INSPIRED BY READING ~ An Object Of Beauty

*Bead Soup Blog Hop is here.

* Ocean Blog Hop is here.

If you’re looking for the latest installment of the Inspired by Reading Book Club, this is the place.

This time we read An Object of Beauty, by Steve Martin. Yes, that Steve Martin; comedian/actor. Who knew?

It’s a great book about the world of art dealers and collectors in New York City in the late 1990’s through present time. Martin follows the main character, Lacey, who will do just about anything to further her career.

This book offered connections on so many levels.

One story line referred to the 1990 art theft at the Gardner Museum in Boston – you must read The Art Forger, by B.A. Shapiro.

The narrator’s description of walking into the Basel Art Fair in Miami reminded me of my first visit to JOGS in Tucson – “a humongous convention center with its 17 entrances”… a “labrynth” which he did get lost in. I might have to check out one of the major art shows that pop up in The Hamptons this summer.    

I particularly enjoyed the references to places in NYC and the Hamptons that I am familiar with. I have dined at Saint Ambreous - in Southampton. Although lunch was all my wallet could manage. Nello was also in Southampton for a time. Many artists also had studios or second homes out here; Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, etc.

Intriguing also were the references to Maxfield Parrish, as the Parrish Art Museum has been part of the Southampton community for years. The museum was the brainchild of Samuel Parrish. I must admit that I did not realize they were two separate people. One (Samuel) loved art while the other (Maxfield) created it. My research shows that they both came from Quaker families in Philadelphia and probably were related – perhaps distant cousins.

Enough background you say…

What did I create???

First my inspiration… Pop Art and Andy Warhol’s Marilyn and Flowers.  I so enjoyed the illustrations in the book.

Off to my stash to search for blue and yellow beads. Instead I found Andrea Pirkey’s fabulous glass bead, “Dots”. 

Apatite chips and carnelian came off the shelf. The apatite went back after a visit to Island Bead and Jewelry(just to say hi – yeah, right!). I walked out with some lovely Czech glass ovals, a nice contrast to the circles in the bead. I also added small, round  African opal beads and knotted it all together with two strands of silk thread.

 Wait – “Where’s the new technique?” you wonder. Well, I’m thinking maybe it’s time to broaden my scope with all I’ve learned in the past year. Horizontal growth we called it when I was a first grade teacher and staff developer.

The hammered, soldered silver ring and toggle did come off my bench.

By the way, Warhol did create a blue and orange Marilyn! 

Please visit our host, Andrew Thornton’s blog for the list of participants.

And do consider joining us next time as we read The Drunken Botanist, by Amy Stewart. Andrew hosts a meet-up in his shop, Allegory Gallery, in PA on June 24. The hop will post the next day.

Ann Schroeder    www.beadlove.wordpress.com

Sarajo Wentling  http://sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com/.../an-object-of..

Andrew Thornton, Laurel Ross, Allison Herrington and others
Mary Harding

Ocean Blog Hop

This Ocean blog hop is hosted by Lisa Lodge. You can find the other participants on her blog, A Grateful Artist.

I decided to join the challenge because I love ocean blues and greens.
So imagine my surprise when I found these lovely oranges in my mailbox...



I will admit the package sat on the shelf for several months while I contemplated what to do with it.
Finally, the inspiration hit me.

The two large pieces cultured sea glass screamed lariat. So I went in search of the right cord. I found the great orange cord locally at Island Bead And Jewelry. It was the only component I had to go out and purchase.

I colored the starfish charms with alchol ink and sealed with glaze.

Lisa encouraged us to use all of the beads in the kit. So, I crocheted the czech glass beads with copper wire to make a bracelet.

I finished it off with bead caps and a toggle clasp from my stash.

I finished up with a few pairs of earrings...














More alcohol inked starfish and orange crystal dangle from sterling silver chain.












This time I dug into my staff for these adorable pewter puffer fish from Green Girl Studios.
I picked these up in Tucson. It was so much fun to finally meet and chat with Cynthia Thornton. I've been a big fan of her creations for years.









Once again, I altered the starfish.
This time I coated front and backwith Vintaj patina in "lapis" (and sealed with glaze).
They're topped by sterling silver rings that I soldered and textured.






I hope you'll visit the other participants. Click on the link to Lisa's blog above.

