

I have no idea...

why I did this and how I will get it off the glass ;o)

Cross is coming along...

You can see the progression on flickr...

Beginnings of a cross...

I love churches and crosses...and no, I'm not religious...I'm spiritual *g*

At the NM Arts and Crafts Fair, the artist next to me (Dee Sanchez who does incredible floral and scenic paintings; I spoke about her in an earlier blog entry) told me how much she likes crosses. She says artists who make them out of anything (tin, wood, ceramic) always seem to sell out. And, I want one of her paintings, so I'm hoping we can do a trade. This is the beginnings of my first cross...which will be small.

Oh, and Tejae...the texture yesterday is from a basket :o)

Texture junkie

Wow...two posts in one week. I'm on a roll...

I ran around the house and yard today looking for texture. I had no idea I would love this one so much...can you guess what it is?

Finally back at the clay table

I spent most of the past week cleaning (sort of), organizing (again, kinda) and making blends (lots of them, but I still need more).

As soon as I clean the table off, it becomes a major mess with only about a 12 inch space to work in. That's what I do, I crowd my area with too much and then it's nearly impossible to get any work actually finished. I was going for a bigger piece but ended up playing it safe with these few floral pendants, although they're a bit bigger than the earlier ones. I think they look like crazy southwestern orchids or something.

Spanish Market in Santa Fe

Rudy and I went to Santa Fe to see Spanish Market. We hadn't been in years...I'm pretty sure it is was one of our first dates together around 20 years ago. The highlight was seeing the Miraculous Staircase.

The whole show was beautiful except for an excruciating cramp that had me on the curb in agony for 15 minutes. Rudy rubbed my foot and calf as passers-by joked if they could be next...! It was painful, funny and embarrassing. But still a fun day :o) There are more pictures on my flickr site.

Sanding paint off...

Doing this has passed my mind more than once. Finally yesterday as I was sanding and buffing a few lentils, I noticed a some lonely beads sitting there. These had been antiqued about 6 months ago. Here are what they look like with the surface slightly sanded with 1000x and then buffed. I love the look! Thought we should look at some of the same beads (in necklaces) without sanding and buffing the surface paint off. I'm looking forward to trying this with different colors of base clay and different colors of paint.

Since taking Donna's workshop and getting her book, I've purchased a heat gun, some petal point ink pads and Liquid Polyclay. I want to try some different things with the floral beads.

Oh, and this post is for Susan...who thinks I'm totally ignoring my clay ;o)

Emmie is taking up most of my time...

Which is fine...I love puppies. But I hate how they chew and bite everything in site. When awake, she's a handful lemme tell ya. This is how I like to see her...completely worn out from play :o)

Favorite Flickr Color Inspiration

Most of us need a jolt of color from time to time to get the creative juices flowing. I'm not claying much right now because of the heat this summer (and trying to house train a rambunctious puppy), but I always need that color fix to keep my head in the game. Take a look at some of my favorites on flickr.

Kaleidoscope Images
Floral Images
More Florals
Doors and Windows of Spain
The Southwest

My entries to P&P 2007

Some of the artists that entered the NPCG's Progress and Possibilities contest are showing what they submitted.

I appreciate all of the time and effort that the judges put into the scoring process, but was disappointed that they didn't comment (they have the option/space on the scorecard to do that) on any of my entries.

I think *I* know why my pieces didn't place, but being able to see what they saw, well I know that would have helped me immensely. I admit that I hurried with the finishing process to get them submitted in time...and these were among the very first floral beads of this style. So, I'm sure they were a little rough around the edges.

I did get a personal email from one of the judges letting me know "how refreshing it was to see original work with a lovely sense of color and design." That meant the world to me to hear that and that she took the time to let me know... :o)

Thank you Donna and members of the PPPCG

Wow, what a wonderful weekend I had. To get away with DH for a few days to Colorado, clay with crazy women, see beautiful moutains, eat and drink. Donna Kato put on a wonderful workshop for the Pikes Peak Polymer Clay Guild in Colorado Springs on Saturday. I clayed with Donna and friends whilst Rudy played golf. After the workshop, we had a quick drink and lots of hugs to hold us over until we could all get together again. I even bought Donna's yummy new book and got it personally autographed. Here are a few pictures for you. I have to get out of town more often ;o)

Going to Colorado again...

