'My Flag' beaded flag. 1.5ft x 3ft

Continuing on with outdoor beaded works, this concept came pretty organically as July was approaching when I recieved a large bead order of red, white, and blue.

I am pleased with the size, and how the beads say what I want them to say in correct proportion and intensity: I really wanted the blue to be solid in design,so that sunlight would create an intense cobalt, while for the stripes I wanted a more lacy appearance. I love the bold raciness of stripes, but wanted to see if I could lighten the work in terms of actual weight without compromising the expression.

 I decided to balance the uneven red and white stripes by using a longer red bead, but in an open weave, while using a thicker, shorter clear bead, which made the white stripes opaque. This approach gives an illusion of equal length to both the red and white stripes..especially when light shines through it, because the opaque clear beads capture more light through more glass, and push on the borders of the intense red squares quite nicely.

I was pleased with the results on this design, and really have to thank my partner J here, for helping me out with some of the mathmatical sequencing..Some ideas simply take more than one person to figure out, and am grateful to have the help.

It's interesting, textiles are; that actual weaving can STRENGTHEN a single thread..weaving in certain patterns creates BONDS. Those bonds last longer connected, than a single thread.

I am considering the SIMPLEST of weaves; a twist of threads..not unlike spun yarn- textiles, specifically WEAVING ramp up fibers utility and enurance in ANY material.

Don't get me wrong, felting is just as WOVEN as actual loomed work it IS a textile art- and don't test the limits of a natural dreadlock which, I swear to God, is the strongest bond of 'threads' I have ever witnessed, to be sure ( try a copper bristle brush yall,it's magi c ;-D

But when you consider archealogical facts, like 5000 year old glass beaded COLLARS in Egypt, completely intact and even DURABLE, is simply amazing. 

Yes, what we WEAVE can last on and on..like a good story or a close friend.

Hopefully, 'My Flag' will follow suit, and have a long shelf life as an outdoor glass textile that reflects my connection to my concept of home. The American flag, a shining symbol of hope, holds even more light as an untarnished glass display that endures all seasons for years to come.

A homage to an idea, that I believe, lives eternally on&on... no matter what the medium.

Just a thought after visiting a neighbors garden- How lovely it would be to have these beaded flowers all around, when she might perhaps come to visit MY garden, at some point..The concept came quite easily, all at once (without any snags or complications in terms of execution), and made me happy to imagine as possible. 

I didn't bother with the heavy ritual of materials purchase.Not only did that sound tedious, but also perhaps unnecessary...In the end I used an old metal broom handle to get started.

I am often impatient with waiting to create when I feel deeply inspired..and I'm glad I didn't- this felt so good to manifest..

I feel like this size ( larger beads, larger sized works) is expressing some of my ideas in the right proportion to what it is I am trying to convey..

Over all, a very satisfying endeavor..and now that I have started this series, I can sharpen my skill set in it, and perhaps explore some real specifics that sound fun to make: Iris, Bleeding Hearts, Tulips, Roses...all flowers that would look just AMAZING in this oversized style.

While I enjoy the simplicity of this 5 petaled fantasy, it will really satisfy my senses to see a set of flower that hold a bit more complexity to their overall presentation.

But, for a first try, this was successful for me. <3

 Quiet combS is an exploration in the subtle beauty found in organic design, when using heavy material and palette choices. Darker, heavier ,earthy colors in browns,dark blues, earthy greens and matted gold, all give this series a calming, grounded aura- while the materials themselves ALSO fall on the heavier end of the materials range; Wenge one of the more dense woods- sugilites being heavily pigmented ( used ground for oil paint), and earthy colors reminding us of heavier elements such as deep water, earth, and the metal gold. Even the clear crystals ( in the hair sticks) are raw and naturally shapen- lending to this idea of 'all things earth bound'.

I wanted this Quiet combS series to be spacially BOLD, yet restrained in presence- just lending itself as an ACCENT rather than centerpiece to a complete look. Of course, the larger combs, could, in fact take center stage without a problem- which is a real nice plus to this series; earth tones are always chill to the eye.

Nothing satisfies quite like working with those harder woods. Wenge wood is so very pretty- the grain holds so many patterns...and while it IS super messy to sand ( almost like powdered pigment), I can't help but love it just the same.

While most people cherish MAHOGANY for those patterns and amber flash notes in the grain, I just love the SNOT out of wenge MORE- because the patterns in the grain are so damn bold; they have these racing jagged lines more often than not- and sometimes the darker umber tones hit shades of jet- making the contrast even more so.

