The Connecticut Bead Society is holding their annual Bead Bazaar on September 15th and 16th. It will be from 10AM-5PM at the Holiday Inn, 201 WASHINGTON AVE. (RT 5) in North Haven, CT.
If you’re in the area, drop by. I’ll be there Saturday and some of my beads will be at the Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild’s table. You’ll also get to see beautiful work from the other artists in our guild. It’s a nice show and for the first time they’ll also be doing classes, including one by the guild’s own Diane Villano. Go to the Bead Society’s page if you’re interested in registering.
It’s funny, but I tend to be inspired by deadlines. I haven’t been making much lately but I’ve created a number of new designs for the bazaar. The latest class I took was on sculpting relief and I used some of what I learned to sculpt a horse and fox. They are smaller with more detail than I’ve done before. I think I want to make a couple others too and fortunately I have a few weeks before the final deadline for beads.
It’s easy to come up with ideas. It’s fun, if challenging, to sculpt small animals but it’s always hard to deal with the practicalities afterward.
How exactly is this barn swallow going to become a bead or pendant anyway? How should it be hung? Should it have a backing? I want it to still look delicate so I don’t want to make it too thick – but it has to be thick enough so that the wings and tail don’t break. This year I used wire in most of my pieces instead of putting a hole all the way through. A simple loop of gold-filled or sterling wire allows the piece to be hung as a pendant without being thick and unwieldy.
What sort of finish should I use? Faux ivory, bronze, irridescent mica powders? There are so many choices it can sometimes be paralyzing instead of freeing. But when I have a deadline, and a purpose, I don’t procrastinate as much. I make a bronze and an ivory version. I cover that finish that I really didn’t care for with embossing powder to make it look ancient. I touch up some beads from last year because I realize that they really don’t have enough contrast to see the detail from a few feet away.
Somehow the pressure makes me relax and allows me to play again. Which is a good thing. Because I think I want to make some wild and wacky lizards and maybe a snake or two. And if I get time I might make some more dragon’s eyes. And I want to sculpt a gazelle or maybe a cheetah… Or make a little raccoon looking out from a hole in a hollow tree….