I was lucky enough to get "squeezed" in to Donna Kato's class in Colorado Springs on Saturday. We're leaving tomorrow (Friday) and won't be back until Sunday. Should be fun...I've been wanting to meet Donna for a while now :o)

Amazing artists

Here is just one of the amazing artists that I met at the fair...her name is Dee Sanchez and she did a demo at her booth (which just happened to be next to me). Hopefully I will own something of hers by the fall. You can't even imagine how beautiful her work is in person...

Good show :o)

I had a very good show this past weekend at the NM Arts and Crafts Fair. All of the artists are incredible and so nice. Here are a couple of pictures of the booth before the show started. I have a few more, I just have to find my camera *g*

My bead room is a disaster, so that's what I'll be working on for the next week or two. Hope everyone is well.

Who was first??? me, you, who?

Gosh, I get tired of this. I wish some people would just get over this fascination/obsession they have with noting on every board they visit "who did what when" whether they're asked or not.

I'm sure many don't know the story (especially those new to polymer clay), so let me give you the short version. I "invented" something all by my little 'ole self...or at least I thought I had...for about a year or three.

Swirl Lentils we call 'em. Or some call them 'Swirly Lentils'...don't like the 'y' added, cuz it makes them sound silly somehow.

A few years back, a polymer clay artist decided to post a tutorial on her site on how to make them. From what I've heard, this artist learned the technique from a friend...who learned the technique from the "originator" (hate that word, I like to say "pioneer") at a polymer clay conference.

So after this artist posted her tutorial, she was asked by the "originator" to take the tutorial down. She refused. So, in order not to look like I was using or had used this tutorial, I put up my own versions on PCC called "Scrappy Swirls" and another on my site called "Swirled Lentils with Beadcaps and Inclusions."

I'm sick of some trying to make me out as someone stealing this other artist's thunder (the one that posted a tutorial of a technique learned from the "originator").

...nuff said...thank you for your support my friends :o)
Huge hugs,
Barb

Memorial Day Fun

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday. We just got back from our favorite city park where we let Bailey and Radar run free and the men throw frisbee...I take the pics, that's why I'm not in any of them. You can see them here.

We'll be at a cabin in Colorado this Wednesday through Friday...have a great week everyone!

Painted beads that I don't like much...

I finally got a pic of the infamous "too much paint" beads...this is actually the nicer of the three sets from that same group. If you search back a few posts, you'll see how pretty they were. I guess they're okay now, but I wish I had been wise enough to leave them be. I'm staying home this Memorial Day weekend. Whatever you're doing, be safe, have fun and say a prayer for our guys and gals out there...

Summery beads for ya...

Hope all you moms had a wonderful day yesterday :o)

ugh...not feeling well today...

My son brought home some kind of germ(s) from a friend's house last week. He got a little sick (sore throat, cough and stuffy head) and several of the other boys that were there came down with something too. Funny, just the other day I was thinking..."dang, I haven't been sick in ages..." and then...bam. :o(

Just finished some chicken soup...I hope it helps because I'm not getting a darn thing done today.

Finished these up on Friday night. Keeping myself away from the gold pen was not an easy thing. I wanted these to look natural and antiqued, but I'm afraid they look a little dark. My next thought is to make coordinating beads in maybe faded greens or blues and combine them artfully with these (in necklaces for the show in June).

Fragile egos...

I think it would be safe to say that most artists have very fragile egos...one day we might think we are doing great work and the next, we might say to ourselves that we're just lucky or that something pretty that we've made is just a fluke...or that we're trying too hard, or any number of things go through our heads making us doubt ourselves. After my last bead set that I worked on way too much and finally sort of ruined by adding too many layers of paint, I finally got back to some clay after a few days of feeling less than good about my work. Something made me pull out my pearlex and perfect pearls...these are what came out. Whew, I feel better today :o)

Work juried into Bead Dreams '07

I just got my acceptance letter today :o)

I read and re-read the contract and I think I'm fine showing you which set I'm sending off to them tomorrow. All they ask is that you do not submit the work to another publisher for one year after the close of the show. If anyone knows different, please let me know asap. Thanks gals...and guys... *g*

Three adjectives...

