We're All Ears :: March Reveal

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." ~ Robert Burns

I had the best intentions with this month's challenge. I love the mandala shapes, the bright color palette, the intricate patterns. I actually wanted to do something with wire and beads and a frame (of course, seed beads terrify me as anything other than a mere spacer bead, but I foolishly thought that maybe I could teach myself a little bead weaving or something....clearly, I am delusional). I might still revisit the ideas that I had, but with the time dwindling down to nothing, I knew I had to enact a plan B.

I am working on putting together an art exhibit for this fall so I have been amassing all manner of stuff for all my lofty mixed media ideas. Maybe it is just an excuse to splurge on tools and materials, I don't know. Anyway, as I stood in the middle of my studio around 9:00pm (I spent all day trying to get my receipts wrangled for tax time - I'm up to September. Woohoo!), dumbfounded as to what I could do with the few remaining hours I had left, I spotted a set of specialty paints that I bought for my show. I needed to find a time to play with them and determine what use they would be to me, so why not kill two birds with that proverbial stone?

These paints are called Pebeo Prisme paints. Tiny little pots of liquid metallic colors that yield the most fantastic results. They had settled quite a bit and needed a lot of stirring, but the colors were rich and shimmery and the effect might just work to give a mosaic feel to the little charms I found in my stash.

I layered the colors by dripping them on top of each other using a toothpick. Then I just sat back and watched the magic happen.

You see these paints react to the air and each other by making natural honeycomb shapes. As they dry, the effect changes minute by minute. What I didn't realize is that these paints need a minimum of 6 hours to dry to the touch (72 hours to be fully cured!). Ah, well.... I couldn't very well disturb these little charms working their miracles.

Morphing Mandala {temporary} earrings

But I did ever-so-gently pick up the first pair I made, using a color palette straight from the inspiration, and quickly made them into some very simple earrings, before dismantling them to rest for the full cure time. Aren't they fab?

Pairs, anyone?

I quite like the effect of these paints. They have a wonderful morphing nature that is unpredictable. That is why I like them so much! So now I know how they react and I am excited to make them the stars of some of my art pieces that I am planning, plus I think a little line of these funky earrings (made to look a lot better than these temporary ones up above!) might just be the thing to fill up my case at the gallery for spring and summer!

I might even decide to make some pairs available in my shop in case others want to use them as well, in case anyone is interested... I will see how this batch turns out, because where you see them now is not likely how they will end up, and then I might want to add some resin over the top to make them really POP. It will be quite exciting to see them in the morning! [UPDATE: see the new picture above to see some of the changes that happened overnight.]

I can't wait to see what you created using this inspiration!

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We're All Ears :: March Inspiration

Celling of Hazrate-Masomeh’s mosque in Qom, Iran, all images courtesy of Mehrdad Rasoulifard (@m1rasoulifard)

It might surprise you to know that when I was teaching 7th grade at St. Peter Middle School a quarter century (!) ago, I not only had to teach English and Literature, but I also had to do some instruction in religion as well. I did the usual things one would expect in those classes, but one of my favorite units to teach was on World Religions.

Celling of Hazrate-Masomeh’s mosque in Qom, Iran

This unit was developed more as a history and culture unit, giving just a glimpse into the world's major religions, not as a discourse in conversion (it is a Catholic school after all!). I think that it is very important to at least have an understanding of different viewpoints and faiths. Misunderstanding is at the root of fear. Knowing that these students might one day meet someone of another faith, I hoped it would foster understanding and respect, as it had for me when I was in my Catholic high school in a similar class. (If you are interested in knowing more and broadening your understanding, please consider checking out this free online course on World Religions currently offered by Harvard professors. I am definitely checking this out.) 

And of course, each mini-unit culminated in an art project (even then, I was heavily into art and didn't realize it!)

Celling of Hazrate-Masomeh’s mosque in Qom, Iran

As part of the unit on Islam, we studied the architecture and created our own arabesque art. This was my favorite project. 

Sheikh Lotfollah mosque in Esfahan, Iran, about 400 years old

The depiction of animals or human forms is generally discouraged in Islamic art, and so arabesque art focuses on intricate geometric patterns. Not just surface decoration, this same idea applies to the shape of the architecture as well. 

Celling of Sheikh-Lotfollah’s mosque in Esfahan, Iran

Architecture is seen as the most supreme of art. Circles, squares, triangles - all symbolic geometry - are the perfect melding of art and science and math and shows unity and structure as well as beauty.

Celling of Jameh’s mosque in Esfahan, Iran, 900 years old

For our project, we would start with our circles of paper and find the center then create quadrants and work on repetitive geometric patterns. Popular colors for these tiled edifices include gold, white and turquoise often on a dark blue background, but we would make ours brightly colored with markers and colored pencils. The natural world, all art forms as well as mathematics and science are seen to be reflections of God as they have existed in all times. It is said that those artists that can create the most tightly woven tessellation patterns are closest to God. 

