Sometimes I forget...

Just how much I LOVE to bead!!!    Then along comes an opportunity to get my 'gear' out and thread up a needle!   Below, a small commissioned piece.  This was requested by a client when she found the "Tree of Life" had been sold recently at the Framery Gallery.  She requested similar greens in the background & something with the line from her favorite poem entitled: "I must go down to the sea" to accompany her newly remodeled bedroom.

The calligraphy was done on broadcloth that I colored with acrylic paint.  Lisa Englebrecht had gifted me a bottle of FW's white acrylic artists ink and I love the effect! 

It's not entirely finished here; I need to bind it.  The center pinwheel section is only 5" x 5" and has over 60 separate pieces alone! The entire finished size will be closer to 10" x 10".   I love the pinwheel motif  as it reminds me of the colorful baskets you see on bikes coasting down the boardwalk. 

  

Somehow when I'm making giant quilts (be they art quilts or commissioned memory quilts) I forget just how much I love to sit and bead small motifs like this one.  The 'Sea Stars' are a challenge as they are real and very brittle.  (and need to be kept in a container so the cats can't find them!) 

While I was at the Bowers show; another vendor there had wanted some of my cards and I really wanted something she had so we traded.  I think I got the way better end of this deal.  This is a piece of woolen needlepoint that was clearly removed from some type of framework.  She indicated it was from back East but that is all she knew.   I fell in love with the rich red wool and the elegance of the seed bead work. 

You can see the different shades of seed beads used here. I love the counted cross stitch feel of it.  When I used to make ccxstitch works that included beads they were my favorite to work.  I have quite a collection hanging in my entry way and kitchen, but nothing as elegant as this.

The use of the difference in size of beads here is noticeable and used to great effect.

I am particularly enchanted with the way the silver lined beads look here.  As you move the light source across the piece it changes and takes on a whole new look.  It's quite stunning.  There are a few beads missing in the upper left corner that I will replace.  I think I'll mount it on a frame and hang it as is rather than use it in a mixed media work.  It's only 8" x 10" give or take. 

...I gotta get back to work; I've 4 memory quilts right now, each is 70" x 70" and they are due at the end of November.  I'll be offline for a bit till they are done.