Recovering from the holidays....

Hi everyone,

   I figured everyone would too be busy doing other things to have time to check in with me, so I put off posting. I hope everyone had a nice holiday, wherever you were. We decided to do something different this year....Morgan and I thought we would be by ourselves so we choose a Moroccan recipe to experiment with. The recipe we chose was chicken with apricots, prunes and pomegranates with cous-cous. And then we threw on some potatoes....YUMMMM! It is a keeper recipe for regular meals now and it was way easy to make!  We did have apple cobbler though! Morgan may not care for turkey, hence the chicken but he does like apple pie and apple crisp.  I also got to watch a series of architectural shows that I had recorded and got to draw a lot of ideas based on parts of the buildings. I have had a urge to re-visit some of my older designs that combined the angel photos I took with the assembled pillars and arches. I may even re-design some of my "Peep Show" beads. I always liked them. I am planning on stringing up some necklace and bracelets to show how some of my beads can be used (for all those wonderful people who have purchased beads from me in the past and still don't know what to do...maybe this will be a good jumping off point for them).  So, not much to show in the new work arena..but some photos to hopefully inspire.....Have fun playing, Kelly 

     The photos are from (in order) The Walters Museum, San Francisco farmer's market and then finally, my front yard....some kind of crazy weedie type bush whose berries turned blue and purple after the first frost and they now continue to grow in these colors and even turn white with blue dots on them...crazy beautiful....I am thinking they will be great looking beads! Hope you like them....Kelly

went to the show....

Hi everyone,

  I was going to say that I was going to the show, like that old song but then thought..."but I have already been, hence the title change. Anyway, I met up with my friend Gloria at the Walter's Art Museum yesterday to go to their annual jewelry show. I loved most of the jewelers there but was disappointed by it at the same time. Most of them are jewelers that you would see at any ACC show and have seen for years in the magazines, and yes, their pieces are beautiful, but it would have been great if it had been jewelers that are not seen so much and are exciting and new. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the pieces I saw but it really would be nice to see some new artists! I know there is a lot of great art and artists out there but when will we get to see them and their work?  Well, enough said....we did have a nice lunch in the little cafe and then we went upstairs into the Asian and Japanese wings....so, have to go back with a sketch and a camera....I am going to post some of the statues and doors and a lentil of marble.... wait til you see what I missed 'cause my camera battery died!  I can't wait to go back..and it is a free museum!  Fab!  I hope you are all going to have a great holiday week/weekend and don't get hurt if you go out on Friday! Me, I am staying home and playing in the studio and Morgan and I are going to be experimenting with Moroccan food for Thankgiving since it is just the two of us....wish us luck!  Have fun, Kelly

San Francisco....

Hi everyone,

   I brought my computer to San Francisco thinking I would be able to write about the show and all....but I couldn't quite figure out the hotels ethernet stuff so I am doing it now that I am home. My luck I would have had to pay for the internet service on top of everything else and I would have been done in!  I forgot that Oakland is it's own entity and not part of San Francisco and flew into the wrong airport! It cost me 65$ to get to the hotel and 90$ to get back to the airport 4 days later and on top of that, the fee for a overweight bag went up in June from 25$ to 50$.....and I could have spent that money on beads!  I did luck out and had a fun group of girls in my class. We went out to the farmer's market for lunch and I am going to post the photos of the orchids that I found there. Saturday and Sunday were the show days and I had a fun time seeing all my friends....I was next to Andrew Thornton from Green Girls, which was great fun! Andrew has to be one of the nicest guys on the planet! We finally had dinner together on Sunday night at the "Silver Dragon" (what a great name,huh?) and it was the best Chinese food I have had in over 10 years! I has hoping to be able to eat at the Moroccan restaurant but I didn't have another 130$ for the taxi ride plus whatever the dinner would have been, so, maybe next year I will eat there before I go to the hotel!  I got some great beads and sequins and antique lace and buttons to come home with and am planning some great beads to play around with! I really enjoy the time between this show and the beginning of the year...it is experiment time in the studio....and who knows what will happen!  I will tell you that I got some eucalyptus electroformed pods with eyeballs in them and some antique glass glitter from France (that was a gift from a friend) and then add some resin in the mix and then you have something fun to work with....I will post photos when they are done!  So, I am going to play in the studio now and hope you will too! For everyone that I didn't know before and had the pleasure of meeting, it was fun getting to know you and thanks for stopping by.....and to all my friends who stopped by, thanks for all your lovely comments!  Have fun, Kelly        Do you think I love the color purple?

