Dreary, Cloudy Day

Here's a bracelet I made out of pewter beads, Chinese crystals, base metal wire, and beading wire. I wanted to make a bracelet that would have fringe hanging down from it. I did make the bracelet, but I haven't made the fringe yet. The bracelet doesn't fit properly and I'm not sure whether I want to take the time to put the extra work into it. I could modify the way it fits and then put fringe on it. Of course, I could put the fringe on it and if it works well, I could modify the fit.

There are so many decisions to make when it comes to artwork and crafts. If you design something yourself, you do have to figure out the design problems. I like doing that with jewelry though, because it does take a certain amount of engineering to get a piece just right, and it's small. I envision making huge big sculptures, but the design problems are magnified by the size. I think it's better to stick with jewelry, at least at this point.

I spent a great deal of time modifying the scans of my etching plates and pencil drawings. Then I formatted about five or six of them into a card format complete with my name, address, etc., so that it would print on the back of the card. I ordered envelopes and cellophane bags to put the cards in. Today I was going to try printing out a few, to see how they look. And would you believe, I can't find the files. Gosh. I'm usually very good about keeping my hard drive organized and tidy, but I cannot find those files. I've looked in every directory and folder. I know I'm getting older, but I didn't expect to lose things on my computer. I lose things in my house, my car, and my studio all the time. But not my computer. Oh, well. I'll do them again I guess.

We had an extra Board Meeting here at Spanish Village this morning, so I have to do the minutes for those. If I wait, I never get them done until the last minute. Then I'll work on my scans again. And the other thing I want to do is get out some of my older sketchbooks at home and do some more scanning. I don't like the idea of printing originals of my etchings and then selling them as greeting cards, but scans of plates and drawings that are modified is different.

Some of the artists in the Village have said that they don't find the greeting cards cost affective, and they may not be, but I don't think art is all about money. It can't be. It has to be about self-expression and then if money comes afterwards that's fine. Gosh, now I don't sound like a very good business woman.

Return Clients

Here are some more of Jon's plants that are blooming. And now we've had some rain, so we may see all kind of blooms soon. The purple plant has little pink flowers on it. I think it's a wandering jew. And the other one with green leaves has a white bud. I don't know what it is. A lotus? I sort of doubt it, but we'll see when it comes out.

I had a particularly nice day today. It was cold and cloudy, and I was cold. The nice thing about the day was that two of my former clients came by wearing necklaces I had made. The one is a women who comes periodically and I recognized her right away and also the necklace. But I had never met the other woman. She purchased my necklace at one of the Village Silent Auctions. It's a necklace that I had worn myself and was very fond of it, I looked at her, and said, "I like your necklace." When she told me she got it at a Silent Auction, I said, "Oh, I made that necklace." And she said one of the other jewelers said she thought I had made it. That made such a nice day for me. It was nice that they also each bought another necklace, but I would have been happy anyway.

Well, this is short this evening, because I couldn't get onto the internet earlier, and now it's late. We have a Board Meeting in the morning, so I want to be alert and rested.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

So once again, I tried to add an image and couldn't. So I went to the Help section of Blogger and there was a suggestion that I turn off my pop-up blocker. I did that and now here is the image I wanted. It's a wonderful, strange looking bloom on the little cactus plant right behind it. The bloom is larger than the stalks of the plant. It looked fuzzy, but I was hesitant to touch it, because I thought it might have spines on it. I took this photo several days ago. I'm sure it's gone now. I've never seen another bloom like it in the Village.

Today it rained in the morning, quite hard. The weather service has been predicting rain every Friday for I don't know how many weeks now. Several weeks ago, we had a few drops and that was it, but last night and this morning we had quite a bit, for us, that is. We get very little rain in San Diego, so really, it wasn't probably more than half an inch, but we desperately need it. We're having a terrible drought.

Because it was raining, I wound up spending the whole day in my studio. I suppose I could have come out in the early afternoon and remained outside, but I spent time trying to straighten up my stuff. I don't know that it looks much better, but I did try to stack all my plastic boxes of beads, enamels, and ceramics at one end of my display table so that there's a little bit of room for a display at one end.

Even though lots of people say an artist's studio should be messy and a jumble of stuff, I still feel embarrassed by mine at times. I'm certainly not the neatest person in the world, but I do like to have everything more or less organized. At this point, I think I can say I know where almost everything is in my studio. I'm not sure I could have said that this morning.

Tomorrow, I'll go on with my projects. I've been working on a black beaded bag. I'm probably more than half way finished with the body of the bag. I'll have to decide what kind of strap I want to put on it and how the fringe will look. And then I want to embellish it. I was going to use it as a Dia de los Murtos piece, but I may reconsider. The matte black beads I'm using would look really nice with some sparkly colored ones embroidered on it. That was my original intent.

Trial and Error

I'm trying to create a new post. First I couldn't upload the photo I had chosen, and now I've just lost the post that I had written. Such is life with a computer. Sometimes you just can't get the computer to do what you want it to.

I do spend time with the computer, looking up information on the internet. I must say, you certainly can find a whole world of amazing stuff if you look around on the web. I've spent several days now looking at photos of polymer clay beads. Some of them are rather pedestrian and some of them are amazing, beautiful and intricate.

Yes, I'm still looking at and thinking about polymer clay. But I'm determined that I'm not going to just plunge right in with it. I've been doing some reading. I find there are a number of websites that have information about polymer clay and directions for creating various projects. And of course, the thing about looking at polymer clay is that I see various color schemes. That's helpful to me now while I'm working with seed beads and the various colors they come in.

Well, I'm going to go ahead and post this before I lose it, too, and hope to have better luck tomorrow night.

Exchanging Ideas

Here's a plant that grows right near my table. I love the way some succulents have slightly pink edges, as though they're blushing, maybe at all the attention they get. But I don't begrudge them the attention. Although the plants in Spanish Village belong to and are maintained by the artists, with a few exceptions, the whole of Balboa Park is known for its botanical specimens. At one time the San Diego Zoo, part of the Park, advertised itself as having the largest collection of plants in the world, as well as the largest collection of animals. I don't know if that's still true about the plants or the animals, but certainly it gives us the opportunity of observing a great variety of interesting plants.

I'm continuing to work on beadweaving although today I did spend some time on a bracelet of a slightly different style. I made a prototype out of inexpensive beads and wire to see how the design would work. As I make different kinds of bracelets, I see what some of the design issues are. Over the weekend, I made a bracelet that I thought would be just the right length, but without adding an extra ring, the clasp wasn't right. When I added another ring, the bracelet was too long. At this point, I've got several bracelets that are too long. Because the beadweaving consists of "weaving" the beads altogether, it's much harder to undo them than it is with wire components which can be cut off individually. I'm still learning.

If I make a bracelet with a single strand of wire and beads, or strung or knotted beads, there's no problem with the clasp. However, if I make a wide bracelet, I have a choice of putting one clasp in the middle of the end or two clasps, one at the top and one at the bottom. But the wrist is narrower near the hand and wider as it progresses towards the elbow. Or at least mine is. Most of the examples of bracelets in books and magazines have one or two buttons or beads with loops to fasten the bracelet, but I don't like that solution. I want something more professional looking. And, of course, ideally I'd like to make my own clasps. I'm working on it and my unconscious mind is working on it, too, I hope.

