THREE SLEEPING MOONS 11

I've been wondering how the three moons would connect with each other.  I didn't want to just continue doing circles until they intersected; although that wouldn't have necessarily been a bad idea - just a little too predictable.  After playing around with a wooden bugle bead (about a size 4), I created a shape that seem to embrace the three moons without overpowering any of them.  Once I finished, stepped back, and took a good look at it I realized a heart had been created.

THREE SLEEPING MOONS 10 and one Sleepy Pin

 I'ts been awhile since my last posting but moving forward proved to be a bit of a challenge.  It took several false starts before I found just the right beads to continue on.  The first ring around the moon consist of little tiny brass spacers turned flat with hole side up and stopped with one of the red 15 charlottes.  The second ring are brass cut beads around 4mm with brushed gold 8's in-between.  Rosemary at Monica's Quiltworks and Bead Store here in Palm Desert, suggested I dye the background with coffee.  It's hard to see in the photo but it really takes the edge off of the white Lacy fabric.  Thanks Rosemary!

I've got to start thinking of how they relate to each other...not sure yet.  It's a slow process but one I enjoy.  Luckily, I've got other projects that I'm able to finish in a reasonable length of time.  Here's one....a free-form beaded head I've turned into a pin with a magnetic catch.

 

THREE SLEEPING MOONS 9

The moons are beaded and it's now time to think about how to pull them altogether.  There are some interesting cabochons I may, or may not, use.  This is when the fun begins!  OR..the big headache...which will it be?

THREE SLEEPING MOONS 8

As you can see I've changed my mind.  The little turquoise beads just didn't fit.  The black bugles give it a stronger line and a bit more to play with...I think. Oh well, the little guy is next and then we'll see if they can all be tied together some how.  I still like the turquoise beads and hope to use them somewhere else. 

THREE SLEEPING MOONS 7

I used brass Tahos for the base of the medium moon with garnet color Charlottes and Black Garnets around his face.  I'm circling the base with round 3mm turquoise before moving on to baby moon.  Once the moons are complete, I'll take a picture, print it out and work on the overall design to tie them together.

THREE SLEEPING MOONS 6

The vintage beads I found on Ebay are finally being put to good use!  I'm curious to see how the strong colors of the first moon will influence the other two.  Who's next?  Probably 'medium moon' ....I'll save the baby for last! 

THREE SLEEPING MOONS 5

I'm getting to point where I'm going to have to start thinking about the 'design' of this piece...or do I? Perhaps I'm hoping it will sort of take care of itself as I go along and I suppose that's possible but I kind of doubt it.  It's just that I'm having so much fun making it up as I go that I kind of hate to 'commit' myself.  Maybe I just need a little more time and  few more rows and THEN I'll have it all mapped out...or not!

SLEEPING MOONS 4

I can spend hours looking at beads, trying to decide the next color, bead, pattern.  It's a bit frustrating not having access to ALL of my beads as we are at our winter home in the desert and, of course, the beads or stones I think will best fit are located in our home in Kirkland Washington.  An opportunity for a trip to Ebay!

THREE SLEEPING MOONS 3

 

I switched the stitch to right-angle-weave in order to curve the beads around the right side of his face and cheek.  The little blue disks are vintage sequins I found on ebay; they help to transition in and out of the curves of his face.  I'm almost done with this guy then on to Moon #2!

SLEEPING MOONS 2

In an effort to get the beads to tighten around his head, I switched to a smaller number 11 vintage bead (top photo) - traveled around the face twice and then had to switch to a 15 Charlotte (bottom) to really begin cinching it in around his face.  The vintage 11 bead is close to the Aiko color except more transparent.  Unfortunately, I only have a bronze color Charlotte but I think it will do.  The idea is to bring the beads over more on one side of his face than the other.  I'm struggling with that now.....TBC....

THREE SLEEPING MOONS 1

I love to begin a new piece...the first beads sewn around the face always seem to change the character of the it in unexpected ways.  I like the way the small dark blue beads bring out his expression...I can almost see what he's dreaming!