Bead Soup Blog Party

Party Time!!!
Lori Anderson's done it again ~ Today is the reveal for the the 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party!
Somehow she's managed to partner up a few hundred people to swap beads. We had to send a clasp, a focal and some coordinating beads.
This is my second time participating. It's great to meet jewelry desingers across the country and work with new and different components. You can check here to see what I did last year... BSBP 2013

This year my partner is Jayne Capps from Oklahoma. I had already "met" Jayne during one of Andrew Thornton's destash events. We had a great online chat and I learned more about Jayne through her blog. I especially related to the post about fixing up her workspace. Make sure you check out what she created with the beach glass I sent her. Jayne's Blog

It was so much fun to get find this package in my mailbox!

And look what I found inside...

Don't you love the way she tagged everything?!

I want to know how Jayne drilled the bakelite mahjong tile.

The group of glass beads told me they had to become a bracelet. I grabbed a few bead caps and spacers from my stash, whipped up a toggle clasp and wire wrapped it all together.













The mahjong tile has so much character on its own that I decided to keep it simple. Jayne's linked beads are now connected to chain and hang from the bottom of the tile. A few spacers, some sloppy wraps and an extra long chain ~ it's good to go!

I combined several different components for this final piece. The hammered tubing is really cool. (so cool that I almost picked some up from Home Depot last week. I love their plumbing and electrical aisles for supplies!)

My original plan was to hook the necklace in front in the smallest ring. When I headed outside for photos, I realized you could actually hook it in any one of the rings. I think I like the hook in the middle ring best.

Anyone who follows me know that whenever I participate in a challenge I have to try something new. My Artistic wire was too shiny, so I torched it to add color and age. (I'm not sure if that shows up in the photos.) It was also a bit tricky to solder the jump rings connecting the copper tubing and chain.

I still have plenty of turqoise nuggets to play with. Earrings!
Thank you so much Jayne for this really fun soup!

And.... huge thanks to Lori Anderson for organizing the group once again!


Please visit some of the other participants!!!
You can access the extensive list on Lori Anderson's post - Welcome to the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party

Deep Waters Challenge

Today is the reveal for Andrew Thornton's Deep Waters Challenge. (You can click on the link for more info.) And here I am, once again posting at the last minute. As usual, I bit off more than I can chew.

This time Andrew provided us with a kit of lovely ocean blues.  

As usual, he included a "mystery component" - one of his delightful ceramic pieces. I truly enjoy Andrew's challenges because they encourage me to use materials I probably would not pick out for myself. And because I always challenge myself to try new techniques.

As soon as I saw the waxed cord, I knew I'd be tying knots. I decided to make a lariat. I love the versatility of lariats - they can be tied anywhere you want for different looks.

Aren't these aqua blues so summery???

I just had to highlight Andrew's seahorse pendant, so I made silver circle to frame it. I.m having so much fun with my torch and metal stamps! I used the 6mm swirl from Impress Art. Then I wondered how Vintaj patina would work on silver (here's my new technique!) I chose lapis from my supplies, put it on pretty heavy and wiped it off. Yay! The patina stayed in the stamped impressions. After steel wool and the tumbler, I was thrilled with the results!  

I wasted a lot of silver figuring out how to get it to all hang just right, finally settling on chain and jump rings. (Don't worry, scrap silver is Never wasted.)
As an afterthought I strung the rectangular seed beads with some round spacers and Bali beads. I really like the way it brings out the blue in the silver ring and Andrew's pendant.  The two parts can be worn separately or attached like I have them.





Don't forget to visit the other participants!
It's always fun to see how different artists approach the same materials.
Kari Asbury
Shay Williams
Christina Porter
Molly Alexander
Andrew Thornton, Marian Howarth, Julie Katz, Crystal Farrel, Laurel Ross, Alison Herrington
Carolyn Lawson

Inspired By Reading ~ April~ interpreter of maladies

I enjoyed the April selection for the Inspired by Reading Book Club. For this month, our moderator, Andrew Thornton chose the Pulitzer Prize winner, interpreter of maladies, by jhumpa lahiri. It is an engrossing collection of short stories set in India and Boston. The stories opened my eyes to the customs and culture of the people of India in both settings.

I found inspiration in many of the stories and was able to complete two pieces. I actually combined inspirations from 2 stories for my first design. In, “A Temporary Matter”, the character consults a calendar of William Morris Wallpaper designs. And in the second story, “When Mr. Purzada Came to Dine”, Mr. Purzada's clothes always consisted of plums, olives and chocolate brown.

I searched the internet for William Morris Wallpaper in plums and olives and found “bird and pomegranate" at The Original Morris and Co. 