Today a friend came to sit next to me at my table and work on some jewelry. I enjoy having her company. I like my work, and I don't mind working alone, but it's nice to have company at times. And it's nice to discuss ideas and projects. That's one of the most valuable things about being where we are: having interaction with other artists. I know that when I worked in the computer field, I always spent time talking to other people who were knowledgeable about computers. I still do that. Thank goodness I can talk to Philip about computers, and there are lots of artists to talk to as well.

There weren't many visitors in the Village today, but one woman spent time watching us work and commented that she found it so interesting to see how each artist organizes their space and their materials as well as doing their work. She asked me about whether all beads were strung with a thread and needle. So I explained that it is only for some types of jewelry making, specifically beadwork or beadweaving. Those are the kinds of things we take for granted, but visitors frequently have questions. I enjoy explaining my work to visitors.

Patterns and Their Variations

Here's a photo of a succulent that grows in front of Jon's studio. I love the pattern of the leaves. Of course, there are lots of patterns in nature. They have a nice, comfortable feel about them. I think we try to find patterns in events that occur around us and that involve us.

Patterns are nice in art. I favor them myself. But it's also nice to get away from them, too, or to show variations that are not so obvious. Variations are one of the interesting aspects of classical music, the mind playing with an idea. I find myself doing that when I'm thinking about a project. I start with one idea and then carry it through to a variation or a new twist until I'm in a completely different spot than when I started. But of course, that means I now have five, seven, ten ideas for projects and I can never do them all. Well, I suppose I could if I turned off my thinking, if I took off my thinking cap for awhile.

A good place to use a thinking cap is doing cardio at the gym or driving in the car, anywhere where you don't have to pay too much attention to what you're actually doing. I can also think when I'm working on my jewelry because lots of that is repetitious for the most part. I can't do that though if I'm working on variations in a necklace, for example.

When I'm feeling kind of lazy, I make a necklace with a set pattern. When I'm pushing myself, I do variations on a pattern, something asymetrical. The asymetrical is much more interesting but it takes a whole lot more work, a whole lot of thought. The seed beads are really good for patterns and lack of patterns because there are lots of colors to choose from.

When I have a nice strand of green garnets or tourmaline or pearls, I don't really want to do much with them besides show them off in a plain necklace. But if the stones are not so high quality, it is nice to combine them and even make them asymetrical. I like using small pearls with various stones such as garnets or lapis lazulia. That gives the piece a classic look which I don't think you can beat very easily.

Deciding Not To Start A New Medium

Here's a photo I took several days ago. It shows the golden rain tree outside my studio. You can see there are some yellow blossoms, but I don't think there are very many. It's been a very dry year and so there may not be many. And some of the ones that have appeared have already changed into the orange seed pods.

We had some cold weather last weekend, but now it seems to be back to the normal fall weather. When it seemed we were going to have a strong storm, I put both my umbrellas away, but we never got much rain. I thought since the sun is dropping in the sky to the south that I could get away with leaving my umbrellas inside until spring, but I'm not sure now. I've spent several afternoons feeling extremely warm.

In the last week or so, I've been spending time working on modifying my scanned etching plates and drawings with PaintShop Pro. I'm getting better at working with the program. I use to use it about 10 years ago and it's nice I can still remember. I need to refresh my memory when it comes to layers, though. I was just learning about that before.

I've mostly finished my amulet purse, except for the fringe and the closure. I'll have to work on it some more. I'm a little bit unsure about the fringe. I don't want it to be too overpowering which seems to be a common failing with many of the examples I've looked at. And the other problem is that the bottom row of beads is not quite straight, so the fringe may be hard to apply just right. I may have to kind of "eyeball" the whole thing.

Today was my day off, but I spent time working with PaintShop Pro and then later investigating polymer clay. It's a medium I've been curious about for quite awhile. But it would be a whole new skill, of course, and I'm not sure I want to go in that direction right now. Later, maybe, but not now. I'm still engrossed in the beadwork.

Fourth Thursday - Art At Night

Here's a photo I took this evening during Fourth Thursday. The studios stay open until about 8:00 p.m. or thereabouts. Philip and I were there and shared a bottle of wine. He had lemon pound cake, too, but I told him not to give me any food. I said I was yearning for a filet mignon and some potato chips. But neither of those were forthcoming, and anyway they're not on my diet.

Today was my day off, but I spent time this morning working on the scanned images that I created yesterday. I took all my etching plates that have ground on them and scanned them into my computer. It was very easy and went quite quickly. I'll try doing some more scanning, maybe tomorrow. I thought I might scan in my drawings. I've got dozens of sketchbooks with drawings in them. And I have a group that I used colored felt tip pens on. Those could be scanned, too. I like the idea of scanning in my drawings and using them on my blog or website, so that they don't remain unseen in my bookcase.

I'm still working on the amulet purse I started on September 15. The purse itself is now mostly done unless I want to add to the front flap. The strap is almost done. I believe I can get it done by tomorrow unless I have a large number of distractions. Then I want to add fringe. I've been looking at examples of amulet purses. Many of them seem to have fringe that's rather overpowering. I'd like to avoid that. It may not be possible if there are so many created in the same fashion. I just have to try and see.

After I finish this purse, I'd like to start another one. I know that if I do, I'll want to work on it until it's finished. That's what I've been doing with the current one. But then I think about some of the other items I should be working on, like necklaces to display my enamel pendants and the ceramic ones. Also, I'd like to make some pearl necklaces and maybe bracelets. Everyone seems to love pearls. And my delicate necklaces and bracelets made with gold-filled wire are almost gone as well. There's a great deal I could do to increase my inventory for the fall and winter seasons.

Besides making amulet purses, I'd like to make one or several bracelets or necklaces that have cabochons set in them with beads. I have a number of stone cabochons that Jon made and now I also have one that is made from a piece of glass he blew that cracked or broke. He cuts up his broken pieces and turns them into wonderful cabochons and even some faceted shaped "gems." What I really would like to find are some very large faceted glass "gems" to incorporate into a beaded bracelet, but I don't know where to find them. I'll have to hunt around some more.

Website In the Sky

Here's a photo I took on Saturday. No, actually it was on Friday when the weather was still nice. It is sky writing and it says; "Shop Zappos.com." It turns out that Zappos sells athletic shoes among other things. I assumed that it had something to do with the Red Bull air races that were taking place in San Diego Harbor. But I suppose it may not have unless they thought the folks at the races would be in their target audience. I don't know whether they would be. Seeing the sky writing is kind of like the pair of shoes I saw that had a website written on the insole. The internet seems to be here to stay. I don't anybody can argue with that.

Philip and I talked about my website, about updating it. I need to start watching the tutorials online so I can learn to use Web Expressions. I thought that I would be able to give up the computer by now, but technology is sucking me back in. And I admit, I do enjoy it on a certain level. There's certainly a great deal more that we can do these days compared to the days when the PC had a text-based interface. Now everything is so pretty and decorative.

Today is one of my days off from the studio, so I went visiting. My cousin, who is about 12 years older than me, was showing me some artwork she had found on the internet. She purchased a very interesting original linoleum print at the swap meet and then proceeded to research it online. And she spent time talking about how wonderful the internet is for doing research. She's right, of course, but I couldn't help thinking that those of us who are older aren't as likely to feel very comfortable or knowledgeable about the computer. So she's doing very well, I'd say. I was fortunate to learn myself when I worked for the military.

