Creating a new major work takes a goodly amount of time, from the initial idea to designing to choosing the materials to actually getting started. And there’s the restarting – at least restarting parts of the thing. I suspect this is the case for many art forms, not just bead weaving. Since showing the initial sketch and then the tray of possible bead candidates I have begun working on the actual weaving.

Worked in sections to be later sewn together

On the right of the snapshot you can see the sodalite cab, now bezeled with beads and sporting a trapped set of dangling fringe. On the left is a flat piece which will be formed into a rolling wave and in the middle is a piece that represents swells out in the ocean.

The necklace will include more fringes, a band, and embellishments. I don’t want to give away too much yet. Countdown continues as I have tomorrow and part of Friday to get the piece finished, photographed and listed.

As for the tree on the house part of this post: I can now report that the tree has been removed. Now we are waiting for better conditions so the insurance adjuster can climb up and ascertain the damage done by said tree when it fell.

I’ve been reading a lot lately about goal setting, planning, management and while most of the advice is all pretty similar, pretty much the same thing said in different words, one topic does not find agreement by all the experts. One expert says get the small stuff done, another says the opposite. A third says to finish a big job in as much of a single sitting as possible, another says do it in bites as much as you can spreading it out as long as you must.

Why do they disagree? Psychology. And the fact that no two individuals react in exactly the same way all the time. We don’t procrastinate the same way or for the same reasons so why should anti-procrastination techniques be the same. Clearly, then, they should not. Moreover, even as individuals our procrastination habits vary. Sometimes we are afraid to tackle something and sometimes we just don’t want to do it. Procrastination as avoidance. Procrastination as after-effect.

A tree fell on my Mother’s house. Normally the idea of having to call up the insurance company would have me procrastinating in terror. But because I had earlier approached a lead without putting it off I was riding a high of self-confidence and I was able to call them right away. Of course I’ve still had to make a dozen other calls (to tree removers, back to the insurance company, going over to the neighbor’s whose tree it is – was, now, since the poor thing snapped itself in two, back to the insurance company…) and it’s not over yet. But the thing is, I didn’t put it off and things are actually moving along more smoothly than I anticipated.

It was an important and huge task. The do it first and get it done people were wrong about this one though. I had to have breakfast and get a few small things done before I could tackle it. On the other hand, they are right in that it makes no sense to only do the small things. For me, the best solution is to start off by completing a small task then I can assign myself one of the larger ones.

Do you procrastinate? If so, what do you do to fight that inclination?

It’s Chaucer’s fault. Or maybe the ancient Greeks who celebrated Gamelion, a season dedicated to the marriage of Hera and Zeus; or the ancient Romans who observed a complex rite of fertility between the 13th and 15th of February. Or it could be an evolution from Lupercalia, another fertility rite specific to Rome.

In any case the Greco-Roman fertility festival was initially replaced by a Catholic holiday which has since become a mostly secular holiday celebrating more than just romantic love. Indeed it has become the habit that children exchange tiny cards exhorting the recipient to “be my friend.” Gifts get passed back and forth between people who share strong emotional attachments of all kinds. It is a holiday for lovers but also a holiday to celebrate friendship.

You can make this year’s Valentine’s Day especially memorable with an especially memorable gift; something that is unique in the world or in some way shows just how special the recipient is to you. Since jewelry is the one most traditional of gifts I am going to begin by introducing you to jewelry that is far from common or ordinary, created by artists whose work is exemplary and extraordinary.

Bracelet: Something pink and red and wonderfully frilly:

This lovely work of art was created by MaryLou using the Oglala bead weaving stitch. You can find this bracelt in her Etsy shop, Time2cre8.

Necklace and Earring set: This set features a Cherry quartz faceted pendant and sparkling crystal bicones. I used a very lacy variation of the Ruth’s Twist spiral bead weaving technique.

This set is available from my Etsy shop, Silver Dragon Creations by Patricia C Vener on Etsy.

Brooch: Silver is one of the most dramatic jewelry elements and this brooch by Wired Elements demonstrates this beautifully.

Visit the shop, Wired Elements on Etsy to purchase this and see more of this artist’s work.

One good way to shop is to look for local artists and artisans. Spread the love at home and buy from the talented people in your area. You will likely find everything from jewelry to pottery, furniture, toys, chocolates and maybe even locally roasted coffees. Etsy offers a search by location option and if you don’t see what you want, you can quickly expand your search parameters.

Garnet is well known as January’s birthstone because, unlike many other stones, it is the birthstone for both traditional and modern lists as well as for the lessor known Ayervedic list. But it is not the only stone associated with the month. Bernadine’s entry for January lists 12 birthstones!

Even as garnet itself comes in many colors, these 11 other stones are not confined to simple red either. Besides garnet these are emerald, ruby, turquoise, agate, onyx, lapis, amethyst, opal, and jasper (which is really another form of agate and both are quartzes!).

I say it’s nice to be able to choose alternates and agates and jaspers are so plentiful and colorful and a lot of fun. Among my favorite agates are Botswana agates for their rich, carnelian and sunny colors. Some time ago I was asked to create a necklace for a wedding gift and I found a most remarkable teardrop shaped cabochon of this type of stone. The name of the piece is “Barnaget Sunrise” for the couple hail from that exotic island and the necklace depicts that time of day.