If you could use only three adjectives to describe your work, what would they be? My three just came to me (in the shower of course)...they are "soft, natural and sparkle y." I don't try to make my work look like any of these...it's just what comes out of me...over and over again...

I was looking over my "links" page on my site. I do that from time to time to make sure all of the links work still. Victoria Hughes (who used to live here in Albuquerque and then in Santa Fe) is working on a new site. When she was here in NM, she was learning how to use hypnotherapy (from a fine institution in Santa Fe) to help artist's find their own voice. I was lucky enough to serve as one of her first "guinea pigs." And how lucky I was...to be in the right place at the right time. I think of her often and how I still carry that "stone in my pocket." I check for it and it's still there...as soft, natural and sparkle y as ever.

From what I can tell from her new site, it appears that she has moved back east. I think her parents (or her mom) live there. We miss her here in NM.

As of today...

I've worked on these off and on for 3 days. I'm almost afraid to get them near any paint...

I call these "Coleus"

...because I love the colors of Coleus leaves...

Beads after gilding, painting...

You're gonna have to go to flickr to see...sorry to tease you :o) I try to spread out my photos between here and there.

Before paint...

I needed to take a picture of this set before any paint or antiquing application. I want to learn to limit how much paint I use as I tend to get way too engrossed in it and then it's too late! I can always add more paint later and like they say anyway "less is more!" Another thing I always say to myself as I work is "keep it simple, stupid!" *g*

I also thought I would show you a few pictures of what my clay table looks like at the moment...

Added to my list...and new beads :o)

I've added a 7th rule to my list:

7. If you publish a tutorial, be as sure as you can that no one else has published the same or nearly the same tutorial first. You don't want to be accused of riding other's coattails.

A lesson that I learned from Sarah Shriver...never judge your work until you are done with the piece. When I took a workshop with her (the only one I've ever taken, btw), I was only in the first steps of making my intricate Kaleidoscope cane. I hated how it looked and whined to Sarah. She said something like, "I think it will look cool, just keep going..."

At the end I loved how the cane turned out. I was reminded of her when I finished these. Everyone that has seen them so far seems to like them the best of the new flora beads...

Polymer Clay with a Conscience

There is another uproar in the community about techniques...which ones are proprietary and which are not. In my opinion, no technique is proprietary...someone, somewhere has probably done it before. It would be impossible to say who owns any particular technique.

So, here are the rules that I live by in my PC life.

1. Do not publish (Internet or in print) or teach a technique that you learned directly from the artist (or even from someone else that learned it directly from the artist). Most likely they are teaching it and some of their income relies on it.

2. Reverse engineering something that you see is fine. Do not claim yourself as the "originator." Give credit to the artist that inspired you.

3. Do not ask an artist how they did something. If they want to share, they will.

4. If you see another artist's work and it inspires you to try something similar, put your own spin on it. Make every effort to be different.

5. Great minds *do* think alike. It's always possible that two (or more) people working with the medium will create similar pieces and think that their piece or technique is unique to them. Calling someone an "originator" is a confusing term.

6. Don't police the community. This kind of behavior can only alienate people that just want to learn. Let them.

7. If you publish a tutorial, be as sure as you can that no one else has published the same or nearly the same tutorial first. You don't want to be accused of riding other's coattails.

We're grown-ups, polymer clayers with a conscience don't need anyone telling them right from wrong. As another PC artist told me once..."The cream always rises to the top." :o)

I may change and edit this post as needed. This is just a start. If any of you think like I do and would like to make suggestions to anything I've posted, please let me know...

Latest obsession :o)

This is what happened last week. I got a little carried away with the paint on a few of them....