The reason I went to visit my cousin originally was to pick up some beads that she found when she was doing some cleaning out of things. I'm happy to have them because they're not my typical style. It's always nice to work with something that you might not have picked out for yourself. I use to enjoy going shopping with a friend of mine who always managed to direct my attention to something that I wouldn't have noticed on my own. For an artist, I feel remarkably unobservant at times.

Besides going to get beads from my cousin, I suppose this was a day when I spent almost no time on my artwork or shopping for supplies. It was nice, actually. I really feel like I had a day off for a change.

Recognizing the Omphalos

Here's a photo I took when I first arrived at Spanish Village on Saturday morning. It had rained some in the night, and it rained about 10:30 that morning as well, for about half an hour. I spent the day inside my studio, partly because it rained early, but also because I forgot to take my chair in and it was wet. I had taken it in on Wednesday when I took down both umbrellas, but then I brought it out.

By the time I was ready to leave on Saturday, it was dry. Then there was talk of more rain Saturday night, but there wasn't any, and so yesterday I could sit in it with no problem. It's been cool, though. Now they're predicting that we might have some more warmer weather, but my table is now in the shade almost all day. Several people have asked me about my umbrellas, but I think I might leave them inside until next year.

One idea I had today was that I should get Jon to put a post on my table, so I could hang a lamp from it. I could use it on cloudy days and it might make me more noticeable. Certainly, I can bring a lamp out from inside, but it might be nice to have one already there that I could just plug into my extension cord that reaches the table. Normally I use it for my computer and printer, but there's no reason why I couldn't have a lamp as well. It might add a cozy feeling to a dreary day. But the fact remains that it's getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. This is the third or fourth day in a row when I sat outside and thought about getting my sweatshirt to put on.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on my amulet purse. I've mostly finished the purse itself, and this weekend was spent working on the strap. However, I didn't work as many hours on it as I did last weekend. For one thing, when I sat inside on Saturday, I was distracted by the computer. I spent time looking for bead and cross-stitch patterns. I wasn't very successful, but I always feel as though I need to look anyway.

On Saturday a friend of mine was looking at my etchings and drawings and said she say all kinds of things in them. Later she wrote me an email that said some of the structures reminded her of open-pit diamond mines and also of an omphalos. Omphalos is the Greek word for navel. Delphi was located on the center or navel of the earth, and there are photographs of the omphalos that was located at Delphi. It's the center of the earth, of life, the beginning.

In any case, her comments inspired me to bring them out and work on them some more. I'd like to incorporate the omphalos in my enameling and beadwork as well as the etching. So much to do, so many directions to explore.

Working Away

Here's a photo that I changed the color of. It is a photo of one of my etching plates with the ground still on it, before I etched it. I used PhotoShop to change the colors. I admit I'm partial to pink and green. I guess I'm really a girl at heart, no matter how much I want to think I'm a liberated woman.

Anyway, my idea is to take some of my etching photos like this one and turn them into greeting cards and include my poems on them, or maybe just portions of my poems. I know that everyone here at Spanish Village who has had greeting cards has ultimately stopped carrying them. Some of the artists have said that people will buy a card rather than a painting. And some say it takes too long to assemble them. But my purpose for making and selling them would be to look at them as a vehicle for my poetry and my etchings which almost never sell in my studio anyway.

I started another blog called mgEspe in which I'm using my poetry and some of the photographs. I'll go on with it. I really like blogging even if it's not the best way to publish my writing. But I like having a presence on the web and it's certainly easier than having a website at this point. Well, that is, it's easier than creating a new website for my poetry, an idea I had quite a long time ago but never put into practice.

I tried to get online last night, but for some reason I couldn't connect. However, Philip pointed out to me the other day that there was a little open spot on the side of my computer. It was for the little anntenae on the side. I found it in the bottom of my carrying case this morning. So it may have affected my ability to connect at home. Maybe not though because I connected at work and also at my parents' house. So I don't know what the problem is.

I spent yesterday morning buying beads. I went three different places to find everything that I needed. I'm still working on my amulet purse. I have sewn the sides up and added a flap although I want to make the flap longer. Then I'm thinking of adding a rivoli for embellishment. Rivolis are crystals that are essentially one sided and round with facetting like a gemstone, sort of. I have been seeing them in some of the magazines and books and wanted to try attaching some to a project using a peyote bead bezel. Then I also want to add fringe to my bag and make a strap to hang it from. I've put 25 hours into it already, and I can't say how much longer it will take to finish it. It's for me, but I'd like to make more of them. They're not cost effective, but I'd still like to make them.

Catching Up

Here's a photo I took several days ago out in front of one of the studios. When I saw it, I wondered how a plant could have grown up and been in full bloom seemingly overnight. But it's not a plant. It's just some flowers that someone put there. It's lovely though. Too bad we don't have more plants like it around. Mostly we have succulents which are very interesting, but they're not large and exuberant like this. They tend to be small and subtle. Sometimes you have to look very closely at them to see their colors and blooms. They do attract a lot of attention though.

Yesterday I was off, but I still wound up going to one of the bead suppliers that I like. I just went to get some Fire Line, a steel "string" that I use for beadweaving. They were out of it, but I still wound up buying a variety of beads including some crystals for my amulet bag. However, I realize that I really need to take the bag with me so that I can get the color I like best.

I was also looking for some large fake jewels that I could embroider onto a bracelet. They didn't have what I was looking for exactly, but I did get some big crystal beads. Anyway, they say on the label that they're crystal, but I'm not sure. They have a slight aqua tint to them, but I think I can change the color if I put them against various colored seed beads.

And I got some strands of pearls. I can't ever seem to resist buying a few strands. Recently I've been trying to find small ones. Most everything is large now because of the way they're produced. Freshwater pearls are produced in mussles, not oysters. And they live on farms. They have a nice life. They don't lose their lives when the pearls are harvested. They can make more than one pearl at a time and they are implanted with pieces of shells, so they can wind up being very large pearls if the pieces of shell that are implanted are large.

But I want little pearls that I can use in my beadweaving. I made one bracelet with some pearls on it and sold it already. I think I have to be careful not to use white pearls, but I think the colored ones are nice. Some of them have an aurorea borealis look to them that is like some of the beads and crystals. Of course, sometimes it's good to have a contrast, like matte finish beads with some sparkly ones. My next project is going to be a bead embroidered necklace on a background of black matte beads.

Enjoying Tedium

Here's a photo I took this afternoon. I uploaded it to my service provider's site and then downloaded it to my computer. I prefer downloading it from my memory card, but it seems to be malfunctioning, so this is the second best option. It worked pretty well. Sometimes the site is really slow, but I didn't feel as though I had to wait very long tonight.

Anyway, this is a project I've been working on all weekend. It now has approximately 20 hours worth of work in it. It will be an amulet purse when it's finished. I plan to wear it myself and keep my drivers license and credit card in it. Unfortunately we've experienced some thefts at Spanish Village and so I don't like to leave my wallet in my studio or even lying unattended in a bag on my worktable. So this is the solution. Or, it will be.

I'm finally getting so that I can do peyote stitch pretty well. There are several mistakes near the top of the piece, but it gets better as I worked on it. And I find that I really enjoy making it. It's very repetitious, but I find it meditative. And I'm looking forward to putting some embellishments on the piece. I'll add some fringe at the bottom and make a strap of some sort to hang it around my neck. I'd like to put a piece of my enamel or etching on the outside of it with some other beads.

