Color for Bead Artists

It’s here! The Spring/Summer 2010 Color Report for Bead & Jewelry Designers. Pages and pages of glorious color inspiration and information for your spring and summer creativity.

And guess what. My friend and fellow artist/author Jamie Cloud Eakin (Bugle Bead Bonanza and Beading with Cabachons) is giving everyone who purchases one a FREE bugle bead project PDF. You’ll receive a link when you purchase the Color Report. Thank you, Jamie.

I’ll be writing more about the spring/summer colors in the coming days and weeks.

Continuation from the previous post:

My favorite activities were bead related, not ship related (except for eating, of course!). Teaching was a blast, and the gentle rocking and tipping of the boat made me focus in a new kind of way. I didn’t want to fall on a student’s needle. And I know they didn’t want me falling in their laps.
We gathered each night for instructor’s demos, open beading, and the bazaar; a relaxed, intimate way to end the day. One could participate as much or as little as they wanted. This was when I got the opportunity to meet and talk with new friends, and oogle their creations. And when I learned the passions of the other instructor’s on the cruise…

Barb Switzer’s wire work is the most intricate and unique I’ve ever seen. www.beadswitzer.com. For her, wire is the art and the focal point, not an add-on that enhances an existing stone or bead. I love her approach: in her hands, wire becomes a fluid, feminine medium that hardly seems like metal.

Tracy Stanley of www.wiredarts.net brings a delightful sense of play and freedom to metalwork. Her pieces are exuberant, and I wished I could have taken one of her classes. With her kits and techniques, there’s ample room for individual expression, and she welcomes it. I also loved the echoes of hammers banging and clanging that issued from her classroom, reminding me of magical elvin forges.

Steampunk Queen Melanie Brooks www.earthenwoodstudio.com cages, embellishes, and decorates her extraordinary ceramic pieces in the most creative ways. Hers is an industrial kind of palette: dark metallics, olive greens, and browns. I was inspired by how she used these muted deep tones in ways that were not at all heavy. Tiny detail and texture make her pieces tactile and intriguing. I had to pick up each one and investigate for the surprises only available upon close inspection. Her thoughtful and intricate work showcases her distinct voice.

Beverly Herman www.noeasybeads.com is a true master of bead weaving and design. I’ve seen gobs of bead weaving in the last 20 years, but nothing like the bracelets she makes using Heather Powers’ polymer clay beads. She’s not just an extraordinary master of  technique (her bead embroidery is technical perfection). She has a true aesthetic sense of balance, or what is beautiful, and what is functional and wearable. I don’t know when I have laughed so much with someone I’d only known for such a short time. The two of us (and others) were boundlessly silly, a quality I admire more and more as I mature.

Heather Powers, www.humblebeads.com, facilitator extraordinaire of the cruise, creates exquisite, detailed polymer clay beads that gave me a sense of serenity when I looked at them and held them. From her tiny hedgehogs, birds and eggs, to Japanese-like floral motifs, and abstracted swirls of color, each bead is carefully crafted, an extraordinary treasure. She gave a copper-stamping-patina-resin-demo that I couldn’t resist. I bought all the parts and will make one for me.

Our supplies vendor were Pam and Belinda from Bello Modo, www.bellomodo.com, with a gorgeous selection of copper parts and findings. They were so helpful,tirelessly explaining everything to everyone in classes, at meals, and each night. I can’t recommend them enough – visit the site. Its full of magical beads and findings.

So I am back, with a suitcase full of gifts from new friends, a shot glass with a faceted turquoise holder (thanks for the trade, Tracy!), and a clear plastic cup with blue flashing lights that looks frighteningly like someone is being arrested when I turn it on in the dark (how did I live without this?). And best of all, a heart full of wonderful memories!

As we disembarked Sunday, January 24th, I was sad to be leaving the friends I’d made in the short week of the BeadCruise 2010. What a week! But let me start at the beginning…

When I accepted the offer to teach on the 2010 Bead Cruise I didn’t know what to expect. Even though I grew up on the shores of Cocoa Beach, I’d never been on a cruise. But Heather Powers and her annual BeadCruise came highly recommended by students and renowned teachers, and I felt honored by the offer.

To be on a cruise ship is to be in another world. Cocooned from land and everyone on it, for a brief while you are living in a community of sorts. One where all your needs are taken care of by the most efficient, precise, organized machine of a system I have ever encountered. Imagine not having to clean, do laundry, or even think about what to make for dinner. And food delivered to your door any hour of the day or night. And pools, spas, fitness center, outdoor activities, music, games, all within walking distance. It is mind-boggling. And dizzying.

I’m in constant pusuit of beauty. Here’s what I found on the Bead Cruise…

The most beautiful visual experiences were the limitless, unobstructed views of sea and sky… as far as my eye could see and mind could imagine. I never tired of the shifting colors, movement, and patterns. I wish I could spend a thousand more hours witnessing the majesty of the open sea.

The most beautiful of all experiences was the community we beaders formed through our generosity and love of our craft. Bead artists are so generous, always wanting to share a new technique or idea with anyone who has a want and a moment to listen. I’m touched by this, no matter how many times I am part of it. In class someone had an issue with knotting, and there was Lila teaching everyone a Tailor’s Knot… not once, but at least 4 times (I lost count). I’ve wanted to learn St. Petersburg chain and Bev made sure she set aside time to teach me individually. Often when someone enthusiastically admires another’s creation to the point of aching desire, the creator takes it off and gifts it to them, leaving the recipient in tears. Like I said, bead artists are beautifully benevolent.

to be continued on Thursday (when I’ll tell you about the instructors)…

The one on the right is the final version that I sell as a kit. Here’s why it is a much stronger design than the one on the left.

Focal Point

I constantly stress in my teachings and writings that as an artist, its our job to visually guide the viewers’ eye and tell them where to look first, where to focus. We do this by consciously creating a focal point. Or several focal points in a heirarchal manner.

Lightest or darkest areas often create focal points, as do areas of greatest contrast (lightest against darkest).

Where is the focal point within the earring on the left?

Finding it is a bit confusing, isn’t it? My eye is drawn immediately to the visual horizontal band created by the lightest beads, the silver beads. That horizontal band is not an aesthetically pleasing focal point. And it competes with the upper medallion section of the earring, which seems a natural focal point because of the circular shape.

In the earring on the right, the upper medallion section features four silver beads. My eye is drawn right into that upper center, where those lightest beads are. Here the composition and the color are in agreement that this is the focal point of the earring.

After enjoying the medallion focal point my eye immediately shifts straight down the middle of the earring, drawn to the light of the 6 largest silver beads that create and triangle shape. A second focal point! It is the lightest area of the bottom of the earring. And the traingle shape intrigues the eye, beckoning more of my attention.

The myPANTONE application for iPhone has stolen my heart. It’s so much fun!

You can make palettes straight from photos (which is what The Beader’s Color Palette is all about).
You can then email palettes to other bead artists. You can look at several of the PANTONE Color Libraries in traditional fandeck fashion.
You can create color schemes by dragging and dropping right from the color bar on top, and save them for later use or inspiration.
My family and I were lucky last month when the floods ravaged parts of Atlanta: we sustained very little damage. But our backyard was deluged. I made a color scheme out of it using the myPANTONE app.

Here’s the photo I took:

And here’s the palette:

If you have an iPhone or iTouch, you’ll definitely want to check this out. Here are useful links:

YouTube video about myPANTONE

iTunes (where you can download iTunes if you don’t have it, then purchase the myPANTONE app)

And lastly… a link to the app on the PANTONE website