Design Retrospective

Over the past few weeks I've been having a clear out of my photographic files. I love that the digital age makes it so easy to take and store photographs but that ease also means I tend to hang on to too much for too long so a cull was necessary. Needless to say this has taken longer than planned because the photographs are in themselves a distraction and much time was spent reminiscing.

Obviously I have many, many photographs of the jewellery I've designed and whilst going through these I realised that they charted a clear path in the development of my relationship with Art beads and hand made design elements.

I've not been making jewellery that long in the scheme of things - just seven years or so and I originally took it up as an antidote to s stressful job and something to do on winter evenings. My first bead purchases were commercial hobby store and online bead shop buys which and the resulting jewellery utilised very basic techniques.

Always one to search out something more with whatever I'm doing I spent hours trawling the Internet and before very long I had discovered the wonders of lampwork beads... I was completely Smitten and my art bead stash was born.  Sterling silver accents and finding also made their first appearance at this point as I felt the art beads deserved some better and silver had yet to go through the roof in price!

Lampwork implosion beads by Sally Carver

Lampwork beads by Kaz Baildon

Lampwork beads by Julie Fountain

Again these techniques involved with these pieces were fairly  basic stringing and wiring and I really wanted my designs to have more of me in them. I started playing with wire to add another dimension and a new love affair began that still continues...
 

Lampwork beads by Kaz Baildon and Sally Carver

Further down the line leather leather began to work it's way into my designs. I loved the casual, colourful, boho feel you could get with  this very versatile medium and it very much suited my own personal taste in jewellery.

Lampwork beads by Julie Cannon

Lampwork beads by Lori Lochner

Whilst developing these techniques for myself I also attended workshops in silversmithing and metal clay and that saw me combining my own metal pieces with my beloved beads.

Lampwork beads by Pinocean

Lampwork bead by Sally Carver

Later a further workshop added enameling into the mix....

One of the last elements I added to my design repertoire was ceramic beads and little did I know at the time that I would end up making these myself and love them above all others. I continued to mix and match with other mediums to develop what I hope is my own style.

Ceramic elements by Karen Totten and Diana Ptaszynski

When I started making jewellery I had no idea than I would ever make jewellery components to sell to other people or that that aspect would takeoff and become the bigger part of my business. This inevitably means that these days I make a lot less jewellery but when I do you can still see these earlier design elements and techniques making an appearance and forming the foundation of my design ethic. 

Ceramic cabachon by Lesley Watt - Polymer clay mixed media technique by Jenny Davies-Reazor

Polymer clay roses by Leah Curtis

Pendant by Lesley Watt

Lampwork bead by Julie Cannon

Etched copper focal by Lesley Watt - Polymer clay mixed media technique by Jenny Davies-Reazor

So what do you see when you see when you look back on your old designs is there an identifiable trend or have you taken yourself of in a completely new or surprising direction...That's the beauty of jewellery design...so many things to try! Happy designing.

Note: Apologies for beads that have not been credited but I no longer have the details for some of them and my memory is not what it was..

Soothing Spirals...

In my last post I spoke about using spirals as a decorative elements in my most recent work and how relaxing and it was to hand carve these. Spirals have many symbolic meanings including balance, progress, direction, initiation, centering, expansion, awareness, connection, journeying and development. http://www.whats-your-sign.com/spiral-meaning.html. 

Hand carved ceramic beads by Lesley Wat

They have long been a popular motif in jewellery and bead design often derived from natural representation like shells, horns, snakes or whirlpools. Today I've gathered together some fine examples to share with you today... enjoy!

Raku cat by Spinning Star Studio

Bead by Mitosis Glass

Spiral bead set by Joan Miller Porcelain

Bead caps by Cathy Daley

Spiral Fossil connector by Karen Totten

Bead by Natalie Pappas

Spiral Bead set by Sue Kennedy

Spiral spike pendant by Diana Ptaszynski

Bead by Holly's Folly

Ceramic pendant by Tina's Bead Mind

Barrette by Ildanach After Dark

Earrings by Lesley watt

Necklace by Tommy Singer

Bracelet by Hodgepodgerie

Bracelet by Lesley Watt

My Metal Addiction!

Last time, I showed you my personal collection of glass art beads!  Today, I'm going to show you my metal addiction!

These first charms are from Nancy Adams (Round Rabbit) - she did these quite awhile ago, I don't even know if she etches metal anymore!

 This next piece is a prized possession!  My boyfriend purchased it for me from Staci Smith of Staci Louise Originals, at Berks Bead Bazaar when I wasn't looking!  He saw me admiring it and bought it secretly! I am afraid I can't do it justice, so I haven't made myself anything with it yet!

 This next bead is a day of the dead barrel bead from Anne Choi - I do have another barrel bead from Anne with a quotation on it, but can't find it at the moment.  I know it's in my stash.

 These charms are from Jade Scott - it's a wonder I have any of these!  Usually when she has a shop update, they fly out the door and you're just too late.  Again, I have a few more little baby charms, but they are in another container somewhere!

 Although LeAnn Weih of Summers Studio mostly makes ceramics, she also makes metal clay beads.  I have a small obsession with all her beads, but these are the metal ones I have.  My faves are the turtle and the hollow nugget beads.  I'm sure the nuggets are very hard to make! She hasn't been making beads of late, so I feel lucky to have such a collection!

 Next up, metal charms and headpins from Andrew Thornton!  He dabbles in many things, but I particularly like his owl charms! Andrew also has a brick and mortar shop in Ligonier, near me, so I'm lucky I get to see him from time to time.  He just had a grand opening of a new location for his shop, I need to get up there to see it!

 These charms are all from our very own AJE member Kristi Bowman-Gruel - when I used to make jewelry for shows, I did a lot of buying and trading with her!  These are some of the things I have left! These are by no means the extent of the collection I have from Kristi, either!

 And finally, charms and headpins from our own AJE member Lesley Watt of Thea Elements.  I love hearts, in case you couldn't tell, and I absolutely love the headpins.  I haven't used them yet either, because I'm afraid if I mess them up, they will be gone forever!

 I hope you enjoyed the little tour of my metal beads!  These tours are actually helping me, because it is forcing me to organize some things before I forget who made them! 

Susan Kennedy
SueBeads etsy
SueBeads web site