Kimono Fabric Bead Necklaces Ready for Show

The kimono fabric bead necklaces are ready for the Portland Art Collective "Open Doors" Show this coming Friday and Saturday. I enjoyed making tags for them. It feels good to finish a project.

Here's a photo of several necklaces lined up and below is a close up view.

I hope you can come to the show. It's in the gymnasium of the Multnomah Arts Center. Multnomah Village celebrates their Holiday Gala December 4th & 5th with carriage rides, a tree lighting, caroling and other events. Check HERE for more information. It's great fun for the whole family

Sweets? Sushi? No, Kimono Fabric Beads

The sewing needle flew yesterday as I added seed beads to my kimono fabric beads.

Here the kimono fabric beads are unadorned.

The seed beads add sparkle and interest. Today, I'm crocheting chains with Japanese fibers from Habu Textiles to assemble the necklaces. I like the nubby texture of their yarns.

Lucky Dress Form Find at Monticello Antiques

It's amazing when you put your radar out there to find something, it appears when least expected. I've been looking for a dress form to display my handmade jewelry at our Portland Art Collective 'Open Doors' Show. The perfect dress form found me today. I don't know how old it is but I love all the wing nuts and metal inner workings. It rests on a four claw-footed metal stand that can be floor or table height.

Here's the outer label. Thanks to our sketch date at Monticello Antiques, the discovery is made.

Art Retreat on Guemes Island

Last weekend, a group from Seattle and Vancouver, BC invited me to their art retreat on Guemes Island, north of Anacortes, Washington. It's always fun to create with like-minded friends, share ideas, art and a wonderful time together. Thank you Gwen for inviting me! Now I have a new group of art friends and created these journal pages at the retreat.

I wanted to experiment with clear gesso. It covers acrylic paint and water soluble Portfolio oil pastels really well. The clear gesso tooth allows you to add other layers of paint, writing, etc.

I used a stencil for the cityscape, added collage city scenes, covered it all with clear gesso and painted the clouds and moonlit sky on top.

Here's a group photo

all of us creating up a storm

The Red Farmhouse where we stayed

This is a wonderful place for an art retreat with plenty of room for six to nine people, a fully equiped kitchen and two long tables for work space. It's a close walk to the beach.

Sitka Center for Art Workshop with Rebecca Wild

Rebecca Wild, a Portland calligrapher, offered a workshop this week entitled "Conversations with Nature: Art & Text". The Sitka Center for Art & Ecology sponsored the class and this weekend is their 2009 art exhibit & sale at the World Forestry Center. It's a wonderful show with a nature theme. Rebecca's artwork will be shown, too. The first piece above was created with hand cut stencils and acrylic paint.

John Muir wrote the quote- "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop like autumn leaves."

For second piece, we used a tape resist with graphite and pastels. I added another John Muir quote, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal & give strength to body & soul."

More Wire Crocheted & Beaded Necklaces

My crochet hook is flying and making more necklaces for our Portland Art Collective Open Doors Show next month. I really like this three strand beauty.

Be sure to mark your calendars for December 4th & 5th. Detailed information on the show is located on the sidebar. Hope to see you there.