Class with Gwen Gibson....

Hi everyone, 

   In between getting ready for my class and show in San Francisco, the BABE show, I got to spend a day playing at a friends taking a collage class with Gwen Gibson.  It was great hanging out with some of my friends that I haven't seen in a long time and playing cut and paste. There was a lot of wine (and milk!) and even some fortune telling....and then dinner at the Thai restaurant. I leave in the morning (5 a.m.) for San Fran and am packing and making sure I have all my stuff for class...don't know how I will fit it all in my new, smaller luggage.  Wish me luck!  I hope if you are in the area this weekend, you will come by and check out all the great beads....the show is at the Marriott Convention Center in Oakland. Trarie always does a great job of selecting artists for the show. Some of them, I only see at BABE.  Stop and say hello if you come....Have fun this weekend, whatever you do and I will post when I get back, Kelly

Finally Patina'ed....

Hi everyone,

   Well, I finally went and patina'ed the bead that I made in the class of Barbara Becker Simon's. I had a great time making it...it was so nice just to sit back and enjoy the process of learning something new and not have to worry if it would sell or if anyone likes it. I like it and I think it has lots of potential! I was going to just spray paint it a flat black and then sand the highlights but when I saw all the different colors of spray paint, I had to break down and get the purple tones! It was really too cold for the spray paint to dry quickly so after it was mostly set, I brought it in and put it on my TV to dry....you know how hot a TV can get in a enclosed space! Almost better than an oven! I then sanded down the highlights to bring up the design. I really like the way the two different lace designs merged on this bead to look like it was wrapped in a single bit of fabric.  I also like the way the edges and part of the overall design look worn away and banged up. I think I may put this on a strand of rubies and some amethyst beads and maybe some tiny silver beads or tiny pearls to look like something from the late 1800's. Anyway, I had fun with it and I think I will be experimenting with it a lot more...so, go into your studios and play with your art!  Have fun, Kelly

Polymer polygon.....

Back again, since we know that I can't load more than three photos, I decided to do this small post.....here you go with some of the sides of the polymer bead I made yesterday...sanded and buffed, no polish at all....enjoy, Kelly

What's new and exciting....

Hi everyone,

   Well, since I didn't have photos to show of the class with Barbara, I thought I would post the photo of the bead before I spray paint it. I was excited about the polygon bead itself and all the possibilities and was writing down ideas all this week and yesterday, I finally had time to go into the studio to play. I decided to use a polymer mokume gane plate I had experimented with this past winter and stored as a record. I have all these wonderful polymer plates that have been baked and placed on index cards with the paint, ink or color samples and notes for what I did to the clay to get that certain look. Not all the experiments worked as well as I had hoped but a lot of them turned out better than I hoped. I made a big polygon bead with a beautiful blue , green and transparent pearl mokume gane. I used super glue to do the whole thing and while I was photographing it today, it fell onto the porch and held up great! It is also super lightweight, so I think they will mix well with the metal clay ones.....lots of ideas....so a HUGE Thank You to Barbara!  I think I will be experimenting a lot in the near future. 

  On a side note, for those of you who have been asking about my classes, I am teaching at the BABE show in San Francisco, Nov 14th and 15th (may need to check the dates....). I hope to see some of you even if you aren't taking a class.....please stop by and say hi!  I am looking forward to going out to eat at a Moroccan restaurant that I researched online.  Seeing all my friends is fab too, but hopefully, they all know that!  It is so nice to talk with anyone who "gets it", whether it is beads, stones, or creating.....most times, the family thinks I am out in left field by myself, but really, it is quite crowded out here!  Anyway, I hope you like the beads I made and I hope to see you soon, Kelly     these photos are of the metal clay polygon bead...before paint...