Three Sleeping Moons

I have this idea;
what if I use E-6000 and glue three faces onto a piece of Lacy fabric and free-form embroider around them to create a small piece of art?  My bead choices so far is a mix of sizes and colors from 6* bugles, 11 Delicas, 15* Charlottes, vintage sequins, African spacer beads, pearls and some rubies tossed in too!  I doubt I'll use all of them but will start beading around the faces and see what comes up.

BEADED HEAD UPDATE 5

While art can be subjective, for me, creativity is the ability to put together an unlikely combination of ideas to find a useful solution to a problem.  A sense of satisfaction comes from executing a task in a technically skillful manner with an outcome I feel proud to display.  Unfortunately, this head didn't achieve that goal.

It started out okay but began to look sloppy as I tried to figure out how to bring the beads up the back of the head and over the top of his scull.  I had a vision of a head wrapped in tiny beads like ancient chainmail.  His ears were too big and made it difficult to navigate from front to back.  A more skillful bead artist could have figured it out.  Perhaps I'll give it more thought and try and again some time in the future.  

In the meantime, I'm itching to get to some bead embroidery using faces, heads and vintage beads.  

TO BE CONT....

PS

Beaders...please feel free to offer some suggestions on how I might have been more successful!

BEADED HEAD UPDATE 4

The top of the crown doesn't fit at all the way I envisioned.  In hindsight, I should have only sewn every other bead as I did under the neck which cinched it in nicely.  I'm going to try adding a few more Charlottes; bring it down a bit and hopefully give it a better finish.

BEADED HEAD UPDATE 3

7:15 AM.  Well, I've aborted the mission to cover the top of his head with beads; I'm just not sure I can technically manage it - looks like I'll have to get some instruction from one of my beading buddies before I attempt another one but for now I like the effect of it open (kind of looks like a crown).  To cinch it in a bit, I decreased a row using the brass Aikos again with an additional row on to that and ended with a row of black garnets.  I'll now complete it by trimming the rest of the headdress with more garnets.  TBC   

9:15 AM.  This isn't working.  The garnets are buckling around the ears.  I'm going to take them out and see if I can cinch it up a bit.  

 

BEADED HEAD UPDATE 2

I've managed to bead up the back of the head to just above the ears but now what?  Do I make a circle and join the ends together or go for a half-moon; travel up and over to the forehead?  I've decided to make the loop and then figure out the rest.

 Whew...that was scary.  Wasn't sure it would work but it did - for now anyway.  Got the beads to go all of the way around the forehead and meet up with the ones on the other side.  But now what?

 As you can see, I've connected them together but if I continue on toward the back of the head, when I get to the front again there will be a serious problem; I've got to figure out a way to get back to that place in front of the ear where it dips going counter-clockwise in order to even up the row.  Normally, I'd just work my way there by sewing back through the beads but they are too small and the extra thread will make it impossible to sew through them again which I have to do to keep going.

So, I've decided to sew down to the bottom and embellish a small section with the black garnets that will eventually surround his head and neck.  This takes me to the place I need to be to even up the row without filling the bead holes with too much unwanted thread.  Now to finish the row.

Now that the row is complete, it feels like I need to go back to the peyote stitch in order to tighten it up around the top...not sure if that's going to give me the look I want but this is where my inexperience rears its head.  I hate it when the final product doesn't match the image I have in my mind but I'm going to keep going anyway.

It feels like I need to decrease and perhaps bring back the copper bead so I'm going to skip every other bead, insert a copper one then pull it together on the next row.  I'm wondering how a right-angle weave done in black garnets might look on top of his head?

 

Beaded Head

October 4, 2010

I have this vision of a head covered in seed beads but how to accomplish this I'm not sure.  I start by gluing the head to a piece of fast2fuse embroidery material with the intention embroidering around the base then sewing up the neck in peyote stitch.

