Well, September is here. It used to mean back to school for me… now I turn my attention to the fall shows and festivals coming up, quickly!

Bethany Beach Boardwalk Festival: Sat 9/12, 10 – 5. Bethany Beach, DE

   One last weekend at the beach, anyone? I will be on the boardwalk, witht he ocean at my back. What more can a girl ask for? Please stop by if you are in town…

Artsfest at Annmarie Garden: Sat & Sun 9/19 & 20, 10 – 5. Solomon’s Island, MD     This beautiful garden setting, with over 100 artists, music, sculpture gardens… is a picture perfect weekend. I have my usual spot, nestled under a green canopy on the Wooded Path. Annmarie Gardens is an affiliate of the Smithsonian, and this weekend is not to be missed!

Art on the Avenue: Sat 10/3, 10 – 6. Alexandria, VA

     For me this festival marks the true beginning of fall. Children create scarecrows and cornucopias, bands play, great food… This community based festival is the ideal place to begin your holiday shopping! 

I look forward to meeting new people, and seeing familiar faces! And I will have many new things for you to see! Check back here for more pictures … I am loading a kiln today…

A batch of new tiles – drying in the studio. I seem to have rediscovered the CIRCLE. Design, composition, aesthetics – it’s great!

 ( Sorry for the quality, they were taken with my phone… Clay and cameras dont mix well…)

 This last one was inspired by a blog entry posted by the amazing Nina Bagley…

This month the Art Bead Scene chalenge: create a piece of jewelry inspired by Hokusai’s "great Wave".

Recently I purchased a new Mixed Media book – Amulets and Talismans: Simple Techniques for Creating Meaningful Jewelry by Robert Dancik. He teaches classes at the Shepherdess, although I have never had the pleasure of working with him… The book really is sparking some great creative ideas for me, things that I will apply to shrines and the like. But for now – I wanted to make an amulet tube bead…

PVC pipe – $.93 for 5′. Sawed, sanded, scraped, inscribed. Stained with acrylic paint and a patina of shoe polish. The brass discs were a little small when domed, so I added the felt. Cobalt links it to the palette of the print, but adds visual weight to the bead. The chain is minimal – cord with 2 raku discs. ( One seen here) You can see the other entries, its a diverse group!

I look forward to experimenting more with these. I see them in shrines, removeable to be worn? What do you think?

…or was it Bead Frenzy?

A while back I posted about my friend Marsha’s ceramic decal pendants. Well, I won that give-away! Hurrah! And I went to visit, and talk clay, and get my prize…

I came home with extras! The shard with the dripping blue glaze, too cool. And the tree decal piece that I had coveted. The circular piece with square hole was a prototype she gave me to experiment with…

Talking about Beadfest, turns out Marsha had an extra assistant badge. So convenient! Saturday was a whirlwind, too much fun. I had a budget, and almost stuck to it! Here are some highlights:

• Chatting with Andrew Thornton of Green Girl Studios
• Meeting Kristie of Artisan Clay
• Discussing French flea markets and ICE resin with Linda Larsen of Objects and Elements
• Meeting the amazing Gail Crosman Moore, who has taught at the Shepherdess in SD.
• Having dinner with Marsha and Lisa Kan, and Lisa’s husband Nick.

And the shopping, of course!

Green garnet and green tourmaline, oh my!

The Use the Muse II winners are revealed! ( I am not one of them.) But this was a great creative challenge that occuppied quite a bit of my imagination during clay camp…The pix above is the front. The "Muse" component – required in the piece is the carved Lillypilly shell circle, originally a donut. I modified it with resin, starfish, and antique paper on the back – even the text in keeping with my Selchie theme:

There is a vial of shells and dangles of pearl and kyanite below the shell pendant. The neckalce itself contains sea glass and river stone, pearls, a carved ojime bead of a mermaid, amazonite, seed beads…

You can see all the winners, and read about Use the Muse III – here. (Please note: my entry is under R for Reazor – whoops – and I am from Denmark? Oh well, Scarlett does an incredible job, and all for the love of beads!)

 …south east to be exact. To the DE beaches. One of the hardest things to get acclimatized to when I lived in San Diego was that ocean was WEST. How opposite… My goals are: reading, lots of reading, relaxing, a little crafting, and definitely time to gyre and gimble in the waves…

I leave you with a quote:

The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea.
—  Isak Dinesen

Mugs being trimmed on the wheel.

Completed mugs drying on the shelf in the studio.

And a haiku:

Trio of thrown mugs

awaiting glaze and the kiln

Tea in three time zones.

(When done, they will reside in San Diego with Cooky at The Shepherdess; and with K. Lo Bue in Sydney, and in DE with me…)

Each one more enticing than the last!

So – I have been interested in ceramic decals for a while, and they are on the "Things to try" list. My friend Marsha, the Glaze Gifter – has been working with them for a while now, ironing out the kinks, patiently testing and retesting. As you see in the pix above – her body of work is expanding! She has just posted on her blog a description of the process and many more pictures. I especially liked the "Before & After" shots.

Look for her work! At a time when there is a huge upsurge in ceramic bead and pendant makers, Marsha the Creative Spirit, is taking it one step further with vary original pieces. Did I mention the designs are all her drawings? See what I mean?!

She has a swirly tree design that I covet; and I am still holding out for butterfly designs…

 The background:

Harry Potter /Half Blood Prince was just around the corner, eagerly awaited. Lots of hype, anticipation. I wasn’t alone…Saw this on Gaea’s blog – a design contest for a Potter themed piece of jewelry, and the prize – beads! Sure! Where do I sign up?!

Here’s my entry:

It was all started by the owl, and the color palette. ( Although Slytherin house does have a nice palette as well…) The two smaller red beads are lampwork glass by Lisa, my sister-in-law.

And yesterday the postman brought me a package… thrilling, as I never win things! Here’s my prize!

Her work is so good, of course I love ceramic beads especially… and the goddess in the flowers, perfect for summer! Wait til you see the celestial pieces, the clouds, the Day of the Dead…And I received a bonus bead cylinder – awesome!

Now – what to do?  Hmm… Thanks, Gaea!