Tuesday, January 30, 2018

The Stash Has Been Used & Weirdness Insued

Today is the reveal for Art Elements' Use Your Stash Challenge hosted by my good friend, Lindsay Starr!  Today is also the day I am late to the party - I have had a crazy week and didn't get to write my lovely little blog post until the day of.  Not my normal style but it is what it is!

For this challenge I rummaged through my stash and pulled a ceramic piece I have had sitting in my box for years - I almost didn't want to make anything with it because I love it so much:  A trilobite by Diana Ptaszynski!  I knew I wanted to finally use the trilo and I had recently added a cool ring from Joan Miller to my stash, so I threw them into my project box. That day I had a bead-in at my local bead shop, Cindy's Crafts so I knew I would have plenty of time to work out my design.

I began by snipping off the wire loop connectors from the trilo and bezeling it like a cab.


At this point I really didn't know what I wanted this to end up looking like.  Often I get stuck on the shape of the piece.  It tends to work out better if you have a overall shape in mind when you are working but this time I had to do a little Pinteresting for shape inspiration.

I didn't find exactly what I was looking in my search on Pinterest, however, after a while a general shape and layout came to mind...I immediately sketched it and despite my poor skills with a pen, I was able to capture the shape and some of the design elements I wanted to include.



As is typical with the way I work, I let the beads do what they wanted, adding design elements as they came to me.  Sometimes this process gets me trapped in my own thoughts but if I consciously 'let go' I usually find that the end result is more pleasing than it would have been if I forced myself through the process.


The more I worked on this piece the more I loved it.  Sometimes you run into an 'ugly duckling' phase and then struggle to complete a piece because you aren't "feeling it".  This one never reached that point for me.  Somehow everything just flowed as I worked.




But...sometimes in art things kinda happen without you realizing it.  Sometimes you unintentionally create within your creation.  This apparently happened to me...and I am still not sure how I feel about it...


In a relatively short amount of time I had created a piece I truly loved without buying a single bead - all from my stash...and upon sharing the end result with others, found out that everyone thought it was a bird.  *laugh*  I just wanted to have a trilo and ammonite hanging out in a pool of beads...but weirdly - oh so weirdly I had created a trilo hanging out in the belly of a bird!  Do you see it???


I used a metal clay brass ring by Gail DeLuca and a metal clay brass toggle clasp by One Sweet Bead to finish it all off.  Intention or not, I love this piece, bird and all.  And because my graphic designer mother said, "It's an awesome bird, own it!"  I am officially calling this piece, "Oops, bird!"  *laugh*



Don't forget to check out what these other amazing artists did with their stash!
Guests:
Kelly Rodgers
Sarajo Wentling
Samantha Wescott
Kathy Lindemer
Patty Miller
Linda Landig
Renetha Stanziano
Samantha Wescott

Art Elements:
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Jen Cameron
Claire Fabian
Sue Kennedy
Niky Sayers
Lindsay Starr


17 comments:

  1. I do see a bird, and I think it's awesome! I love all your choices of beads! You and Lindsay are a great pair!

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  2. You already know I think this is fabulous! And I'm still looking for the stamp. I have to check a few more places. Some things never got unpacked in my move to Rochester!

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  4. I love your Oops Bird. It is amazing!

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  5. At first glance I though it was a bird. It is an amazing piece of art. Own it!

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  6. What a gorgeous piece! I also saw a bird in it and to be honest, when you wrote about the not existng "ugly duck" phase, I was expecting some joke about how a bird appeared... and was surprised that you didn't see it ;) I can also understand why you were hoarding the trilobite but this piece does it more than justice! A wonderful example why nothing should be hoarded forever because I think especially the beads and piece we love most, need their chance to tell a story!

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  7. Oh lucky you to have one of Diana's trilobite beads!! I love the oops bird you made with it! Lovely!

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  8. What an amazing piece, I can see why you would not want to use it but WOW you really rocked it! I love the colours you used and it is perfectly balanced! Your piece makes me wish I could seed bead!

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  9. I love it. I like the way you went with the flow. I nod at your selective wise use of those bugles! And I wasn't overly struck with the birdiness...

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  10. That's so pretty! I'm so jealous of people like you who can "let go" and end up with such beautiful freeform embroidery like that. It's so organic and lovely. Great job! :D

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  11. I'm the weirdo that wouldn't have seen the bird...too busy gazing into the pool of beads! Great job PIB, and thanks for playing along!

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  12. Beautiful piece and gorgeous colour choices! I love the accidental bird!

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  13. I love it!! I love the bird, I saw that immediately :D

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  14. What a lovely piece. I didn’t see a bird until I saw everyone’s comments. Like Lindsay I was so busy drooling over your lovely bead design!

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  15. I think the ONLY reason people see a bird is the circular element in the upper left. Whatever. I LOVE it! I wish I could do some kind of free association like you do, but whenever I try to do that, I HATE it and rip it all out. I have to do simple formula every time. This is so gorgeous!

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