I spent a great deal of time this morning looking at and downloading photos of bead embroidery. I love the look of it, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of making jewelry that includes some kind of fabric or leather backing to it. I would rather make the foundation out of beads and then embroider on top of it. In fact, I think that's what I'll try after I've made several more bags. Well, actually I can embroider the next bag I make.

The piece in the photo is about 5 inches by 6 inches or 30 square inches. I've worked on it for 20 hours, so that means I can make about 1.5 square inches per hour. That would be something good to keep in mind. Anyway, the embroidery has appeal for me, because it would be more free flowing than the plain stitching is. I have some patterns for pieces made with peyote and straight stitch that I could use, and I like the idea of doing a piece in which all the beads are counted and of certain colors depending on the pattern, I'd like to create the pattern myself, from my own artwork, but I think I may find it hard to concentrate on counting when there are people around, especially on the weekends. I guess I'll just have to try it and see. In the meantime, I enjoy making up patterns as I go along. And it's easier to work in a striped pattern than on a piece that's all one color.

What Happened To My Time

Here's a photo I took several weeks ago. I'm glad I did, because this necklace was sold last weekend. I remember that when I made it, I followed a pattern I had developed and used to make another necklace, I had used larger beads. So when I made this necklace, it came out a little shorter and wouldn't have fit just anyone. In fact I considered it a little too tight to wear myself. But I let one of my friends wear it to a party. The woman who bought it said she had a skinny neck. I told her I thought she'd make a good model. She had a nice long neck, very elegant and pretty.

Today, I spent some time working on a beaded bead, something I've been trying on and off for awhile. Recently I had the idea of using very thin wire instead of thread so that they would retain their shapes better than the ones made with thread. So I did manage to make a bead, but I realized that I can't use the size 11 seed beads. The holes in them are not large enough to pass the wire through more than two times at the most. Fortunately, I just purchased some larger seed beads yesterday that I was able to use. They are size 6 and 8. The higher then number, the smaller the bead in this case.

I took a photo of the bead, but unfortunately the memory card in my phone isn't functioning properly,so I couldn't upload it to my computer to use here. That might be a good thing though because it will force me to start using the camera that Philip loaned me quite some time ago. Then I'll have better photos to use on my website as well as here and for other promotional material.

Yesterday, I bought a portable laminator. Well, maybe it was day before yesterday. I would like to laminate some of my drawings, stamps, maybe etchings, and use them to make jewelry. It would be more of a fun jewelry or it could be serious jewelry that has a message to it. I've been wanting to incorporate text into my work, but I haven't been able to find a very satisfactory way to do so. This might be a good one.

The other idea that I had was to apply paint to some of my handcarved stamps and then stamp them on copper and etch the copper. Then I've thought that I could back copper pieces with beads so the green oxidation doesn't rub off on your skin. Gosh, there's so much to try, so much to do. When will I find time?

Still Learning

Here's a photo I took several days ago. It was made from some of the same pearls that compose the beaded bead that I mentioned several days ago. They're green stick pearls. I like them. Lots of people seem to.

I'm feeling a little frustrated because I spent time last night writing in my blog and then the wireless network went down, I guess, and I lost my post. I'm sure I should probably compose it in my word processor first so that I don't lose it. But I should back up my hard drive, too, and I don't. And having lost my hard drive several times, I know better. I even have a very large external hard drive that I could use. It would be easy. The computer is so nice when it works, and when it doesn't it's such a drag. I admit I don't have much patience for broken or malfunctioning equipment.

Yesterday at work some of the artists were laughing and teasing me. I had my laptop, my cellphone, my bluetooth charger, my MP3 player, and my printer all spread out on my worktable in a big jumble that included strings and tubes of beads all mixed in with wire and scissors and who knows what else. I couldn't get my bluetooth to work, I couldn't pull up a photo I had taken with my cellphone. The bluetooth problem was operator error. I haven't used it enough to really know what to do all the time. But the cellphone isn't working very well. I admit I've dropped it several times and that doesn't help. I need to take it and get it replaced. I just haven't made the time recently.

I spent some of my time today searching for beads. I still feel as though I don't have enough different colors of seed beads. I guess I'll always feel that way. I fall in love with the way they look, and I buy them. The seed beads especially are so seductive that way. They're such beautiful colors. But I'm still having a problem with some colors like fushia and lavendar.

I've been working on the bracelet that I started Sunday afternoon. The pattern is almost complete, but it's getting too long. It's nice though, and I've considered making it into a purse by adding more rows on the side, or . . . . I don't know. The thing is that I enjoy it so much that it doesn't seem to matter. I'll just make another one. Or I should say, I'll just keep making more until I get some that are satisfactory. I thought of an idea for a clasp for the other bracelet that I think would work. I'll try that tomorrow. I really like it. It's one of those pieces that I tell myself I'm going to keep. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't.

Lines Of Beads

Here's a bracelet I made this weekend. It took me about 12 hours to make. In this shot, it's only about three quarters done, maybe somewhat more. It has several design problems. I wound up making it a little too long. I could shorten it, or just keep it for myself. And the clasp arrangement isn't quite right.

Clasps are a problem. I don't want to spend so much money on clasps that I tie up all my capital in clasps, but I also don't want them to be cheap ones that make the jewelry look as though it were made by a hobbyist. I want it to look professional. So I spend a great deal of time thinking about and attempting to design clasps.

The idea I had for this bracelet didn't work very well, because the wire was too thin. But it couldn't have been thicker and fit through the beads. However, I found another idea for a clasp in one of the books I have. I'll try it on the next bracelet. Actually, the second one is getting close to being done. It's not as wide as this one, so it goes faster, and I think I'm getting better and faster as time progresses.

Today was my day off, but I did spend some time looking at bead books in one of the bookstores near me, hoping to find something to really inspire me. I wasn't terribly successful, but I got one that seems interesting. And I've been spending time in the evening looking through the bead books. There are so many and each time I look I see something new and different that I didn't register before.

Using Computers To Help

Here's a photo I took the other day. It's a cabachon that Jon made. The photo isn't very good, because you can see all the heavenly colors it has in it. What I did was cover the back and part of the front with a bead woven bezel. Since the cabachon has no hole in it, there's no way to attach it to anything except with a bezel or with prongs in a setting. This way, the beaded covering can now be attached to a necklace or other object. My plan is to attach it to an amulet bag that I've been working on. But making a little beaded bag is a time consuming proposition.

I'm trying to create a pattern on the beaded bag that echoes the pattern in the stone itself. An idea that I have is to take a clear photograph of it and then translate it using a graphing program. I could plot it out by hand on graph paper I suppose, but the program would certainly make it very easy. I spent time this afternoon looking at bead and counted cross stitch programs that enable you to take a photo or a scan and import it into the program. Then the program automatically translates it into a chart that you can follow.

One thing that's nice about the charting programs is that they also allow you to "draw" on the digital graph paper and then "color" in the shapes. In that respect, it's like one of those old Paint programs on Windows. Well, I suppose the Paint program is still part of Windows, but I haven't used it for ten or twelve years. And the Paint program didn't create the graphs.