What's more, wenge is a very strong wood ( although can be frail along darker grain lines), it makes a good choice as a go-to for a pin up.

Free flow peyote stitch designs (like we see in these hair sticks) can be so relaxing to make- because it's completely interpretive as you go along- There ARE certain constraints ( just as one might find in nature) to the pattern, but it's so easy to rework, or change as you go along..just like flora growing along, so does the openess to the design.

A Loudy 

This design wanted a brighter pallette of colors than the earthier ones I had planned for the series- and Im really glad I went with the inspiration; I really like the vibrant colors, compacted into a smaller space- reminding me of the lights one might see in the city at night.

The wenge wood has such a gorgeous grain- why not exaggerate the teeth and accentuate that pattern.? 

MolecularLi series was a breakthough series in dimension for my work. I wanted to create larger work for outside display, and found beads inspiring me, naturally :-)

A pheonix and serpent sit on a sunstone bed of beads. Double threaded on wildfire thread, which makes this tassle incredibly strong, yet also flexible.

Mother of Pearl objects took my attention this month, and I'm so glad it did: I really enjoyed using the smaller size15 miyuki seed beads, and shorter stints in creating.

I just love pushing beads and their uses- the various ways they can beautify as well as lend needed support such as with this delicate mother of pearl knife (shown above).

I decided to add a graduating beaded tassle to this knife because it's short handled( like 4 inches long in total), and the tassle helps to utilize the knife better by adding this extra pliable length for the hand.

I also happen to have mother of pearl beads that I felt would look great with it, and wanted to create something a guy might like.

Mother of Pearl beaded lance in pastel blues: Piercing the heart of beauty, in shades of the upcoming season.

Really satisfying in the hand, this small spoon serves up subtle charm. Using Miyuki seed beads and mother of pearl graduating pear shaped beads as accompaniment.

I seriously could spend like 3 months just beading this one series...working with mother of pearl is so very different than working with metals ( as my current sculpture is); Its warm on the hands, and has a gorgeous luster to it.

CLARK SQUARE PARK     EVANSTON,ILLINOIS                     1.22

Found along the lakeshore in the City of Evanston, Clark Square Park is one of many smaller parks that Evanstonians enjoy. Clark square has a particulary interesting cement boardwalk along the rocky shore that doesn't seem to have any practical placement in terms of the northshores endless bike paths. Yet, the odd placement is reminiscent of times before, which doesnt surprise me at all- there seems to be all sorts of leftover clues of what once existed in that place.

My experience of Clark Square has been an brief one, with my earliest memories of that park having a garden resting spot in its center. Of course, it's no longer standing- seeing as how when I witnessed the structure, it was already deteriorating with years of wear. The main road on which the park parallels, wasn't as busy back then, and that enhanced the solitude that one would find there.

The lumpy square structure wasn't all that easy to see right away, because it was surround by 4 ( what I later learned to be was) 'camperdown elms'. A very specific variety of elms that would produce these twisted tree trunks, and lush branches full of leaves, which seemed to be so heavy, that the upper limbs would fall over in massive mounds. These trees, to a 6 year old, were THE PERFECT trees for climbing, and it was evident that these trees had been inspiring climbing expeditions for YEARS. With worn trunk spots, they almost looked look foot rests for a familiar pattern of speedy elevation.

Ironically enough, there was very little motivation to climb them, seeing as how someone could easily walk up one of the 2 windy staircases and jump to the TOP of these trees with very little effort.

But, you wouldn't know that unless you were familiar with the features. Although, now on reflection, maybe  an over zealous type might have used the trees instead of the stairs as a way to reach the upper area. Either way, the trees were half the attraction, if not enticing elements to a small soul bursting with curiousity.

So these 4 trees, acted more like arcs than upright parasols ( as trees noramlly do), and so it just made the whole area look like this green overgrown relic. There was a real depleted vibe to the whole shape of the structure, yet, some of the magic of that place was in the wabi- sabiness of it all.... 

..like it managed to go overlooked and unseen (in a suburb of this massive city, no less), not unlike an indiana jones movie... with unfound treasure waiting somewhere perhaps!

But really, where would that be... in the two bathrooms nestled below the upper resting area? I never actually went in them, because they kind of smelled damp, but I remember the inside having faded sand colored walls, and a window facing east along the boardwalk which would brighten the rooms interior into the most amazing various shades of mustard. 