Celling of Shahe-Cheragh’s mosque in Shiraz, Iran

I can tell you there is a sort of meditative experience that happens when a room-full of 13 year olds are completely absorbed in doing this exercise of making arabesque art. I found it interesting to note that mistakes can be intentionally introduced into the complex patterns as a way to show humility to God. By the end of the year, after teaching all 81 students, I would end up with a wall of these mandala-like circles put together in sort of a paper quilt. It really was beautiful, inspiring and something they really remembered!

Sheikh Lotfollah mosque in Esfahan,Iran, about 400 years old

As soon as I spotted these pictures on Colossal (and then hopped over to DesignBloom and his Instagram site), I literally gasped. Instagram photographer Mehrdad Rasoulifard is documenting the ancient Persian and Iranian architecture, treating his followers to a visual geometric feast and a virtual history lesson. I love great architecture in all its forms, and to know that these soaring spaces were created in more ancient times, without the aid of modern tools or materials really blows my mind. They have really stood the test of time.

Celling of Hazrate-Masomeh’s mosque in Qom, Iran

I see a lot of ideas for not just earrings but all jewelry and art in these stunning forms and patterns and color palettes. They are classic and detailed with an energy that belies the elegance. I do hope that these images will inspire you to make something special for our We're All Ears reveal on March 18th! See you then!

We're All Ears :: March Reveal

When I first spotted these pictures I was captivated by the bubbles of dew. So mesmerizing how they magnify everything. And I love the way they cling to these minute insects looking like they are adorned with crystal jewels! Do you think that the insects are bothered by this? I wonder if it affects their vision. I think it makes them look even more fascinating!

Beads from Kristen Stevens, Marsha Neal, Marcie Abney, Meital Plotnik and mystery glass

I just knew that glass beads would be the way to go for this challenge. So I sorted through my stash and came up with these lovelies. But I also found some beaded beads that really captured my imagination as they reminded me of the eyes filled with dew.

I wanted to not only use the colors and the dew drops as my inspiration but also the beauty of the dragonfly. To mimic the segmented body, I used these ceramic spike head pins by Marsha Neal in a soft lavender color. I quite like that each one is a little bit different, hand of the maker and all. I tried putting other art beads with them, but they competed too much. So I went with a funky spiky spacer and some bling-y rhinestone rondelle beads, topped off with a shimmering crystal. I call these "Graceful Flight" for the beautiful movements of dragonflies.

Did you know that a dragonfly's eyes have over 30,000 faceted lenses in them? Each one of those units or facets is called Ommatidium. Each facet forms a picture, sort of like a giant jigsaw puzzle, that allows the dragonfly to process the scene in front of it. I thought that these beaded beads from Kristen Stevens was like those 30,000 facets. They are reading very brown in this photo, but they have this beautiful purpley iridescent shimmer. I paired them with some Swarovski crystals in an opal star shine shade. Did you notice the cutest little headpins I found in my stash? Teeny, tiny sterling silver dragonflies! What luck! I call these "Ommatidia" to honor the incredible vision of these insects.

That dew! They are what drew me to those pictures. The dew drops covering their iridescent orbs looked like crystal encrusted chandeliers. I have a LOT of lampwork glass beads, but I really couldn't find what I was looking for in my stash (how can that be!?). And then I remembered that not long ago I bid on some pretty lampwork glass on a Facebook page that posts auctions (Lampwork Beads for Sale?! I can't recall!). I thought the beads were so pretty and I may have been the only one that bid on them. Meital Plotnik is the artist and she is from Israel. They took a little bit to get here, but they were worth it! There is a soft swirling green and blue underlying all the raised dots in peach, tangerine, rose and mint. I paired them with some crystals and bead caps and these pretty pearl head pins from my stash (I really have more than I know what to do with!). I call these "A Drop of Dew" as those beads remind me of the image of the dew on the eyes of the dragonflies.

I feel really bad that I don't know the name of the artist who created these glass beauties. They look like tiny galaxies swirling inside! I pulled out the jade green color with some palace green opal Swarovski crystals. I happened to have these tiny brass open links sitting there. I thought they reminded me of the translucent wings of the dragonflies. These wings are filled with a polymer substance called chitin (KY-tin) and veins. They are incredibly strong and if the species lacks any color in them, they appear to be glassy, as if they are invisible windows. Did you know that the dragonfly's wings can work independently of one another? They look so fragile but yet are so very strong and versatile despite being "Invisible Wings."

So, that is it for me. Whew! That was a lot for me! You may have noticed that there was one bead (the beaded links from Marcie Abney) that I failed to use. I simply ran out of time. So I will tuck these away for another day...

I am looking forward to seeing what you will share with this inspiration!

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We're All Ears :: March Reveal

I was so excited to find this artwork for our inspiration this month. I love the little mice, the embroidered tapestry colors, the dainty little flowers and vines, the wood, the rope, the needle. The colors seem to be the palette of my childhood memories. I hope that this image inspired you!

What inspired you?

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Let's see what you created!
Please take the time to hop around to the participants.
Leave kind, encouraging comments.
Visit their shops.
Make new friends!

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