old rose stones

i got something new to play with...
big hole mandrels.



after loving the 'fallen sky stone landscapes' to pieces, there had to be another batch using the same technique of hand shaping lots of organic facets onto tinted encasing over colorful core beads. this color combination is called 'old rose stones'



this set is made with that new messy glass rose quartz. also moretti special brown light for the cores. the cores were rolled in aventurine gold and aventurine green frit and then each bead was encased with rubino oro, transparent light topaz and transparent light pink.



once all the glass is in place i gently heat up the beads, one side and angle at a time, and flatten it to build up random facet after facet.



i was really into it and made a big set of them, enough for a big show of jewelry.



best of all, i got two different, amazing, stainless steel big hole mandrels from moretti & more.



just look how big the hole is in the larger one, i could wear that big juicy bead like a ring.



the whole set of 19 'old rose stones' beads.

pendants & earrings

mmm... pearls, coral, turquoise, rose quartz, sterling & glass.















it's the end of summer. welcome to Rochester, bring your sweater.

amigurumi II

more of my take on amigurumi - as glass beads.

(amigurumi are tiny japanese crocheted dolls - a huge fad there)

my daughter, miss mango 16, squeals that these are her favorite beads.

these are straight from my sketchbook... i know, i have shown this page before. but, it's cool to see. i keep it on the bench, to the right of me at the torch while i am working.

for a hoard of fabulous classic amigurumi visit amigurumi kingdom.

big at heart

i am getting ready for a show - my first with beads.

this pendant is made with a gianormous glass heart focal, mexican turquoise and freshwater pearls.

the bead is an 'end of the day' creation.

'end of the day glass' is a tradition in handmade glass production.
at the end of the day some whimsical piece was made (often by apprentices) with whatever random assortment of colored glass fragments were left on the marver.

i use whatever stray frit, stringers bits, shorty shorts and naughty shards (the bits that fly off when impatiently warming canes) to make my last bead. waste not, want not.




yes, i will be selling small paintings at the show, the big ones are too much for an outdoor event.
to see paintings and drawings click here.

mexican refried voodoo

making more of these nasty little 'mexican voodoo' weiners.

i spent the afternoon at my studio stringing beads into jewelry.

click to see all the of the wee weirdos and the stupid names i gave them at the beadartist website.



warning: these pendants are not intended for supernatural use.

sand & cinders

i made my first silvered ivory stringers last week.
is that ever fun.



from them i made this set called "sand and cinders."
the beads were made with dark ivory (both moretti and vetrofond), 'sis' and raku frit.





they remind me of the shore here on the lake ontario border with canada.

the lucky people who live on the lake have huge yearly bonfires and afterwards the wood cinders and ash mix with the sand.

a twisted heart focal.

2 sides of a matching bird bead

i borrowed another beadlady's leaf press to give it a try.

will i get my own? maybe yes, maybe no.

will i make more beads with silvered ivory stringers?

"hellayeh," as my daughter, miss mango 16, would say.

evil seed (pod)

another seed pod bead -
this one i call the evil seed, because it has a big splotch of evil purple.



it's large, made with moretti dark ivory, silvered ivory stringer, dark silver plum and edp.



this one i am keeping.
to see other pods & seeds - check out my 'odd pods' gallery page at beadartists.org

sky stone landscapes

the native americans, in many of their languages, called turquoise "fallen sky stone."



the plan was to make some beads to go with several outrageous strands of turquoise nuggets that big poppa just bought at the flea market.



this set far exceeded my expectations. each bead is like a precious glass landscape, wonderful to the touch.



these beads were made by first winding a core of opalino turquoise and copper green.



then i assembled a frit mixture of dark ivory, gold aventurine, green aventurine, avacado and lots of tiny, tiny torn bits of silver leaf.



after partially melting in the frit, i encased opposite ends of each bead with transparent light blue and transparent olive green.



finally, i shaped the outside encasing, using a flat cheese knife, into facets. giving each bead a great organic nugget shape and lots of sparkle.



the original idea page for these beads from one of my bead sketchbooks.



the large focals in this set of sculpted beads are huge and heavy. i have no idea how to wear these, especially if i mix them with turquoise nuggets as i had planned...

but, i am sure i will somehow manage.

klimt

there are lots of new beads to show, but this is my favorite.
it reminds me of a klimt painting.



dark ivory (vetrofond and moretti), silver leaf, sage, copper green & raku frit.



a floral painting by klimt.

redwing blackbird

this seems to be bird season.
artists all around me are also inspired by birds this summer.
working on a series of paintings done from 'Audubon's Birds of America.'

i love the way they are contorted - he posed them after killing them.
this is one small study on paper.



so, of course, i had to make a redwing blackbird bead



Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

-the beatles

millefiore amore

bought a baggie of millefiore so I could make fancy floral party dresses.

before the dress I made a few round practice beads with the new murrini.

these are pretty messy, but not too bad for a first try.
heres how they were done:
first pull some goldstone stringers.
then make a barrel bead, one I made with a black base and one with a petroleum green base.
next plonk on the millefiore.
now, 'weave' the goldstone stringers in around the millefiore.
encase the whole mess with clear and into the oven to bake.

coral sparkle - easy peasy

sometimes something simple can end up being gorgeous.

making beads for a bracelet to go with my friend dr. liz's favorite coral necklace.

the pictures don't come close to showing how lush and full of sparkle these beads are - they look like they have glitter inside them.




simple, simple to make

1. wind a coral barrel core
2. roll it in adventurine (goldstone) frit - do NOT melt it in, leave it sticking up out of core bead.
3. quickly and gently encase, being careful to heat the exposed frit as little as possible so the sparkle (copper) does not burn out and turn black.

* adventurine frit can be purchased from Island Glass thru their ebay store Moretti and More. they are great, i buy too much from them all the time - best of all they ship like lightning! *

i want to make a set on a periwinkle core, encased in rubino
and some on pea green encased with pale green transparent or maybe even straw yellow.
you get the idea...
tile red encased in light topaz
and on & on & on.

i am like a crow - i like shiny things.

land of the lost

sorry, i have been away on the most wonderful painting vacation in the fingerlakes...

vacation snaps

to amuse you in the meantime - take a look my voodoo pendants at beadartist.com - i gave them all some amusing and goofy names.

bead artist pics