Still, I never really ventured further then a far glance.

I also found it funny that it had both a "men" and "ladies" bathrooms..to me, it was more like a his and hers set of spooky dampness that smelled like pee, but I appreciated its existence none the less since it added to the whole mystique.

I really wanted to include more detail of those bathrooms in this sculpture, but I found the schematics involved would have made a more complex process that was working against the rest of the design.

I really didn't want the observer to spend an incredible amount of time studying levels of spatiality (of the design) as much as reflect on the expression and its emotional intent.

But I was really satisfied with the symbolic representatives used instead.There is the simplest of references to them with an 'M' and 'W', and with arrows, both pointing towards each other. In this rendition, they share one door into who knows what.

The stairs were always fun to climb, because they were a bit wobbly and always distinct. After horsing around on them for any stretch of time, you could recognize which step you were on due to its individual characteristics of cracks and crevices. With a few spider webs here and there, it just added to the mystery waiting above.

When I actually reached the top, it never had what I expected; a lifesize treasure map perhaps, and a glistening fountain with magical properties? No..not even once. However, what I DID discover was an unexpected elevation into the clouds. As you looked up, the elms would surround your field of vision, and you would see these rolling clouds moving over blue backgrounds, framed by swaying leaves.

Oftentime it would rain, and the lovliest shades of deep greens and greys would highlight backnotes of depressed sunlight reflecting over the lakes surface. The stone structure would release all this earthy smell, and mix with the electrical ions in the air. 

Another thing about this resting spot- it had some birds, but I never really saw many other animals- (including humans ones) when I visited. Just seemed to be forever isolated.

Of course, every now and again you could tell that someone had been around, but seasons washed away all evidence, as well as perhaps what once was;namely, lush rose bushes all around.

You could tell that SOMEone had planted roses and a variety of perennial flowers (which probably filled out the surrounding grove to make beautiful beds), but now, it was down to about 7 modest flowers- the last standing troopers on an unkempt field.

 I could only imagine,while sitting in the center of that place what it might have originally looked like, or what sort of functions took place there when it was first created. Were there hundreds of people there at one time for some grand openeing and then forgotten? Did someone ever use it for a ceremony like a wedding? 

What is even more amazing than seeing a memory 'come to life' through one of my favorite mediums, is reconnecting to the way I once percieved reality. Being the creative sort, my childhood wove desire and inspiration into the fabric of the world around me...

Therefore, a lot of my 'happy places' could be viewed as finding a happy place within myself- seeing as how my creative inner landscape added an additional layer of fun busythought as well as contentment to any setting I found myself in.

This is also true for Clark Square Park, where there was no fountain or crane sculpture really- yet the memory of my make-believe improvements still holds itself as valid  today as it did then...

and this time, I get to make it real enough for others to see.

Anyway, they took the whole thing down sometime in the 1980s..only the water fountain and trees remained, and then later discovered lead somewhere in the fountains line. The trees, as I believe there are a couple still standing today, are the last reminders of a place long gone.

Even still, through my 1st creation in the Happy Places series, the structure will live on indefinity, as I choose to remember it.

"Happy Places" Series reflects the joyousness found in the scenes/settings experienced throughout ones lifetime. Memories of the past contain a certain magic that only nostalgia seems to bring,with stories or ideas surrounding particular places of our story, 'Happy Places' can oftentimes surround certain scenarios, or specific ways in which we related to ourselves.

In this series, I attempt to show how joy in ones life, confined to a certain PLACE in time, truly reflects the deeper joys that comes from within, through recollection of our pasts. Our life stories expand as we do, and the memories we hold/contain tranform as our perspectives grow.

Sometimes memories of a past place aren't true to the actual details, but that fact can be somewhat unimportant, because the lasting memory is what we take from it as a LIVING narrative- one that transforms...so smaller details may change ( time of day, words actually said, actual color of a structure, etc), but the happy experience remains.

Of course, accuracy is valuable, and sometimes can add a surprisingly harsh addition to an otherwise sweet experience. In these works, I attempt to contain accuracy of detail, as I experienced them in the moment... with some details adding a zing of unbecoming truths.

Some pieces in the Happy Places series aren't actual locations at all, but more of an inner state of being that exists as a constant 3 dimensional expression. In this way, the Happy Places series entails not only the joyousness of ones outward experience, but also sees the 3 dimensional expressions of ones own making, as an equally valid construct.