The charting program is an obvious use of the computer. And I've known about them for about ten years as well. I worked in an office where several of my co-workers use that kind of program to create counted cross stitch patterns. I wish I'd had a program like that in the days when I was doing counted cross stitch. It certain would have made life easier. I think about getting back to some counted cross stitch, but I don't have time. Anyway, I can achieve the same kind of affect with beads and that fits in with what I'm doing now. The question is whether I want to spend enough time going in that direction to warrant spending the money for the software program. I'll have to think about it.

Recently, I gathered together all my jewelry photos from various folders on my computer and copied them into a folder that I point the Windows screensaver to. That way, when I don't type on the computer for awhile, I get a stream of photos of my own and other people's jewelry. I've also included fabric samples to use as color schemes. And I find that I'm really enjoying the jewelry. The photos that come up on the screen are larger than the ones that I look at as icons in the folders and so I can see more detail. The other thing is that I'm a firm believer in catching a glimpse of something. I'll glance at a photo just as it fades away and get an impression that I wouldn't get if I look straight ahead at it and study it. Sometimes a glimpse like that will give a good suggestion that you wouldn't get otherwise. I try to take advantage of those moments in life.

Making Jewelry I Like

Here's a photo of a necklace I made several weeks ago. It's a contrast between the black and the yellow green with the dark blue and the yellow as a contrast to the other two colors. Contrast is important, especially with this kind of necklace. Of course, the whole length could be one color or two similar colors, but then it wouldn't be so eye-catching.

Of course, eye-catching is not what everyone wants. I personally like to wear accessories that are eye-catching, that stand out, that people make remarks about. But I don't think everyone feels that way. And I know there are times when I'm not in the mood to spend a lot of time talking to people about an eye-catching piece of jewelry that I'm wearing. Because that is what happens. If you wear something eye-catching, people will comment. Sometimes I stop to talk about my jewelry, and sometimes I just say "thank you" when they compliment me and don't bother to tell them that I made it myself.

I know that some of my jewelry is the type that not many women chose to wear. They don't want to wear something dramatic. And a lot of women think, mistakenly or not, that they can't wear a large and/or dramatic piece of jewelry. I hear women say that all the time when they see the enamel pendants that I've made, that they can't wear something that big or they won't wear something like that and do I have something smaller.

The choice I have to make is: do I make enough different kinds of jewelry that everyone will find one they love or do I stick to the dramatic pieces? I tend to prefer the dramatic myself although a fair number of my pieces aren't so dramatic. There is one thing however that I do know about making jewelry. I have to make what I like myself. As soon as I try to make a piece in a color scheme that I don't like, or a style I don't like, I can't finish the piece or I can't get it to look right. So I'm forced to make things I like myself and would wear. Otherwise, the piece just doesn't work out. And then people don't respond the way they would if they can sense that I love the colors and the materials.

Today I spent most of the day on one necklace made with various colors of green seed beads as well as pearls and yellow-green Chinese crystals. I got the pearls yesterday and started to make what I thought was a bracelet last night. Today, it turned into a necklace. The idea I had for the bracelet didn't work out. The necklace is coming along pretty well, but I think I will reserve final judgement until I see the finished piece.

Always Working On Some Idea

Here's a photo I took several days ago. It shows my new umbrella, the green one on the right. It gives me a great deal of shade. This photo was taken late in the day, so you can see the sun is shining on the table. That doesn't happen until about 6:00 p.m. these days. Later in the year, I'll be glad to have the sun but right now it makes me very warm. Well, really. . . VERY HOT. The weather has been in the high 80's these last few days, much warmer than our usual 72 to 75 degree weather. We're so use to temperate weather that we complain if it gets more than a few degrees warmer or cooler. And in several months we'll wish we had this warm weather and long days back again.

Today was my day off, but I went to one of the bead suppliers that I frequent. After making the bead pictured in my previous post, I realized that I wanted to get some smaller pearls that I could use with the seed beads. Most of the pearls I have now are larger, really too big for what I want to make. So I found some, but the smaller ones are harder to find nowadays. Beads are like everything else: they go in and out of fashion.

Our eye changes. I had occasion to use my father's old laptop which he got in about 1995 if I remember correctly. So it's at least ten to twelve years old. It's a laptop, but it has a different look and proportion to it than the ones we have nowadays. The screen is more square, not the wide screen like we have now. And it is thicker. Of course that's the technology. Everything is getting smaller and lighter. Wires can be thinner and circuitboards smaller with all the components closer together. I like little gadgets. I like little things. I suppose that's why the seed beads are so appealing to me.

One of the problems with the seed beads is their size. I have no trouble working with them during the day. But recently I've been bringing my beads home with me and working on them before and after dinner which my housemate and I usually eat out in the patio. We have light out there, but I find myself struggling at times with the beads and also threading the needle. Sometimes it's hard to see what I'm doing. I find that I'm most likely to have a problem when I'm starting something new. If I stick to my regular stuff, I'm okay.

I've thought about not bringing my work home at all. I wasn't for a long time, but I'm trying to make headway with the seed beads and that's why I'm working ovetime. I'm hoping that will change soon, that things will begin to come together more. And I see some evidence of that. I'm getting the hang of it. When I went to the bead supplier today, they asked me to teach a class. They've asked me before, but I'm shy at this point. I'll give it some thought. I can see that it could supplement my income.

Slow Labor Day

Here's a photo I took last night. It's a beaded bead that I made yesterday. I like making them and plan to make some more. Eventually I'll make a necklace with a lot of beads on it. I'm really beginning to get the idea of adding other beads in with the seed beads to make necklaces that I like. And the advantage of using the larger beads is that I make some pieces that are more substantial. I want to avoid ones that are insipid. It's easy to do with seed beads.

I was going to write an entry in my blog last night, but sometimes I can't get on the free neighborhood network at home. Really, we're very lucky having the network available, and I love being able to sit in my patio or my bedroom and use it. I can use it here at the Village because Philip set up a wireless router, and I can get on the network at my parents retirement complex. My father is now so use to his wireless connection that he is surprised when he finds himself unable to access it. Who would have thought we'd get so spoiled so fast.

I spent time today organizing my photos on my computer. I've downloaded a number of photos of jewelry that I like to look at, and I've photographed various pieces of my own. I put them all together in one directory and set my screensaver to point to that directory. Now when I stop working on my computer so that the screensaver is activated, I see photos of jewelry. I see one photo and I get three ideas. I try to write them down, so I don't forget.

This weekend my enamel teacher is going to be in the Enamel Guild, so I need to spend time this week cutting more pieces in preparation for Saturday. I want to make some new pieces to put out. I created a whole group of enamel pendants earlier in the year and sold a great many of them. I haven't sold any for awhile, but I'll get back to it. I brought them outside yesterday and attracted some attention. That's always good. At least people are responding to them.

In addition to the jewelry in my screensaver, I added some of my etchings that I scanned into my computer awhile back. I have a printer now that scans, and I've thought of making some greeting cards with some of my work. I think people would like having them. When I've worked in other studios where there were greeting cards, they've always been popular. I could incorporate my poetry with the etchings and drawings. I have so many ideas. I just wish I had time.

Trying New Skills

Here's a photo I took several days ago, in the early morning. It looks nice and cool, especially right now when the Vista weather gadget on my computer screen says the temperature is 84 degrees. Fortunately I have a breeze here, so I've been relatively comfortable all day, but soon the sun will drop down below the edge of my umbrella, and then I'll be quite warm.

