"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." Virginia Woolf
“Women need a space to be creative -- creativity thrives in solitude.” SARK
I can't imagine a more inviting scene: calm dog, sunlight streaming in... (all the clutter is out of this view. )
Virginia Woolf penned that famous line 86 years ago. And while the status of women's culture is much improved in regards to education, voting... the quote still resonates with me. I have a room, where I can create in solitude, and abandon. I can make a mess and not clean it. I can leave work strewn about until the Muse returns to guide my hands. My studio is more than a room though. Its a sanctuary, a safe haven, a hide out. Its a treasure trove of gems and art supplies to rival a dragon's hoard. Its filled with memories and potential, and its 100% me.
We have been discussing workspaces of late on the blog, cleaning, organizing... and I was sadly missing mine. Before summer I was working in THIS studio a few days a week, alternating with the ceramics studio; achieving a creative balance so to speak. Then an intensive teaching and show schedule, and a bout of sick derailed me. Wednesday and Thursday this week I was back in the studio. Oh how I missed it!
Vignettes and a WIP: Beads by Susan and Karen nestled in a teacup, my abandoned daily art journals, new materials to play with from ICE Resin, a beaded bezel in progress, seals and mermaid treasure waiting their turn.
I started to panic. WHAT was I going to work on?! WHERE to start? SO MANY things I want to do/try/finish/start/create.... I started with cleaning a little. It was so nice to BE in the studio that I relaxed into the small chores. I am organized, a Virgo trait I embrace, and it makes me feel calm and receptive, ready... when things are put away and I have space to work. Its cathartic.
This is the place of creative incubation. At first, you may find nothing happens there. But, if you have a sacred place and use it, take advantage of it, something will happen. (Joseph Campbell)
The gorgeous kiln bounty from the wood fire. Shrines awaiting interior elements.
People who aren't artists seem to not understand exactly what a studio is. It's not a store. It's not a factory. It's not a theme park. It's my personal space and their company is not so invasive. (Eleanor Blair)
Recognize the adorable critters from Rebekah? Mixed media pocket shrines inspired by her beads.
Room service? Send up a larger room. (Groucho Marx) (See video at end of post)
An artist's studio should be a small space because small rooms discipline the mind and large ones distract it. (Leonardo da Vinci)
I think it wants to be a wall hanging, Lesley. With cobalts and iridescence, and stars and swirls.
Does it sound silly to say I feel better having spent time with my stuff? Because I do. I did little more than clean and organize on Wednesday; hope to actually work on Thursday. But I had missed my little room so! I still have a million things to do. I still panic when the emails remind me that Bead Fest is 7 WEEKS away!!! But I feel ready to tackle it, a bit more grounded, a bit more in touch with my self, my Muse, and all that...
So tell me - Do you have a room of your own? A space for creativity? Solo space? Shared space? And how often do you get to go there?!
I leave you with a song by the White Stripes. A tiny little song, but its so true! Give it a listen - Im off to the studio!
I have all sort of beads and components in my stash that could be used as clasps if they had a bar to go with then and a while back I adapted the wire macrame techniques I used for these earrings to create some alternatives to the usual plain wire option.
This technique utilises simple macrame knots interspersed with small beads that can be adapted to match the component and give your clasps some individuality.
Here I use a half knot (spiral) with little etched beads to create this bar and added a jump ring to the centre by which it can be attached to a piece of jewellery.
This works fine but I really wanted to see if I could include the connection loop within the bar itself so this time I formed a loop in the centre of the core wire and instead of knotting from end to end as with the earrings I attached the wire through the loop and knotted from the centre out, wrapping the wire end over each other to finish.
This method takes a little bit longer but does create a slightly cleaner looking bar although personally I'd be happy to use either version.
For this one I used a square macrame knot again but this time gently curved the bar when I finished knotting to add a little something extra...
I think it makes a lovely focal closure for this beautiful ceramic element from Karen Totten.
For this ceramic link component by Marla James I used a spiral knot and teamed it with some lovely rustic faceted Czech glass beads to create an unusual clasp.
And finally, some simple seed beads add a little interest to a plain sheet bronze clasp - an idea that would translate easily to washers or large jump rings.
So it's really quite easy to add a little extra interest to your jewellery designs with a few beads and a length of wire and if you don't have any suitable components in your stash don't worry - there are plenty out there to suit all tastes.
I had posted this little tutorial back in April of last year. I really do love making this rope and I have made several using twins and Czechmate triangle beads.
And now as you all know I love tiny little beads. I can not stress enough that they are an addiction I do not think I will ever get over. The smaller the better! So I know I told you all about the Miniduo's which are a smaller version of a Superduo. Well this tutorial works for them too! All you do is substitute the Miniduo's for the twins and size 15/0's for the 11/0's. Everything else is the same! Here is a sample.
Here is the tutorial!
Start with 11/0 seed beads and coordinating twin beads.
Step 1 - Pick up an 11, a twin, 11 and twin.
Step 2 - go through all the beads and exit the first 11.
This is what it will look like
Step 3 - Pick up 3 11's and pass back through the starting 11. Go through the twin and the 11 on the opposite side.
Step 4 - Add 3 11's and pass through the twin and 11 on the opposite side.
go up through the next 2 11's.
Step 5 - Pick up an 11, a twin and an 11 and pass back through the starting 11.
Step 6 - Pass the needle through the top hole of the twin and pick up 2 11's. Pass your needle through the 11 next to the twin added in the previous step and the twin. It does get a little fiddly at this point but it will snug up.
Pass the needle through the top 11 in the next section.
Step 7 - Pick up an 11 and a twin and pass through the side bead added in previous step and the starting 11 in this step. Here is where it will all start to cinch together.
Without adding any beads pass through the top hole of the twin and the side bead of the first set of beads added in Step 5
As you pull the thread you will see how it comes together.
Step 8 - Pick up an 11 and pass through the side bead added in Step 7 , the twin , the 11 and exit the bead you just added.
This is how it will look.
Pass through the next twin, 11, twin and exit the 11. This will strengthen the thread path.
Go back to step one and repeat all the steps again.
So tell me what do you think of this? How will you use it? Don't forget to show me how you use it.
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