Hello There

I'd like to start off my introduction by saying how delighted I am to be a new member here at Art Jewelry Elements. When I was first approached by Jenny Davies-Reazor to join I was flabbergasted!
Jenny did an interview with me back in April, you can read it here. I was completely amazed when she asked me for the interview.  Well, when she contacted me to join the AJE team-I was over the moon! Then all of a sudden, the little demon of self-doubt popped up and said NO: it's over your head, you're not capable, you can't do it right now, it would consume too much time, blah, blah, blah.
Guess what? I won. Beat that little demon right back into his box on the shelf.

So, here I am-Cathy Spivey Mendola, jewelry and fiber artist. I have had a long journey of creative endeavors over the years. Like my fellow newbie member Cooky, I was a nurse. Even while I was working as a nurse I was creating. I made teddy bears, rabbits and sheep as well as making dried and silk flower wreathes and arrangements for a local business.  Once my daughter was born I became a stay-at-home mom and the creative juices started to flow a bit more.

Frida Art Quilt, Circa 2007 With Minimal Beading

In the last 26 years I have made children's clothing, art dolls, jewelry, ceramics, mixed media paintings, collages, assemblages, art quilts, felting, knitting, etc, etc etc. Actually, it would take less time to list what I haven't attempted creatively over the years.  You can check out my blog to link to more of my past creations.

Beaded Buddha Art Quilt, Circa 2015 With Millions Of Beads

I just recently moved to NC from the Chicago area. I was very fortunate to have been a member of the North Suburban Needle Arts Guild; Womens Journeys in Fiber group; and a couple of smaller groups, one of which was a bead/fiber group named the Crazy 8's. Being a member of these groups helped me expand my skills in fiber arts as well as jewelry on top of making many great, creative friends along the way.

Beginning in 2013, a friend of mine and I decided to do an art journal. I had been feeling stuck and a little confused about the direction in which I wanted to go, artistically speaking. I thought joining with a friend would help keep me accountable. This wasn't your typical journal, this was a creative exploration that we came up with--try new techniques, new ideas, new media, and especially try all those new products we tend to buy and never use!

The very first month of the journal I decided to teach myself how to do a beaded peyote stitched bezel.

The Beaded Bezel That Started It All Done On Wet Felted Fabric

That was all it took. I became hooked on beading and bead embroidery.
Even though I had been making jewelry for years I had never really used seed beads (gasp!) except to embellish art quilts. I had never even WANTED to use them in jewelry! After I made several bead embroidered pieces to use in my art quilts I decided to try making a bead embroidered breast plate for the Shaman sprirt mask that I was making for our yearly project with the Womens Journeys in Fiber group. Once I created that piece I became obsessed with making pendants for necklaces.

Breast Plate For The Shaman Spirit Mask

I have had a lifelong habit of collecting sea shells, rocks, driftwood, anything I come across at the beach. So naturally, I started using these bits of found treasures in my beaded jewelry.
I was fortunate to have my beach themed jewelry featured in the summer issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.

Belle Armoire Jewelry Summer 2016 Issue

Ammonite & Fossilized Shark Tooth Pendant

Now that I have joined the AJE team, I have a newfound love and appreciation of art jewelry components as well as my found treasures. I will keep exploring and expanding my beachy themed jewelry but I am also looking forward to using ceramic, glass and polymer clay components.

After AJE's headpin challenge last month, I realized just how much I have missed working with metals. It was so energizing to combine bead embroidered elements with the metals.  My enthusiasm for jewelry making has increased exponentially since joining, so stay tuned for more mixed media creations from me. I am really looking forward to being a team member here!

Beaded Moon Goodess Necklace

IT'S ME

Yes, it's Me! Cooky Schock, one of the newest members of the Art Jewelry Elements Team.  I'm creative, happy and grateful. But in reality I create in total chaos; I actually thrive on chaos-it's my happy place! I'm very asymmetrical in all I do, even my appearance.

I come from a nursing background so I did live in a very structured, well-organized world for a long while. And I am very grateful to be part of this community of artists. I have always been a maker of stuff: kids' clothes, bears, quilts and even quilted bears wearing kids' clothes. But seventeen years ago all that changed when I discovered The Shepherdess, a wonderful beadstore in Old Town San Diego. I learned to bead, create with wire and then work with metal, which became my passion.

I magically became the owner of The Shepherdess, which gave me the opportunity to meet wonderful teachers and students, all lovers of what I love! Three years ago The Shepherdess and I decided to retire and so we did!

Through the years I have had the opportunity to teach across the country, including Juneau AK and the Dominican Republic for Parson's School of Design. I continue to teach but I'm moving in a direction that has surprised even me.

 I've rediscovered a craft I did in the '70s this time more refined with an updated style that makes it more of a fine art. Welcome to my world of micro macramé!

It's a far cry from the plant hangers and fuzzy bearded Santas I made back then. My work has recently been featured in the Spring 2016 issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry and in the new Fall issue also.

I'm sure that metal will always be a part of my art,  enhanced by the captivating colors and textures of the beads and fibers that I'm creating with now.

