easter egg-stravaganza 2007

every easter we go to our friends J&J's house for easter - it's their biggest entertaining event of the year. dozens of hungry friends and family assemble for an easter/passover feast...

chocolate king kong

hello jello kitty

a speciality of the house - matzoh quiche-ita brei

big poppa carved the ham

a lamb cake

a sacrificial butter lamb

i made a coconut bundt cake decorated with peeps - before...

and after

for the day's entertainment we took limo rides in a white rolls royce that once belonged to george harrison. i know - it was awesome.

and finally...

proof that a good time was had by all - it's miss emwee peepers, the chic w/chicks

tom waits - "chocolate jesus"

yes, of course, there was an extra large "last supper" replica chocolate bar on the desert table today.

another variation on monet's blues

one last bead from my french blue & yellow torch fit last week.

cims french blue and new cims meringue (the luscious yellow) also, some medium transparent blue, aventurine and pea green

this floral bead is quite large, about 1 1/2" long. perfect for a pendant.

just look at these blue and yellow dishes are from haviland china. they are faithful reproductions of claude monet's dishes at giverny. the man did so love his blue and yellow.

yes, it is still snowing... easter is tomorrow. it's so unfair.

monet - blue & yellow

french blue and yellow floral beads.

these are really quite simple. start with a round core, but let it droop a little bit into a squat pear shape. starting at the top of the 'pear' add the 4 petals each in a long downward sweep - making sure to leave a nice blop at each end. heat each petal tip and pull with your tweezers to shape the petal end. finally, add a collar of green at the top, then heat and twist the collar to make a decorative ruffle. viola, as the french say.

cim's french blue (fast becomming a favorite color), some oddlot transparent yellow and pale transparent apple green.

claude monet - haystack, snow effects morning.

this monet oil painting is a perfect choice for today. it snowed here last night - it 'stuck,' and has not stinkin' melted all day. and, it's with us thru easter.

little blues

the little blue flowers are out in the park.

beads to match.

pea green tops with a bit of goldstone stringer, middles of cim's french blue and ruffles of transparent blue with more goldstone stringer (handmade with blue encasing) on the frilled edge

soon they will be earrings for my aunt - who loves blue.

how gray is it here?

torch time

finally, back at the torch today.
lots of beady goodness coming out of the kiln tomorrow.

tom waits - 'lucinda'

i wish i could say that i am the lucinda of this song - since, i nearly worship tom waits - alas, it's not me "with hair as black as a bucket of tar and skin as white as a cuttlefish bone." " i heard someone pull the trigger, her breasts heaved in the moonlight again, there was a smear of gold in the window..."

pale pink tulips

i have luxury of living next to a city park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.

'my' backyard park is Highland Park - famous for its collection of lilacs - hundreds and hundreds of lilac bushes. the springtime slopes of the park are planted with flowering bulbs of all kinds. the very first tiny white ones are blooming now - but soon there will be thousands of daffodils & exotic tulips. and then, the magnolias... and the lilac finale.

pink tulips - highland park - oil on canvas, 36" x 40"

above, pink tulip beads - cim's rose quartz with white

white tulip earrings - flameworked beads, freshwater pearls, rose quartz beads & sterling silver

pink tulip painting detail, and below, the tulips in Highland Park.

arizona highways bracelet

a new bracelet.

arizona highways - handmade flamework beads, turquoise, coral and sterling silver

monet's kitchen

today is the first springish day.

i call it dirt day - the first day that is warm enough to smell wet dirt. believe me, if it's spring here in way upstate new york, it's finally spring.

monet's kitchen at giverny is blue and yellow.

these beads are made with cim's french blue (a gorgeous, dreamy color) and an oddlot yellow that is some weird filigrana (it has an opaque yellow center with transparent yellow encasing) and finally the beads have transparent pink lobes that were draped and twisted down the sides.

your eyes dont lie... this is fascinating.

coffee + oil + slate + chocolate + tar

dark silver plum on dark silver plum beads strung with oily black freshwater pearls.

a bracelet and earring set.

a close-up of the earrings.

i really like how these look, like something i scraped up off the hot pavement during summer. all oozy and tarrish.

the sketchbook page that goes with them.

johnny cash - the man in black.

night garden earrings

what again, already, with the night garden beads?

to match the bracelet - night garden earrings - flameworked beads, freshwater pearls, coral & sterling silver

sorry about the low-qual entry. this house is a plague ship right now. fevers, dizziness, coughing, sore throats, ear and head aches and things to gross to mention.

another night garden

more night garden beads.

these are such simple beads - beginner level stuff.
but, the colors are so lush i just keep making and making them.
first a bracelet, then some for matching earrings, now more for a necklace.

above, are basic instructions drawn out in my bead sketchbook.

picasso's 'night fishing at antibes' (1939)

cherry line-up

6 new cherries sitting in a row.

it was 70 degrees and glorious here last week - but now?
we have about 10" of fluffy snow.

somedays you're the lizard, and somedays you're the porkchop tied to some squealing girl's head.

goldfinch - winged heart

a new winged heart - i hadn't made one in a couple weeks.

goldfinch winged heart - left over bits of several yellows, pea green & black.

side view

from the bottom, and from the top...

click here to see an amateur tutorial i put together on how i make these.

click here to see a gallery of my winged hearts at bead artists.

american goldfinch.