I spent the entire day working on a bead bezel to surround one of Jon's cabcahons. I have seen a number of necklaces done that way and I admit there are many of them that I don't care for, but I've been intrigued just the same. It turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. I started at about 10:00 this morning and it took me until about 4:00. Six hours is a long time, but I'm definitely getting faster and more skilled. By creating the bezel, I also did some peyote stitch, a skill I hadn't mastered until today. Now I have. Of course, each time I learned a new skill, it opens a door to more possibilities.

I have a tendency to think of spending my time at Spanish Village coming up with ideas, being creative, but of course there's also the time spent learning and practicing new skills. If I had been at home today, I doubt I would have spent six hours working on the same project. I probably would have played with my dogs and taken a nap. This was better. I like making things, and I like being productive.

I admit that I like to lie around, napping and eating. However, I'm trying to lose weight and so I've taken up exercising again as well as eating less. My favorite form of exercise is swimming. Actually, I walk back and forth in the water. Frequently when I am there, I'm alone in the pool or maybe there will be one or two other people. When that's the case, I find myself thinking about jewelry projects and solving various problems like making a new type of clasp or bracelet. I enjoy that. Frequently I plan what I'm going to do once I get to the studio. That's a big help to me.

I brought my computer to work today, because Philip said he would help me with a web site program, so I can update my website. So that's a new project for me. I'll watch the videos first and see what I can learn. If I have the computer here on my work table, I can work on it until I get bored and then switch to bead work for awhile. That sounds like a good plan.

Summer Ending

Here's a photo I took several days ago. It's of one of my enamel pendants. I've worn it and gotten compliments for it. I like the green. In fact, I've always loved green, but I go through periods when I can't seem to make anything unless it has green in it. My current passion is electric yellow green. I love it with black or fushia or blue or purple or anything almost.

I made this enamel pendant several months ago. I usually enamel on the second Saturday of the month, but this last month I didn't do anything. I was tired and kind of burned out. But I'll get back to it. The enamel pendants have been very popular. One problem I had though was that when they sat in the sun in the hot weather, they got too hot. Now I have an umbrella though, so it's not a problem. But on the other hand, when I put them out under the umbrella, they don't sparkle in the sun as much. Well, of course, everything has a trade off.

I spent today on a beaded bead. It was the fourth one I've made and I'm happy with it. I'll make some more as time goes on. I like combining the various different colors and coming up with something small and relatively simple but eye catching. The one I made today is royal blue, green, of course, and fushia. I like the bright colors. I've finally found a way to add some bright shiny objects to my artwork. Enamels fit that category to some degree, but the glass beads help as well, Eventually I'll combine them.

My other plan is to "set" a cabachon in a bead bezel. Jon's been creating some wonderful looking cabachons in the lapidary class he takes. So he gave me a group of them to work with, to try with the beads I have to come up with some good combinations. So many ideas. If I work 18 hours a day, I still wouldn't get everything done.

Tomorrow is the start of the Labor Day Weekend and the official end of summer. However, we're in the middle of a heat wave and will have nice weather for another two months or more. Today we did get a little rain, but it was a tropical storm from the Gulf of California and only lasted a few minutes.

A Day Off

Here's a photo I took of a bead I made yesterday. I made szeveral attempts to construct it according to the directions in the book, but I couldn't make it work that way, so I devised my own method of making it. I have found that trying to follow directions for various beadwork projects doesn't seem to work very well for me. I have to just do it my own way. And actually I like the challenge of doing that.

Today was a day off for me, but I was still thinking about work. I went to a 99 cent store and bought some plastic containers for storing beads in. That's something I haven't really figured out yet: exactly how to store all the beads. They come packaged in several different ways. Some are strung on strings, usually 10 to 12 strands per hank. Some come in plastic bags. Some come in tubes. So far the beads I've gotten in tubes are in three different size tubes. The ones in bags have to be put in boxes when they are opened. And the strung ones either need to remain on their strands or put in little boxes if a project doesn't take a whole strand.

I've gone back and started reading early entries in my blog. I find it interesting. I need to make some notes to bring up certain subjects again or to report my progress. And I'm also doing it to attempt to maintain continuity. I don't actually know how many people read my blog, and I don't know if anyone has read it from beginning to end, although one artist at Spanish Village did tell me she had read it, most of it maybe.

Nowadays there are so many computer related things I can do to help me with my business. I mean there are a great many things I can do besides the obvious ones of having a website and blog and getting business information. Of course, there's ordering, something I'm doing more of. And there's research, looking at other artists' jewelry to get some inspiration. I spent time recently looking at crochet, tatting, and counted cross stitch patterns to get ideas for beadwork. And I looked at striped upholstery fabric to get ideas for patterns and color combinations.

Another possibility is to create an album of my jewelry photos that can serve as a screen saver. Right now I have a great many travel photos that I have combined to play when I walk away from the computer, but if I had jewelry photos that could be a way to display my work and if I had samples of other artists' work they could work on my subconscious mind to give me ideas. So many ideas. So much fun.

Learning About Seed Beads

Here's a photo of a bracelet I made recently. I have been struggling with the seed beads for various reasons, and this was one of the first pieces that I felt was really successful. I made it several weeks ago, and today I noticed that the beads are fading. At the bottom is a striped "bead" made with several colors of some beads called Delica. As far as I know, they are from Japan. They're beautiful, but I'm disappointed that the dark blue ones at the bottom have faded.

I like to wear my jewelry even when I take a shower or go for a swim. That way I can tell prospective clients that the pieces are durable. I still have the belief, maybe old-fashioned, that jewelry should be lasting, have a certain permanence to it. Certainly there's lots of jewelry, specifically costume jewelry, that doesn't have that attribute, but I don't want my work to fall into that category.

I read in a bead book that some beads will fade so I guess I'll just have to assume that any and all of them might be likely to do so. I am bothered by that though. It makes me feel unsure about selling pieces and wondering if they might fade. I'm not sure if that's something to mention to people. Of course, the other option is to just keep trying the different beads to see what happens.

I find it hard to manipulate the seed beads because they're so tiny, but I'm getting better at it. The other thing that's tricky is the fact that the beads are different sizes even those that are marked a certain size. And some of them are more regular in size and shaped than others. Regularity is important when I'm trying to create an even pattern. If the beads aren't the same size, it makes it harder to get everything lined up properly.

I have now managed to collect a pretty good supply of different colored beads. But the other thing I've discovered is that I like the matte beads the best, the ones that aren't shiny or transparent. Or I should say that for some projects I like the matte finish. They seem more chic to me than the shiny ones do. However, I've been making beaded beads and rosettes out of a combination of matte, shiny, and crystal beads. The crystal ones are larger, but they make a nice combination. That's one of my goals, to eventually combine other beads with the seed beads. I think that will creat much more interest in the long run.

Creating Color Schemes

The children's summer art program is going on now and here are some the pieces the children have created. I love them. The one is a figure of a scribe with a scroll, particularly appropriate right now because of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit going on at the San Diego Natural History Museum across the way. As you can see, there is also an orange and dark brown dragon and another animal which I think is a frog, but I'm not certain.

This morning when I arrived Elizabeth, the artist who teaches the pottery classes, asked me to take some photos with my phone camera. I got a bunch of good ones, I think. The phone isn't the best camera; it only has 1.3 megapixels, but certainly for little things we print up on the computer to use in the studio and for blog photos it's fine. And what I love about it is that I always have it with me. That's so handy. I'm in favor of convenience. It's very important to me. If I can accomplish a task with the minimum of hassle, I'm very happy.