....and what better way to create this series than with everyones favorite medium....glass seed beads!

Beads have this special way of reflecting light, and adding a certain captivating sparkle which bursts energy thru intense colors and reflective surfaces.

Happy Places will be an ongoing series to be completed in 2025. A set of 4( perhaps 5) with a focus of about 6 months per composition. I am hoping that the series( as a completed set ) will delight viewers and express a satisying volume in which the body feels immersive. I've always loved artwork that gave a sense of domain, and that by purchasing a slice of their work, you in fact take home a slice of their world. Hopefully this set in its entirety, will reach that sort of inspiration.

 ....Why..What'de YOU get' sculpture.

This was my precious gift last year, that just keeps sharing with the world- for years to come. 

Nothing appeals more to that stabbing morn like a percocet vitamin and TV remote...

All the REAL things she wanted that day, no diamond could outshine.

Skittles junior cousin; Rittles..'tasty rainbows'

Tv remote with cut glass bead buttons

ChocoYum ice cream

some doobies made with Miyuki beads , and foil lined greenies.

percocet tabs in freshwater pearls

Dont forget that lighter ;)

and a tampon bow is just a nice gesture..lol

This was a fun small piece to create. Sculptures that hold smaller voices that later integrate into a larger chorus, is a fun way communicate ideas...

It's also a great way to gain control of the design easily- Because its piece by piece, you can easily add, look, add more if you feel it needs it..

I had 2 candy canes, felt it needed 3 etc..Oftentimes, beadwork has to be planned out a lot more from the beginning, such as with patterns in loomwork.

I was happy to get back into larger images, after exploring more jewelry related stuff like beltbuckles...

Everything I explore always leads me to something greater, but in truth, there is more satisfaction when larger work gets made; my voice larger, my expression more concise.

Happy Holidays!

 HIS Buckle: Jade Buckle

Waxed polished jade buckle, #4 in a series of 4. I really like that the colors used with this stone were not mainly greens, but earthy colors, with a splash of autumn thrown into the mix. Oftentimes, we see beadwork with the intent of subtly blending the beads into other elements of the design to create a single unified product where the beadwork plays little more than a supporting role.

But I wanted to unmatch match this buckle. I wanted to enhance the jade, but not accompany it in any sort of tone or color.. I wanted the Jade to be the only Jade to Jade, with beadwork adding its own little identity. To an outside eye, this would appear as simply not matching, or balanced or unified..and that's awesome...because work should be like little puzzles; leaving you to discover something new to them everytime you engage. 

Balanced work serves, no doubt- but I wanted these belt buckles to be loud in statement. I wanted them to say " Hey- Me. HERE" :D

I also chose to make this a reverse trapezoid shape..I thought it would look good on the male body to have the stone get slightly larger in scale as it hits the lower torso.

HIS/HER Buckle CONCLUSION:

This was a real pleasure to explore, and create..all 4 of these were different, and fun, and challenging, and evil at times..

I knew I wanted to explore beaded slabs since last spring, and had been slowly collecting all sorts of stones, but these 4 spoke the most for a buckle line (inspiring me, as Always) ...

I found this whole exploration as a tutorial in function, as well as endurance.

Initially, I had drilled into the slabs, and set the metal ring and hook directly into the stone with steel epoxy...but I felt this was a weakness in the endurance and strength to the work; I noticed that most buckles, whether low range or high, was either a solid casting or made with well soldered elements.

I knew that no one, NO ONE selling cheap ass belt buckles would BOTHER with all THAT unless it really compromised the buckles actual use.

The first buckle I made ( Lapis Lazuli #1 of 4) did not have the reinforcment I later deemed absolutely essential- I had neither the will or time to redo the whole buckle, instead I took it as an object lesson in PLANNING BEFORE jumping into the inspiration bit.

It has taken me YEARS to learn how to rein in the inspiration so that it does not compromise the works final production, and so, it was surprising to see me create something, and continue with it, knowing it was  'less than'..

..should be fun pushing that buckle to it's limits, and find out :).......

 A real discovery in this series was the fragile nature to the materials used. Normally, beadwork is made with an solo inclination; a single textile surface used in conjunction with another beaded surface ( such as a bag), or on a string. With slabs, you have glass beads in direct contact with a hard surface ( the slab), and this makes for a most unforgiving circumstance in terms of functionality.