When I get to the more narrow part of the neck I have to switch to a different size bead in order to cinch it in to fit.  The only smaller bead I have with me is a silver #13 Charlotte so I switch to that.  

It appears to work...but what do I do when the neck thickens and I must compensate for that width?

October 7, 2010

I decide to switch to Right-Angle-Weave stitch which enlarges the footprint without increasing the peyote.  I like the combination but what will happen when the beads begin to creep up the sides of his face and head?  And, what do I do with the area under the chin?

October 8, 2010

I decide to add on in right-angle-weave little links below his chin then fold them under as I work my way up the back of the head.  Have you ever seen such gigantic ears?

October 15, 2010

Just got a new camera..Cannon G11.  Amazing macro capability...such clarity!
I'm moving up the back of the head in right-angle-weave; time to move to the front of the head...not sure how to do it.  I've decided to go half-way toward the center then go back the other way going in a semi-circle up and over the forehead and down to a point at the top of the bridge of the nose.  I have no idea if this will work but I'm determined to JUST DO IT and share my success OR failure!  TBC

"SAY CHEESE" 59...HELLO 60!

365 Talking Heads

dedicated to my sister

Margaret

who helped me when I didn't know I needed help

who believed in me until I  could believe in myself

and who loved me no matter what

I will miss you

SELF PORTRAIT - 365/365!

Sometimes things just don't turn out the way we expect. For example, I had this idea of creating a self-portrait out of low-fire clay - a different medium than polymer. I traveled several times to Guemes Island (an hour and a half from Seattle) where I worked with clay and metal sculpture artist Sue Roberts - http://suerobertssculpture.com to create a life-size clay head of myself. I was thrilled with the outcome. I had given myself the cheekbones I had always wanted and my neck looked fabulous. Here's what it looked like:

It had to be fired in a kiln; sometimes a difficult process. I was excited to see how it would look. Sue opened the kiln and this is what I saw.

Obviously, I must have overdone the cheekbones and neck OR was it the hair?  Something made it blow in the kiln.  I have to admit, I was not disappointed. Well... that's not entirely true. Part of me wished I could have painted it if only to see how I'd look with the enhanced cheekbones and neck!

But the other part of me was perhaps even more intrigued with the broken pieces. It stimulated my imagination to see all of those parts of my head scattered all over the bottom of the kiln; sort of made me feel like I had found myself in an archeological dig.  Symbolically, it was the perfect way to break out of my 5th decade and into my 6th.  The pieces providing so many more opportunities - so many more possibilities!  

Tomorrow marks the end of this year-long project.  365 days of making one head a day, naming it and listening to what it has to say.  I didn't really know exactly what I was going to do when I started the blog.  In fact, I didn't decide to do it until one week before when I happened to take a free-form beading workshop from Tina Koyama - a talented artist/writer -  http://www.tinakoyama.com/ It was Tina who gave me the idea of creating one head a day.  She had just completed her own year-long, one free-form piece a day, project.  

My experience in polymer clay was limited.  A few months prior to my workshop with Tina, I had become intrigued by a book I found on Amazon called Ancient Modern; Polymer Clay + Wire Jewelry.  Imagine my delight when I discovered that the author, Ronna Sarvas Weltman http://www.ronnaroud.com/ was local and offering a workshop in polymer.

I loved her workshop but became more fascinated with the idea of creating clay heads and faces than making the beautiful jewelry Ronna designed.  Ronna didn't make clay heads but with excitement and enthusiasm she encouraged me to do so.  She would peruse the internet in the middle of the night and by morning I'd have a list of 'how-to' links and the websites of other clay-head artists in my mailbox!

So why make the commitment to create one clay head a day for a year?   One, it would help me to build my skill in creating faces and two, it would be an amazing experiment in the creative process.  I purposely didn't plan exactly what I would do other than to make the head and do some form of writing (about what I was not sure).