I've been trying to make some beaded jewelry pieces, but I haven't been very successful so far. I'm getting more use to doing it, but I'm still struggling. One of the things I've noticed is that the beads don't come in every single color imaginable. Certainly there is a wider range of colors than there are in natural stones, but there still isn't every single color. I'll have an idea for some color scheme and then I'll find that I can't locate the colors I want. I have to either see if there are manufacturers who make more colors that aren't available locally or I just have to create color schemes with the colors I have, not try to do it the other way around.

I suppose that being use to having access to millions of colors in a computer program makes me fussy. However, I do think I've always been very particular to color. I know that when I paint a room in my house, I spend hours choosing exactly the right color. I wish beads came in as many colors as paints do. That would give me lots of options. I can imagine a time when that could happen. If we artists imagine things, the technologists will catch up and make it actually happen. I wish they'd hurry.

It was a quiet day here at Spanish Village. The President is on vacation for two weeks, so I've been designated the Acting President. So far nothing happened today, but that doesn't mean it will be quiet for two weeks. But the weekends will be worse probably. Oh, well, we'll survive without our Pres.

Computer Heaven

I think I've died and gone to computer heaven. I have a laptop that I can use outside at my worktable, and there's a wireless network that I can use here in Spanish Village so I can surf the internet and do my Spanish Village work. It's so wonderful. I love sitting outside and working. And here in Southern California, we can really sit out almost all year round. There are really only a few days when we have to be in because of rain.

I've been spending the last few days setting up my new computer. It's small enough to carry around really easily, and I have a little bag to carry it in. It weighs less than my purse does at times. Who would have imagined such a concept when I first started using the computer in 1984. Well, actually I dreamed of such a thing, but it's taken awhile. And my dream hasn't come true 100%. Maybe just 90%. But we're very close.

Recently, I've been working on beaded jewelry. Without leaving my worktable, I can look up patterns for beadwork, shop for beads online, look at things such as fabrics to get ideas for color schemes, design a color scheme online by changing the numeric values of the colors. I can research the history of beads, I casn write in my blog as I'm doing right now, and with my new printer that also scans, I can scan in all the photos of jewelry that I've been collecting for awhile. That will be relative time consuming, but I'm going to do at least some of that.

I spend quite a lot of time looking at jewelry online and in magazines and books. I don't ever try to copy anything, but I get ideas and I "develop" my eye.That's very important, I think.

Today I'm off to spend the evening with my special friend, but now with my new setup, I have no excuse for not msking entries here in my blog. And I've even figured out a way to upload my photos directly from my cellphone to my computer, in case I can't get on my provider's site.

Doing Paperwork

Here's an array of my seed beads, some that I've collected so far. It's hard to know what to choose, so I just pick ones I like the colors of and go from there.

One thing I've been wanting to do is make some beads out of seed beads. I have seen some photos of some that I think are so attractive. So yesterday, I spent time working on a bead. In hindsight, I think I didn't follow the directions quite right, but I'll try making another one. The one I made is really very pretty though and I put it on a strand of beads so that I can wear it as a necklace.

Today was spent working on Spanish Village business. We had a board meeting this morning to deal with various issues that have come up, and so I spent the day after the meeting writing the minutes and also writing an email to send to all the members about various items. Eventually we'll get it all put on the website, and I won't be sending out as many emails. Philip as recently updated our website. It's http://www.spanishvillageart.com. I'm currently working on some photos and some text to add to my separate page.

Tomorrow I'm off to spend some time with my parents. They live about 35 miles north of me. Almost always when I go up there, I stop and look at the bead stores and look for books in their bookstores around there. Even though the bookstores are chains, they still frequently have a different selection of items.

I'll probably take some of my seed beads home with me to work on tomorrow or tonight maybe. I don't like to take things home, but I'm working in a new area with the seed beads right now, and I'm anxious to develop an adequate skill level.

Learning and Growing

Here's a photo of what I've been up too recently. I've been making jewelry with seed beads. It's called beadwork or beadweaving. How did I get myself to this point? I'm actually not sure. I did buy a bunch of seed beads to make into multi-strand necklaces for my enamel pendants, but then somehow I've progressed to beadwork.

Well, I do know that I've always wanted to try beadwork. Unfortunately in the past, a number of books and magazines showed rather uninspired pieces. But I thought I could make some pieces that would be striking looking. That's what I've been working on. I did find one book that has lovely pieces in it, ones I would aspire to in some cases. In the meantime, I'm learning the various "stitches." I'm making progress, becoming more proficient, but it will take time.

When I first started, a couple of weeks ago, I felt so clumsy and awkward. I spilled beads everywhere, and they're too tiny to pick up. I can scoop them up off my worktable, but I certainly can't see them very well on the ground. In addition, my knees are not good enough to tolerate crawling around on the ground.

I found that if I dumped some beads onto a paper plate, that made it easy to pick them up with a needle. That was fine until a breeze came along, lifting the edge of the plate and scattering beads everywhere. Now I have a small but sturdy plastic storage container with a snap on lid to hold beads. I've been dumping little piles of beads in it, the colors all mixed together. Then I pick out the beads I need for the patterns I've established. And having all the colors together in one container gives me ideas for new color combinations.

It will be a matter of finding the colors of beads I want, learning the techniques, creating some new ones, and then putting everything together. It will take time, but when I learned wirework, it took time as well. I'm prepared to follow the process through until I'm happy with the results and I can see myself growing in the discipline.

Getting Along With People and Understanding Computers

Even when the Spanish Village members are in disagreement about something or other, there's always some happy plant busy blooming. This succulent lives near my outside worktable and has the most beautiful but odd flowers on it. I think the colors are so delicate and subtle. The blossoms themselves look as though they might have been designed to be accessed by hummingbirds. Can't you just picture a hummingbird stationed below the flower taking a drink?

The rest of us grumble about various business issues and then go back to our studios to pursue our artwork. And even though we have our disagreements, like the members of any community, we're still just as happy as our plants when we pursue or discuss our art. I know I certainly am. I've spent the day typing up minutes of this morning's meeting, sending out several emails to members, and now I'm going to move outside and work on my jewelry.

This weekend, I spent time working on two necklaces and three bracelets made with seed beads. One of the narrower bracelets I made has approximately 500 beads in it. A great many pieces of jewelry made with seed beads tend to be rather weak in design or color choice or both. I'm working towards making some pieces that make stronger aesthetic statements. I think it will take a combination of the right colors, the right shapes and the right size to make the pieces a success.

I've never done any beadwork before, the term used for making jewelry and other items with lots of tiny beads. Usually when I begin something new, I start by studying some examples in books and on the web, looking at available materials, and then trying to make some pieces. I believe that the only way to really get a feeling for doing anything is by doing it. I like to begin by doing and then keep working until I get stuck and am forced to learn more. I suppose you could say it's kind of a circular process of learning.

Sometimes you can't make sense of instructions until you try and find what you don't know as well as what you do know. It's like that with the computer. You have to just begin and try to do tasks. When you get stuck, you read the help section. If you try to read the help first, you'll never get anywhere. I've wondered whether this attitude comes from that time in computer history when help manuals involved such error messages as: "error 13456." Huh? What error is that again.

