Great Lakes Memories

This is the Collaboration project that Susan Matych-Hager and I worked on. Susan is an outstanding glass bead maker. The name of the project is Great Lakes Memories, or Two Sues - Two Great Lakes!

During the month of November 2009, it is on display at the Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale.

Collaboration Project - Great Lakes Memories

Here is just a section of my latest bead embroidery project. "Great Lakes Memories" will be part of a show at Lawrence St. Gallery in Ferndale, Michigan, during November '09. This bead embroidered collar was made with Susan Matych-Hager's beautiful glass beads, lots of seed beads, crystal quartz, and shells.

I will post a full view of this after the Gallery show opening.

The Bead Journal Project

I just signed up for the coming year's Bead Journal Project! That means that I'm committed to making one "journal page" each month for one year. Learn more about this at http://www.beadjournalproject.com/ and consider joining the group. The only commitment is to yourself as an artist.

Another Paisley Study

I LOVE bead embroidery! This is the fourth Paisley Study that I've completed; my other's have been in white (shown in an earlier post,) black, and amethyst. This looks very much like a parrot's wing. I will add strands to this to make it a necklace.

Round Robin Embroidery Project

I belong to a group of beaders, semi-formally named "The Loomatics" (loom' - a - tics) which is a study group derived of members from the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild (GLBG).

GLBG members are from all across the state of Michigan, and across the country! The GLBG, 400 members strong, encourages its members to find other Guild members who live close to their homes, and form study groups. The Loomatics is one of these groups.

Loomatics is a group of 12 creative, accomplished women, 11 beaders and one non-beading, yet very creative, friend. This is actually a pretty big group to get together - not everyone is lucky enough to have a table large enough for beaders to spread out their mats! If you are considering forming a group, you may want to consider your space carefully.

Last fall, I suggested a project to The Loomatics, and wonderful women that they are, took this suggestion and are running with it. A group project - a Round Robin Embroidery project.

Each of us started with a design on a background (Lacy's Stiff Stuff or felt, etc.,) maybe beaded a bit of it, then passed it on to the next person on the (alphabetical) list. Each person gets one month to work on it, then on it goes to the next one on the list. We are only in the second month and already we've seen beautiful work.

We get together once a month and share the project that we've worked on. Part of the excitement of this project is that the "owner" leaves the room while the rest of us get to see her project. We will not get to see our own project until it has made the complete "Round". It's great fun, but when I'm the one out of the room, I hate not knowing what everyone is saying and laughing about!

If you think a Round Robin is a project your group may want to try, important to know the group members well enough to trust them with your project - skill level is not the only consideration. There should be some basic rules, and respect for the individual artist's vision, yet with lots of room for creativity.

If you would like to learn more about the basic "rules," please contact me at:
SueSchwartzenberger@hotmail.com

The Ancient Garden Collar

The Ancient Garden Broadcollar is my most intense piece of beaded art to date. I stopped keeping track of the time I worked on this piece after I logged 150 hours! It was probably closer to 200, and I loved every second of it.

As many gardens do, this one took on a life of its own. I planted the five jasper stones, drew three swirled lines (the first five inches of the rust colored vines connecting near the center stone) and the rest... grew!

The color scheme is simple - green, rust and black. Limiting the color to just these few unusual tones allows you to concentrate on textures and shapes that may otherwise go unnoticed in a garden that is rioting with color.

Very simple bead embroidery techniques are used. I used mostly back-stitch, some peyote stitch for the stone bezels, couching only when necessary, and a tiny bit each of netting and brick stitch.

Those of you who know me are aware of my love of using black matte beads in my jewelry projects. The background of this Garden is worked in tiny black matte seed beads, sparked occasionally by a single shiny one. Black matte beads add depth and definition, without really being a dominant color - the perfect background.

Bead Embroidery has become a very popular class that I teach at Stony Creek Bead. I warn people that the technique can be very dangerous! It's like painting... with beads! And you may not want to stop once you've started!

The shop has many smaller projects on display, and I encourage people to start with a piece that will become a brooch or a pendant, about a three-hour project. Save the broadcollars for your second project!

Paisley - Study in White

My husband, Bob, found these great drusie quartz beads at a show in Tucson. I've been toying with the idea of monochromatic pieces and this is the first in a series of five.

Other than the quartz focal piece, the remaining beads are Czech glass and Japanese seed beads. This piece has a handmade fine silver fibula (pin back) and rings where a chain or beaded necklace can be attached. The backing is UtraSuede.

Embroidered Felted Wool Evening Bag

I'll get better at posting with practice. This bag started out as a sweater, which was washed in hot water in the washing machine with lots of agitation. This technique is also called "boiled wool". The resulting fabric was cut and sewn into this simple bag.

The bronze beads are all Czech and Japanese glass beads.