Actually, it's a good thing that my work, equipment, tools and supplies are becoming a bit more minimalistic because 2017 will find us (husband & two dogs) traveling in our new RV across the country, wherever the road leads us!

Website: www.cookyschock.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cookycrumb
Instagram: www.instagram.com/cookycrumb   

Beading Beyond Jewellery

Regular readers may remember from my last post that I acquired an addiction for bead embroidery on my recent trip to the USA and since my return I've been getting lots of practice on Jewellery pieces. But after a while I began to think that there was maybe more I could do with art beads and seed beads (in fact any beads) beyond jewellery and so I started to play around with some other mediums.

Now of course I know this is not an original idea and there are people out there using beads and embroidery to create stunning works of art such as the hugely talented Michelle Carragher who works on costumes for film and television including costume extravaganza - Game of Thrones.

House of Stokeworth Sigil - image © MCE/HBO 2015

If you don't know Michelle I would highly recommend taking some time out to visit her web site and take a look at her exquisite work.

Michelle Carragher Embroidery

Needless to say my attempts don't come close to Michelle's work but I've had great fun doing something completely different and stretching my creative muscles. I started off with one of Jenny Davies-Reazors pretty crow cabochons and after bezeling that decided to let loose and freestyle with a selection of beads. I could have gone on forever with this but eventually started to think OK - what am I going to do with it now..?

Felting is another new addiction of mine so I decided to try combining the two, finally mounting the piece in a shadow box frame that I stained to match and backed with some hand made paper. Not too shabby for a first attempt froI thought.

Another Cabochon of Jenny's inspired me to make this little wall hanging of a harvest goddess. I was desperate to use some of the dyed curly sheep's locks I'd bought at Sarafina Fiber Art and they worked really well for her wild windswept hair.  I used Czech glass leaves and flowers, seed beads and embroidery to embellish the piece and now I just have to work out how to mount it but, as I've decided to do a series of season goddesses that will probably happen once they're all completed.

Harvest Goddess by Lesley Watt

These pieces are all quite small and I really like working in this format. I have a number of art beads in my stash that I've never managed to create jewellery with because they too big for my design style but these have proved to work really well as miniature wall art. This abstract needle felted piece is designed around a large polymer pendant by Roberta Warshaw and is bezeled and embellished with seed beads.

Setting Seed by Lesley Watt

My favourite to date is this mixed media piece which includes my first attempt at wet felting - great fun and much more to come! I picked up the cabochon at Lisa Peter's Russ's  booth at Bead Fest and it immediately made me think of a moon. This is also a very large piece and I was doubtful I would create jewellery around it so I bought it with the specific intention of trying something different with it and I'm so pleased that it came out just the way it was in my head. The hare is made of polymer clay which I drilled tiny holes in and attached to the felt with seed beads. More curly wool locks and more beads add the finishing touches.

Chasing the Moon by Lesley Watt

I bezeled this lovely ammonite cabochon by Susan Kennedy with no real idea what I was going to do with it - I've found bezeling is something I can do whilst watching (or at least listening to) TV in the evening so I tend to get through a lot this way!

I just happened to have put some old woollens in a hot wash to turn them into felt and when this one came out was a perfect match for the cab. It's a really nice thick felt so I decided to try out a purse with Sue's cab as a focal with seed bead embellishments... it's a work in progress but it's coming along nicely.

https://www.facebook.com/theajewellery

My team mate Jenny has been using beads in her mixed media art for a good while now and has been a huge source of inspiration for me on this journey. When I stayed with her in the summer this piece was a wall hanging was a work in progress -  finished it's just stunning and I'm very proud to have one of my moon gazing hares at it's heart.

Beaded Wall hanging by Jenny Davies-Reazor

This felted setting for one of my hare totems has such as lovely ethereal quality...

Mixed media wall hanging by Jenny Davies-Reazor

I was honoured to have my fox totem in this shadow box piece which is currently being exhibited at a show at the Newark Arts Alliance in Delaware.

Mixed media wall hanging by Jenny Davies-Reazor

Do a quick search of Pinterest and you'll find plenty of other artists who work beads into their art - here are just a few I found...

This beautiful shrine by Larkin Jean Van Horn incorporates a porcelain owl cabochon by Laura Mears and hand stitched beads.

I Went to the Woods by Larkin  Jean Van Horn

I love the way these vintage bottles by Zinnia's Art have been embellished with all sorts of mixed media and ephemera including beads...

Embellished Bottles byZinnia's Art

A beautifully beaded dragon mosaic by Hobbymix.

Beaded Mosaic by Hobbymix

Totem bag featuring another Laura Mears cabochon and seed bead embellishment.

Totem Bag featuring a Laura Mears Cabochon

And finally s Day of the Dead shadow box shrine from Mixed Media Artistry with porcelain skulls by Laura Mears.

Day of the Dead shadow box shrine by Mixed Media Artistry

I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me and will keep you posted on my progress and if you use beads in creative ways other than jewellery - we'd love to know so please do share.

Lesley
THEA elements