mexican voodoo, take 2

belvedere's first graffiti.
seemingly obsessed with skulls these days.



people, passing thru the house, love the mexican voodoo pendants.
a couple are already gone. so, i made some more.

this is such a great way to use single beads. the more hopeless the orphan bead, the better and funkier the pendant.



such a classic south of the border combo - turquoise and coral.
the turquoise is especially nice because it is mexican stone and heavily shot with silver deposits.



& some more inspirational skull graffiti-





it's too hot here to breathe - so i did something 'unthinkable.'
i skipped my weekly torch time.

amigurumi

these beads were inspired by japanese amigurumi.
'amigurumi' means knitted or crocheted doll in japanese, and they are quite the hot fad.



these varmints are, of course, glass - duh.



made from the ends of rods, and wee bits of old twisties .



strung on sterling silver headpins and made into pendants.



the whole gang...



i don't have a plan for tomorrow's precious torch time.
maybe i could make some more heads and bodies.
there are lots more ideas for these critters in my bead sketchbook.

it's nice day for a white wedding...

a tattered wedding dress




& some confections to go with it




anice white, fine silver wire, hand pulled opaque sage green, clear, raku frit & white filigrana.
interesting how the silver wire trailed onto the anice white spacers looks like gold.

mexican voodoo

leftover beads, rewarmed and made in to something spicy -



i call 'em
mexican voodoo charms



(someone's been watching too much lucha va voom)



made from leftover beads, slices of coral, freshwater pearls and tiny carved bone skulls all made into little totems on sterling silver headpins.

it all makes me think of that song by...

wall of voodoo
"mexican radio"

i feel a hot wind on my shoulder
and the touch of a world that is older
i turn the switch and check the number
i leave it on when in bed i slumber
i hear the rhythms of the music
i buy the product and never use it
i hear the talking of the dj
can't understand, just what does he say?

i'm on a mexican radio
i'm on a mexican, whoa- ooh, radio

i dial it in and tune the station
they talk about the u.s. inflation
i understand just a little
no comprende - it's a riddle

i'm on a mexican radio
i'm on a mexican, whoa- ooh, radio

i wish i was in tiajuana
eating barbequed iguana
i take requests on the telephone
i'm on a wavelength far from home
i feel a hot wind on my shoulder
i dial it in from the south of the border
i hear the talking of the dj
can't understand, just what does he say?

i'm on a mexican radio
what does he say?
radio, radio, radio...

(if you need to hear it - click here)

get a great bead art 'fix'

i found this website where handmade glass bead artists strut their finest.
it's set up gallery style, with each artist having their own 'space.'

it's called bead artist's photo gallery

i have added it to my links on the left.
i joined and set up two small galleries within my gallery.
one for bird beads and one for party dresses.

it asked for names, so i gave all my party dresses silly titles...

"rhumba"


"garden party"


"devine" (yes, that devine, the cinemagraphic drag diva)


"watermelon hustle"


how's that for overly decorative labeling?

party dresses

i started out with some warm up bicones and small pods that i won't bother to show.
them came some pairs of pods for earrings.



the pretty pods on the right, the ones with the filigrana rod centers were supposed to have rubino oro petals on top but i got goofy and made crazy pink ruffles.

one set of ruffles led to a need for lots of ruffles and a new kinda bead
- the party dress.

these little dresses are huge focals, the largest one is 40mm long.

here's a good detail of one of the ruffles.

then i wanted to try applied leaves. i pulled a couple and set them aside on my marver, then made the huge odd black cherry/pod. heated the leaves, mushed them on, flame annealed like crazy and put it in the oven to bake. viola!

floral pods again

a quick pic of more floral pods for earrings and pendants - this was a less than stellar batch that i made a few days ago.



besides pods, a pair of barrel beads for earrings made with dark silver plum and opalino nile green - a great combination.

& a coral and ivory frit bird bead. (center bottom)

the pod in the lower left corner is my favorite in the batch. it's opalino pink rolled in goldstone frit and then i encased it with petals of transparent pale periwinkle.

the stuff i just picked up, out of the annealer, from yesterday's torch session is making me wiggle - apparently i do my best work when it's 90+ degrees in the studio. check back, i have something new and wonderful to post as soon as i get them cleaned.

like spring - the first flowers

here are the first pendants made from the wonky floral beads, the ones i called seuss-y pods.





the one on the left is 2 1/4" long and has evil dark pink freshwater pearls that perfectly match the opalino carnelian glass petals on the long pod.

the one on the right has a variety of fresh water pearls and a rose quartz bead mixed in. it's hard to see, but the best part of this bead is in the center of the blossom. it's light pink alabastro glass rolled in aventurine (goldstone) frit and encased in clear glass for lots of depth and sparkle.

i've got more odd flowers soaking, just waiting to be reamed. and best of all, more torch time set aside tomorrow evening at More Fire Glass.

the ugly beadling

from an orphan ugg-ly bead...



... to a beautiful (swansome) pendant.

forsythia baubles

so, here are the first 3 pieces of jewelry for the 'artist's row show & sale.'



forsythia earrings with my glass beads, yellow and green freshwater pearls & silver findings.



and a matching pendant.

this is what i plan to exhibit and, cross your fingers, sell. that is - lots of floral earrings and pendants, all done with my flameworked beads combined with pearls & mimsy gemsy bits.

bird on a string

i wear it all the time... and so far so good.
i want to sell my beads later this summer at a show - so this is a durability test.



moretti transparent black, iris orange reduction frit, sage green and dark ivory with an aventurine (goldstone) chunk for the breast. it's an inch and a half in length.

seuss-y odd floral pods

all the lilies are blooming and the plump half-open blossoms sort of inspired these...





i intend to make them into pendants with pearls and other posh gem bits.



the glass that looks white was a bit of opaque uranium i had stashed away, underneath is alabaster pink rolled in goldstone frit and encased in clear. the dark pink bits on the other blossom are my new favorite color of glass rod - opalino carnelian.

and here is a preliminary drawing from my bead sketchbook.

and another,

i can't wait to get back to the torch at morefire on monday and make more, more, more.

the bird bead

a glass bird.

three quarters view, sideways & back

the whole set.

made from moretti copper green, dark ivory frit and black, with an aventurine chunk (goldstone) breast.