Trip To Atlantis

Yesterday my father and I went computer shopping at a very large computer chain store. I'm sure you probably know which one it was. The theme of the store is Lost Continent of Atlantis. The store is so huge it looks as though it could be a blimp hanger. We laughed the first time we saw it. This photo is a shot of part of the mural on the back wall. Who would have imagined such a place in the days of daisy wheel printers and eWorld?

Happy Fourth of July, Independence Day. On the radio they were talking about a survey in which many of the participants didn't know the significance of July Fourth. Most people around here go to the beach or have a bar-b-que in the backyard. Nowadays I try not to go out in the evening. But we are open at Spanish Village which is where I've been all day.

I'm trying to go in a somewhat different direction with my jewelry. I want to do some more stringing, something I hadn't been doing because it seems to be frowned on. But some necklaces lend themselves better to stringing rather than wire bending. I've spent so little time studying that style of jewelry that now I need to develop an eye. I don't know what I like. I definitely know what I don't like.

Well, enough for now. One of the artists has just come to chat. I'm off to celebrate the holiday.

Slow and Quiet

I took this photo late yesterday afternoon. You can see the sun shining in through the open door. Back in the back, on the left, you can see the handle of my broom. I think it's appropriate to have a few brooms hanging around, but I certainly think using a graphic of a broom would be too trite, unless it was very stylized.

I want to create a logo, and I've spent some time attempting to. However, I admit I become something of a perfectionist when it comes to my logo, and I've never come up with something I love. And the problem I have right now is that I don't have a graphics program installed on this computer. I've been using Power Point which works pretty well, but it's a little cumbersome.

I've created a flyer for my enamel pendants and one for my clay pendants. I've created business cards, more of which have been eaten than passed out to clients. I've put up a rudimentary website with Philip's help. I've started a short bio to use various places. I'll probably go on with that today.

I'm dressed up because we've been invited to go see the Dead Sea Scrolls tonight at 5:30. And since I'm dressed up, I don't want to do anything like carving clay that will cause me to get dirty. I could make jewelry of course. Really the only things that do make me grubby are clay and etching. Oh, the other thing that really makes me grubby is sanding with steel wool. It gets all over my shirts.

Right now it's very slow and quiet here in the Village. Nobody is blowing glass which is nice because I don't hear the noise of the glory hole, but sometimes I get a little lonely back here by myself in this corner. On the other hand, I like it because I can concentrate. Sometimes when I sit in my studio or outside, I keep getting interrupted by people who come to talk. But that's fine, too, at times.

Speaking One Word Of French

Here's a photo I took several weeks ago when I was in the area we call the back patio. Several artists use it as an extension of their studio, the Board of Directors uses it for meetings, and some of the artists give classes back there. It can be a fun place to work in the evenings with lots of folks out there.

It was a relatively quiet day today, not many people around. We're trying to decide whether our fairly regular customers may avoid coming up because they're concerned about the traffic that the Dead Sea Scrolls is causing. However, it seems to me that there isn't a problem. In addition, the museum is providing parking and shuttle rides from a parking lot across the canyon. East Mesa they call it.

I spent the day working on clay pendants. The fish definitely take longer to carve than the other pendants. And I'm fussy. I like the lines to be smooth and deep, as though they are carved in stone. You sometimes can see little bits of clay when people draw or write on a tablet or vessel. I don't want any of those little crumbs to remain, so I spend a fair amount of time smoothing them away. But I like doing it, and I'm not satisfied with it unless it's done that way, all the little bits of clay gone.

Today while I was working a woman came up to me and asked me in French whether she could watch me. My French is very rusty, but I understood her and said, "oui." I told her that I was carving "terra" the word for earth. I think she understood. Then she asked me if I was going to paint it. And I said, "oui." I showed her a fish I had finished and then held it up to me to show her it was going to be a pendant. And she understood that, too.

We don't interact with very many French people, but occasionally I hear people speaking French. Mostly around here we hear Spanish. But in the Park, I do hear a number of people speaking different lanuages that I can't identify, probably Eastern European. Middle Eastern and Oriental ones are easier to identify. I like the idea that we're spreading an appreciation of art to people from all around the world. Like the internet.

Don't Let the Day End

Here's a photo of what I spent the day doing. There are two more that I've already delivered to the other studio where Beverly, one of the artists, will fire them.

Today was one of those days when I just didn't want to stop working. I worked from 9:00 this morning until asbout 7:00 this evening. And really, I had to force myself to quit. Jon went by and mentioned to me that I was sitting in the only spot of sun shining in the whole patio. Everything else was in shadow. No wonder I like working late. And late afternoon is wonderful light for detail work or so I've found.

Last week, or maybe the one before, I made myself so business card. Unfortunately, there's a large cockroach living in my card holder that is eating the ink off my cards. I remember talking to an exterminator at one time who told me that they will eat ink and glue in the rug. So even if you're very clean and don't leave food around, you may still have them. Of course, we're in these old public buildings near the Zoo. So now I need to devise a way to protect my cards. I can wrap them up every night and unwrap them in the morning. Somehow, I didn't envision those kinds of chores when I decided to have an art studio.

Jon says the plants in front of the studio have bugs in them, so I need to solve that problem as well. He says he may change the plants and put something different there, but I like the ones I have. I hope he doesn't. I have to do some research to convince him that they're okay where they are. Again, not necessarily a job for an artist. Well, at least I have the internet, thanks to Philip.

Yesterday, after work, I went to find a few more beads. However, I was so busy with my clay carving that I didn't even do anything with the beads. I need to work on the clay cutouts before they dry out. And then it will be time to start making copper shapes for enameling again. An artist's work is never done. Thank goodness. Otherwise, it might get boring.

New Beginnings

This is Zoie. She's the daughter of one of the artists here at Spanish Village. She was born at the begining of March. Her father is a wonderful clay sculptor whose public art projects are all around San Diego and other places as well. When we ask him if she's going to be an artist, he says, "no, a rock star."

I took this photo about 15 minutes ago with my cellphone, uploaded it to the cellphone provider's site and downloaded it to my hard drive of my studio computer through the wireless network that Philip has set up here at the Village. Who would have imagined such a thing when I was working for the military and using that old text based internet connection. That was in the 1980's. It does seem like a long ago now especially by computer standards.

Today the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit opens to the public. There's talk about parking problems, but I think we won't really know until time goes on, and we see what's happening. All of us who participated in the opening gala have received invitations to go and see the exhibit on Monday night. I have tickets for next Friday, July 6, so I'll have a chance to see it twice. Then the exhibit changes again in September or October I think. I'm not sure. But I'm very anxious to see it and maybe get some book on artwork that dates to the period. Right now, I'm trying to do as much research as I can, but I haven't found a whole lot of information.

I like preparing for a special event, because it frequently causes me to stretch artistically. Lots of other artists have said the same thing. If you have a show coming up, you get busy and made pieces that relate or you frame work that's been sitting around. I've been trying for a more ethnic look. It's been fun for me. I don't know what kind of response I'll received.

I always look forward to the weekends, because that's when I concentrate all my effort on artwork. During the week, I take time to read my email and respond to it. As the Recording Secretary of Spanish Village, I have various duties which include forwarding announcements to the general membership. But now I think I'm finished for the week, and it's time for art. One thing I did do this morning was order some enameling supplies.