I made a bezel with 14g copper wire which I hammered and soldered. The oval bezel was soldered to a copper plate which I then textured with metal stamps. The metal was oxidized and tumbled.

Some of you may remember that last month I swore I would never again tumble chain. Well - I did.

Luckily there weren't too many knots.


I asked Andrew for his thoughts on sealing the picture in the bezel and I've decided to wait till I have time to practice on something I don't care about.
(btw - for those who have been following my progress - this piece represents my new skill this month!)

I recently traveled by car from Long Island, NY to Portland, OR with my husband. It was great to have small snippets to read along the way. I read "Mrs. Sen's" as we drove through Ohio. There were several references to the powdered vermilion she put in the center part of her hair - an Indian custom for married women. As I finished the story, I looked up - 
we were just about to cross the Vermilion River!!!
 I quickly jotted a note - I knew I had to find a way to represent that line of vermilion. 

Teepee Canyon Agate and
Rose Quartz from South Dakota

Before visiting Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, I insisted we stop at The Rock Shed in Keystone. My husband would have loved to bring home a large landscape speciman - the South Dakota rose quartz was gorgeous! Unfortunately that was impossible as we were flying home. After a while of wandering around the small shop and chatting with Gene, the lapidary, I chose some tumbled rose quartz and Teepee Canyon agate cabs. 

click this picture to see shape of cab

In Portland, I found matching seed beads at Let It Bead. What a great shop!

I kept the wire wrap simple and neat so the pendant could be reversible. I'm planning to let the copper oxidize naturally. I love that rustic brown.   


The necklace is about 22" long to offset the 2" cab.













Check out Andrew's Blog for links to all the other participants!
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton



There is one more piece I want to make. In "This Blessed House", the main character wears a "pearl choker with a sapphire at the center". 
Yes, I found sapphires on my trip! Specifically, rough sapphires from the Missouri River at Opal Mountain Gems in Philipsburg, Montana. 
But first I have to tumble and polish them. A project (and learning experience) for another day!

*A little more trivia about the book 

• it was featured as a question on Jeopardy
• it has been used in high school English classes in Lansdale PA

I can't wait to see how our next book An Object of Beauty, by Steve Martin inspires me.
Won't you join us???

I WAS Inspired by Reading!!!I

Another month has passed and I’m ready for another installment of the Inspired By Reading Book Club. For the month of March, Andrew (Thornton), our fearless leader, chose An Irish Country Doctor. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable novel by Patrick Taylor, who is himself an Irish doctor.

We follow young Dr. Barry Laverty as he becomes assistant to rough Dr. Fingal O’Reilly. Taylor’s anecdotes give us many insights into life in a small town, human nature, and how to “read” and best deal with different personalities.

I was struck by how Dr. O’Reilly dealt with one character early on. It was actually Barry’s first encounter with the seemingly gruff older man. O’Reilly literally threw the patient out of his office and told him not to come back until he had washed his feet.

Well – of course I had a podiatrist appointment the next day. And you can be sure I washed my feet before I went!

Here’s the necklace I was inspired to create. The flip flops stamp was as close as I could get to feet. I love the way the tiny wrap came out on the blue beach glass.

 I traced a river stone for the copper blank. Don't you love the organic shape?!

Everything was oxidized in liver of sulfur and tumbled. I'm not sure I'll ever put chain in the tumbler again. (Who am I kidding? It looks great ~ I'll deal with the tangles.)

I also need to figure out which copper wire I used for the wrap, because it did not oxidize like I wanted it too.
I'm hoping this will become a favorite at art and craft fairs in The Hampton's.

Another part of the book that I could not get out of my head was the title of the 6^th chapter ~ “Forty Shades of Green”. I’ll just leave it to your imagination as to what it reminded me of.

Anyhow – I had to create something green. I actually thought for a brief moment to create 40 green things. Not in my lifetime!
Instead, I searched through my box ‘o green and settled on some lovely faceted chrysoprase beads in two shapes. I really love the many shades of green in these beads.

Once again, I must thank Andrew and the other book club members. I challenge myself each month to try different techniques and create my own components whenever possible.

Please check out the other participants. I'm excited to see some new names and more participants this month!

(I'll add links on Thursday. For now I'm off to NYC to have lunch with my daughter)

Jenny Davies-Reazor
Judy Campbell
Andrew Thornton, Laurel Ross, Terri Greenawalt, and Alison Herrington
Karen Grosset Grange   Be sure to scroll down - it's in French and English!!!
Sarajo Wentling
Ann Schroeder
Rachel Stewart