When you look at surface-on-surface beadwork coming from Africa, you can see that there is an understanding about the basic physics about beads in this way:

   That the surface is made of GLASS. Yes, beads, but still glass. Until this point, I had been working with polymer clays as my bases and that material has a certain amount of softness and give.

However, glass on a HARD surface with one drop.... and it can easily crack the work.

Kind of makes for a less than rough and tumble item, that I so enjoy. Still, delicacy and fragility hold their virtues- and the final production outweighs nothing at all.

While there was this particular compromise in the mix, I find that this was an absolute ESSENTIAL discovery as I plan on using a 'surface-on-surface" approach for larger coming works...works both indoor, as well as outdoor. This series helped me understand the basic nature of the materials I'm using, to help me optimize the endurance of future designs.

I hope to make another series of these- would be a real pleasure to return and recreate to my ideal standards.

  Mookaite Jasper set in Miyuki seed beads: Groovy tunes, and fortuitous timing inspired this design...I happen to run across a slab that reflected how a wicked hot summer in the US melted most, right on the spot. I often wish beads moved as fast as the images they inspire..just proves that dedication is an absolute necessity to this craft, no beads about it :-)

Signing my work with beads is a fun way to leave a signature..the cave mans pixels. I should like to explore slab work more fully, unfortunately, it will be more as relief rather than product..just means the results could be experiemental rather than fully designed.

Mookaite Jasper makes a large appearance in this beaded belt buckle: #3 in a series of 4....

Just love how jasper always looks like little pictures..I swear I could put a whole book together of just picture slabs... Perhaps bead the writing?

So very pleased with this sort of free form design..it's been a mini victory to find some sort of free flow with beadwork- even if it's in design choice solely, there's all sorts of unknowns going on with a moment-to-moment approach, which is super refreshing!!

I actually find this series, to be pretty important in terms of transition in my work- I have had certain limitations in approach with most of my design, as the constant. Indeed, beads DO have a tendency to desire familiar patterning as a source of its strength for symbolic representation.

This series really had me focus on form..and then design as an independent voice outside of the form, yet balanced through the forms constraints.

I simply cannot wait to sink my teeth into a larger subject.

This image is that of illicit excess, yet as shiney as some parts are, it is generally messy and chaotic. The image uses pastels and gentle colors to contrast some of the grimmer truths that, perhaps upon first glance, the observer might not notice.

I created this image mainly out of anger. Primarily because, as I see it, the bread and circuses of it all dont hold shit for truth or meaning. Drug use without any deeper intent,or  used to' run away' simply lead to negative spirals. Sure, there might be a golden setting sun where you are inspired artistically, moments before O.D., and good on you to have lived to express it. But even still, it's like, did ya though? 

Drug addiction is no joke, and hitting it hard can hollow out the soul including the Hand. I often consider Syd Barret and his swan songs on this point, because everything that man touched turned to gold- even if he was cut with lead- his gold always shown. Always.

Some choices are for keeps-they are one way tickets..you dont get to 'go back' ...as drugs are so inclined to offer.

I wanted to use light hearted colors that mimicked the same childishness as cereal boxes. I was hoping that the contrast between the sweetness of the color would help anchor the bloodstains as the stronger value, while also being the smallest portion of design..a potent cliff note.

This image expresses satiation of possibility, and perhaps not always for the best. As we look lower, we can see what looks like blood stains dripped and smeared here and there.

I wanted the observer to be drawn in, like cereal in the store, but then also turned off ...possibly with disgust.

This may or may not be successful..I really would need an audience to see what the response is.

Maybe good, maybe not..maybe GFY...who knows..

I did put it up on TikTok, and hopfully wont get banned due to image, but if it doesn't ( with decent exposure), I may be able to consider myself successful at it's purpose.

It was both the trick and the treat for this season.

'Untitled' relief painting on wood board. A painting I was on the fence about painting..but wood board tends to give some sort of green light on any whimsy of idea...

The sketch was from quite awhile ago, and represents a time when I felt completely locked into one particular cycle with 0 ways out of it.

Mostly financial burdens ( and thank-you Auriton Solutions of MN, for freeing me), I was just trudging forward day to day..then week over week, then year over year, then blocks of years..

The daily grind becomes so ingrained that you lose sense of time:

You've walked the same path so often, the only thing changing is your age...

