..."beaded art through the eyes of the beholder".

Sunday, February 15, 2009

2/15: WHAT'S ON MY BEADING BOARD TODAY?

People ask me: "How do I know what I'm going to bead?" So here are some musings of a bead addict...

Let's see...I have one of Kim Cavendar's (kimcavender.etsy.com) fun and funky faces (I'm
in love with these gems!). I see a smattering of Lisa Peter's (lisapetersart.etsy.com) rustic
raku, a beautifully matrixed turquoise I found in Quartzite, AZ.There are some of Heather Power's (humblebeads.etsy.com) Humblebeads - her colors are "so yum!" And an indian maiden I started on one of my trips that
I have yet to finish - I want it as a necklace; she is being worked on very soft, fluid goat leathers. I think she'll be fun...one of these days!


Starting a project, for me, always includes just about the same sequence of events. Rarely do I ever have a picture in my head of where I'm headed with my beads. Occasionally I will have a combo of colors I want to work with so that's a start. But more often I fill my board with a good handful of focal piece choices, let them kinda stare back at me from the board and in a short amount of time, one will jump out at me; that's the one! Then I go about choosing the colors to go with that center piece. I have no pattern in mind; I just wait for the beads to start "talking" ~ and they invariably do!

Occasioanlly I have a "start" that never seems to go anywhere. Ever been there yourself? Or, I have a "start" that seems to be a struggle no matter how I try to work with it. I don't struggle long - I have learned if it's that forced, my creation is doomed. I never, EVER take apart anything! It's against all I believe in. I have a basket sitting by the window and when I get one of these little orphans, I toss it in the basket. The basket never gets full because eventually, more often than not, I will find a use for each little wad of beads and generally when I do, it becomes a prominent addition to the new creation - "Here's to free-form beadweaving!"

There are no mistakes ~ only lessons.

7 comments:

Swanee said...

I am really liking Kim Cavender's face cabochon that you have displayed in your tray. It's fun to read about another beaders process!

Beadwork and Pottery said...

Great post!!! I create in a similar way - pieces seem to evolve and I don't have a finished piece in my mind either.
Judy

BeadsForever said...

We have such fun creating, don't we? I can't think of anything I'd rather do. I always enjoy seeing your work!

Kim Cavender said...

Dini, I'm honored to have a little something of mine as part of your bead board. I love your work so much and the fact that you start a piece without a definite finished product in mind is just one of the reasons your work is so appealing.

GrandmaMarilyn said...

Interesting aray of items on your board. For some reason, I can't seem to work with much else than seed beads of late. Got to get out of that funk.

Foxan said...

Yes, I know exactly what you mean! :) I have couple of focals stearing at me for couple of weeks now. One started talking last friday!
I have no idea how the finished product is going to look like either.

And now I am extremely curious about what you are going to do with those beads!

Hugs,
Olga

Melody Marie Murray said...

It's always fun to look at someone else's bead board. *grin* Thanks for the peek.