As a result, I was as much surprised by the outcome as those of you who followed the blog.  Life presented some pretty big obstacles along the way including the illness and death of my Mother in July.  But instead of stopping me, I found myself more grounded and connected to the process.  The emotional trauma translated into a deepening of creativity. The practiced meditation of creating something everyday seemed to bring me a since of peace instead of stress.  For the first time in my life I had incorporated a practice that actually fed me instead of draining me and in doing so, I had uncovered a gift that would last me a life-time.  Like learning to ride a bike, I would forever know how to push the judging and thinking aside and become one with the source that fed me.

Many of you have asked about my process so here are a few answers to those questions....

1.  The beginning of each month I would determined the color scheme

2.  Mix the clay and have 30-31 pieces ready to go

3.  Make one head (sometimes a few more), bake them, photograph them and upload them to the blog.

4.  Working on one image at a time I would name them, then listen to what they had to say. It was very interesting how the angle of the photograph influenced the name and the intention of the head.  At one point, I realized that the same head, photographed from several angles could have many different names and intentions.  (However enticing I didn't pursue this)!

5.  In the beginning, they actually spoke (kind of like a monologue) and I responded with my "reflection."

6.  As the dialogue became less wordy, I noticed that my reflection contained a "message."  I began containing the message in italics.

7.  On Valentines Day, I made a heart-shaped head and wrote a poem.  From that day on, I simply named the head and wrote the message; taking out the monologue and my reflection.   I missed writing the monologues but when I tried to re-incorporate them it didn't feel right so I stuck to the new format.

8.  I wanted the final head to be different so I decided to do a self-portrait in low-fire clay.  Working in this new medium AND with a life-size head was like jumping on an Arabian race hoarse after I'd been climbing a mountain on a mule.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the mule - it had become my trust worthy friend.  But isn't this what I was trying to accomplish?  Try something new...dare to fail...find the creative spark in spite of the lack of skill?  

9.  And then the greatest gift I could imagine....the head blows up in the kiln and provides me with pieces I couldn't have come up with if I had tried.  Lesson?  Sometimes the best creative endeavor comes from what we consider a failed mission.

10.  One of the most frequently asked questions...."WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THE 365 HEADS?"  


I intend on continuing to make heads and faces; incorporating them into my jewelry and creating pieces of art.   I plan on documenting the process from idea to finished product and hope you'll join me for the ride as I navigate this new journey and explore the possibilities!



Check out the blog tomorrow for 
"Say Cheese" 59 "Hello" 60!

THE GUARDIAN - 364/365

'to protect' doesn't necessarily mean 

'to love'

and 'to love'

doesn't necessarily mean 'to protect'

THE ARROGANT ANGEL - 363/365

the moment you think you are an angel

you no longer carry that title

THE HOPEFUL-SKEPTIC - 362/365

sometimes it is best to focus on 
the shadows of reality

than be blinded by the brightness of hope

or the black hole of skepticism

THE THOUGHT-COLLECTOR - 361/365

 

the subtle sound of the truth
can be overpowered by 
the hypnotic repetition of our own thoughts

"SAY CHEESE" - SEPTEMBER

THE NIGHT & DAYERS 358-359/365

perhaps what appears to be so different
is really the same in disguise

THE CONSPIRATORS - 354-357/365

the bonds formed through conspiracy
fray easily and break often

THE UNRELIABLES - 350-353/365

the fear of failing in the eyes of others
may prevent us from trying to succeed in our own

THE PRIVATE EYES - 346-349/365

the truth isn't always found
just because someone is looking for it

THE FABRICATORS - 342-345/365

it can be easier to make up the life we want
than to work to create the life we desire

THE AVOIDERS - 338-341/365

we tend to shut our eyes
when the truth is too close to our face

THE OPPOSITES - 334-337/365

it is safer to see what is hidden deep within
when it is acted out by someone else

THE GOSSIPERS - 330-333/365

focusing on the behavior of others
is an effective way to avoid monitoring our own