You've done x routine so often, that you are beyond sick of it- there is 0 attachment to the experience other than physically being there...

Youv'e parked in every parking spot so often, you really DON'T know where the F the car might be- and that, is sadly the highlight of the daily grind.

After awhile, the mind just sort of glazes over into a depression that is completely removed from the actual experience of any emotion at all, simply because it is too exhausted to get anywhere NEAR that sort of invested emotional energy.

It was around this time I was expected to do something beyond my day to day, some extra social event, and I really didn't want to be there.

This random event was on a late friday at the end of a long ass workweek, and I remember I hadn't slept well the night before, so was already feeling fried at the beginning of the day, but by the time the event took place and ended, I had reached an inner state of exhaustion that took me so fully that I was sort of floating between thought and the physical world..Hallucinations of a sort.

It was in this place, I rememeber walking out of some auditorium and down this hall.

Everyone around me seemed so fkn cheery and connected, and chill..like, god. where did these people come from?More importantly, how did they have all this extra energy..what drug is it, and could I have some; I could hear laughter and babbling all over the place.

It was such a contrast to my inner state- like glass in a wound.The sound just amplified to where the joy seemed to permeate the environment around me..

...all I really wanted to do was to get home, and suddenly I felt incredibly removed from the whole place, thinking I may pass out at any moment from just exhaustion.

I entered this zone that seemed to exist just for me- a parallel universe telling me the real truths others were just too joyfully insulated to ever perceive.

I turned a corner to go, looking over at the exit sign like anyone might, but instead, got an eyeful of a truer understanding: knowing that it's all just ONE long fking day, and it's hardly over yet.

The tempering of the soul is the seat of ones strength, but it hardly fuck ever feels like it when experiencing it. Some of lifes trials take your money or your life...sometimes both, putting us in endless debt as a form of slavery.

While I can appreciate the expression this state of being has brought to me (such as this image), I much prefer a state that lends itself to me to actually expressing it..and that is another matter entirely.

  HIS Buckle...1 of 4

Natural lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, I wanted to keep some of the raw cut from the original split...I just like how the surface isn't super smooth or polished- more of a rough surface, with minimal shine- polished in beeswax.

When I look at this stone, I can see how ancient bathhouses used the natural design found in lapi lazuli to create tile motifs, that later became the established clasic design in tilework. There is so much design in nature that man has articulated in such a way, that it becomes this integral part of later well-known styles of pattern.

I really like buying the raw stones and shape-polishing myself. I hung with this lapidary-jeweler couple one summer, and saw some great results with how they made their own cabachons; larger cuts, unusual shapes, intimacy with the stones...all things that attracts me to the beginning-to-end style works.

Although I would probabaly hate the tediousness of it, I seriously want like 4 more of these lapis buckles..just to see the various patterns and different colors, but it's always about the inspiration- and this one had a particular guy in mind, repeating would be sorta redundant in expression.

HER Buckle...2 of 4 This is actually one I plan to keep. I used a stone that is a familiar childhood friend from the summers up the the adirondacks. It's a boulder opal that my grandparents would keep on the shelf with other various rocks.

For some reason, this stone, in my mind, was a lot more stunning than it perhaps it looks now. Probably because I was smaller, and this stone was bigger. After both grandparents passed away, this stone was given to me, and I decided to cut it into a cabachon. You can still see some original flake on the surface. I decided not to fix that flaw..just reminds me of another time and place as I saw it long ago.

Actually, time there was quite boring, unless you were into boating and drinking of which I was neither. I enjoyed swimming in Lake Geoerge, until an exchange with a muskellunge. If you havent seen one, might I suggest you not meet one in person. Especially one defending its nest. I managed to survive unscathed, but only due to some fast cat reflexes; literally had Michael Jordons god give me powers that day; I FLEW.

I was not a huge fan of swimming after that. 

Otherwise, there was not very much for kids to do, and was quite the adult oriented setting; polished wood, hard marble floors with sharp abstract design, fireplace with piano, etc..very 'children seen and not heard' kind of vibe.

My grandmother did collect cartoons for me however.... Which was so odd, because she did not particularly care for me, but seemed to collect this stack....

Now considering it, it was probably to keep me out of her hair while she entertained.

When I did join the group, which was usually around dinnertime, I would pretty much sit by this rock collection, in a butterfly chair of sorts, and was allowed to examine some of the stones.

I would look into the colors and imagine this whole other dimension, perhaps one that gave me the same sort of uplifting joy I could hear in everyone around me. It was like adding my own colors to the world, and I was very pleased with the senstions I discovered from my imagination.

 I was happy to see it after so many years, and after cutting noticed a cool cresent moon in the stone, and decided to enhance that part of the surface with design. 

This buckle is different from the others, as I decided to used a prefabricated belt buckle instead of using a gemstone slab. Primarily because of the stone I was setting, this originally was going to be an opal alongside a sugilite stone, but the beadwork had its own ideas. That happens sometimes, and thats ok..I knew I was going to be keeping this one. I needed a belt buckle anyway.

This was made with BRIGHT blue beads and purples..but I toned all that down with a composite paste. I wanted top enhance the stones natural brown, and harmonize the colors throughout.

I will probably put up a video on how that works, it's a pretty cool technique for anyone who wants to completely change their beadwork, or integrate various elements on the design.

This took forever to dry...it's still drying right now. I had this on sketch for a really long time ( like 10 years?), I wanted to make it- I didn't want to make it..

I guess there was energy I wasn't ready dedicate to this venture- but I am glad I eventually did. Every idea out of sketch and into real life is incredible release (Clears up a ton of room for new ideas, new energy to come in)..this one was hard to pinpoint. I first started with a neon acrylic, but didnt find the green intense enough, so I moved into oil- for those strong greens that only oil gives..but it still wasnt intense enough.

So, I used green mica pigments, with a gold pigment underlayer..but it wasn't intense enough.

I then tried green leafing which finally came off to the degree of green light I was trying to reflect.

Leafing is so very interesting and I can see why Klimt was a fan of it..it adds a very particular layer of richness you simply arent getting from loaded pigments.

Will have for sale at Saatchi when it dries: http://www.saatchiart.com/liraven.com

 The Discovery

When finding the unexpected, what might we do:  Ignore it? Take a pic? Eat it? Maybe come back and watch it grow...?

This was something I wanted to paint for quite awhile, although smaller than originally imagined, I still found it really satisfying to express.

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 The Sweetness of Life 

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Been wanting to bead silver components on sterling chain for awhile now.... These chains are soldered to vintage sterling S clasp rings.

***Set of 3 designs:

A lovely yemen prayer box graduated strand strung with vintage oxblood coral

A repousse salmon with coral eyes, hangs from a necklace of amber resin beads with coral, ruby accents..turquiose beads.

Beautifully carved river rock butterflies,  with repousse on reverse side. Strung with pearls and turquoise.

 There was this pleasant springtime where I would wait for the local (which only stopped by a few times daily). I was lucky to have been surrounded by a lush woods, which surrounded a relativley modern campus design; lots of cut lawns, and trees dotting the property in thoughtful ways. I would have instruction a couple times a week, which were far drive times.

The waits were oftentimes long, and as I seemed to wait there longer than most, the time would move slowly. I would bring music to listen to, but I didnt always have powered batteries and so, the music would stop sooner than later.

I didn't particularly mind though, because I enjoy nature and the surrounding landscape was filled with bug sounds, winds through branches and random birds.

The actual station, however, was not very comfortable; it would fill up with a game, I entitled;" How many humans can we squeeze on a bench". It was not a very fun game, and I much preferred the BEGINNINGS of my long waits rather than the end because there were a lot less of these antics.

Not only that, but when it was time to go, the groups would RACE to get aboard first- which was even stranger still, because the driver didn't open doors quickly...there was always an akward silence at the doors.  I could only imagine that the race was to get first shot at the seating situation inside....for that longer ride to wherever.

I would casually walk to the doors, sometimes arriving before others, but after awhile, I found the situation to be quite negative, energetically speaking. I felt like I was participating in an event of loss, rather of just simply getting from point A to point B.

Because of both the waiting and competition, I decided not to play. Instead, I spied I random spot of lawn nearby...between a building wall and smaller tree. It was no where NEAR the station, in terms of optimal boarding advantage, and that was fine with me: the rides were never particulary crowded anyway....or perhaps I simply did not mind sharing small spaces with others? For whatever reason, being close to last aboard gave me freedom from any stress related to the petty wars of mundane transit life.

I also discovered that it gave me more time.

Wanting to explore gemstone beads, berries seemed liked a tasty choice for a garnet display. Garnet beads in 3mm hang off green garnish, and a beaded cord using 'wildfire thread'. (SOLD)