Barnegat Sunrise

This necklace also includes two faceted carnelian beads and four honey amber chips. These play the role of early morning sundogs, an astronomical phenomena of great beauty.

If you’re a January baby you have choices! What stone would you pick for your birthstone?

In last Wednesday’s blog piece, Horizons 2010, I introduced you to may latest Masterwork in progress, Oceana by way of a faint sketch in pencil. Of course in my head it’s completely finished but before I can show you that, I have to do the weaving of teeny tiny beads and a few other components. Of course I love to have choices and so I pulled out a much larger variety of beads than I’ll probably use.

The Many Beads and a Cabachon that Might Be Used in Oceana

The small tubes on the right contain very tiny 15/0 seed beads, in the center are tubes of slightly larger 11/0 seed beads and there are bags of 5/0 Japanese triagle beads, some 8/0 seed beads, more 11/0 seed beads and three sizes of bugle beads (these are the ones that look like long tubes). There are also small freshwater pearls in their own bags, and larger dyed freshwater pearls and a sodalite cabochon which will be part of the embellishment.

Sodalite Cab and Dyed Freshwater Pearls

The sodalite cabochon is especially important to me as it is one of the stones I polished while I was still a young woman living at home. My father really enjoyed trying new things and one of his hobbies was rocks and minerals and he had built a small polishing stand in the cellar (near his darkroom so water could be run to it as well). I have a few small stones left and lots of rough. Sadly, I have neither the time nor, any longer, the cabbing machine.

Next step: start beading the bezel around the cabochon.

As I understand the theory behind the process, acupuncture allows energy to flow more freely along one’s meridians. Modern physical explanations referring to stimulated internal electrical currents and oxygenation aside, the traditional Chinese imagery is one that resonates with my imagination. My creativity can be likened to a not very classical river that however it moves and meanders is nonetheless subject to being blocked.

The clutter of my workspace has finally become such a distraction that my creativity had become stifled, dysfunctional even. I wanted to work on several projects but I held back from pulling out yet more items that would add to the disarray that had already moved to other areas and living spaces. I tried attacking it all at once.

What folly!

After several false starts I zeroed in on one representative of all this disorganization: my desk top. If I could get that cleared off might that not be the impetus to tackle other areas? Today I did tackle it in earnest and after clearing it, dusted it. And now? Now I can see the old wooden surface! Huzzah! Next are my smaller work tables and they are scheduled to be finished tomorrow.

Yes, the key is scheduling. And not scheduling too much. True the desk top took more than I anticipated but while I was doing it I also noticed other things that I need to get to and I noticed them in such a way as to be able to break them down. For example, as I put away some sterling silver scrap I found piled in a dish I thought, “Oh, I have to inventory my silver findings drawer.” Not, “I have to do my inventory.” See the difference?

Small steps. Now, after cleaning off only one surface, I was able to attack some old repair projects and start some new ones for my Valentines earrings designs that had been only vague musings in my thoughts.

Tomorrow it’ll be those small work tables, vacuuming and then more jewelry and who knows, maybe I’ll get more done on that Orchid painting.

My horizon is a distant swath of color reflecting the beauty I will bring to the universe. It is all the paintings, drawings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings that I will create between now and then. The really cool think about the horizon is that we can never reach it. We can start walking and keep walking and the horizon remains ever distant. The allegory is that we always have things to do, to look forward to, to hope for. I will never run out of ideas!

Between me and the horizon are a lot of things to do. I have finished my design for the February Etsy Beadweavers Challenge and have begun working on designs for Valentines Day jewelry and greeting cards. I’ve started a painting of orchids and have begun thinking about a line of notecards featuring those wonderful plants. The path is very thick with ideas but good ideas aren’t enough; there need to be processes in place to help me complete all the projects I can imagine.

For those of you who wonder how much I put on paper before I start beading, here is my sketch of “Oceana,” the work I will be completing before 5 February 2010. In fact, I create more works without sketches than with them and I almost never draw anything more complete than this kind of sketch with preliminary notes.

OOAK bead weaving necklace sketches

What’s on your horizon? Is it what you want to see? Or is it something you want to change?

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of articles all emphasizing the same idea – being cognizant of one’s audience. So, to my apparently varied audience I send wishes for a great year upcoming. In this I feel sure we can all agree. A good year where we move closer to peace and tolerance and plenty for all.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Patricia C Vener

Every artist has her own way of working. Some work from life, some from imagination and many of us combine these to relate our vision. Some paintings are started and finished in one sitting while others can take months. Starting with today’s post, I am going to let you watch as I create a new work. As yet untitled, it will be a still life – a portrait of a pair of orchid blooms grown by my friend and orchid grower, Connie Ballardo of Ballado Orchids.

Here’s a look at the start, then. A big yellow smear!

Undercoating and sketch

It doesn’t look like much more than some yellow smear. And that’s exactly what it is. These orchids are predominantly yellow and so I want the warm sunny yellow to infuse everything I paint -even white areas. I used a lemony yellow in acrylic paint even though I plan to use mostly oils for the rest of the work. The undercoat is puposely uneven. I am not painting a wall and the uneveness will help the work be more organic and lively rather than bland and uniform.

On top of that (though not really visible) I have sketched in colored pencil more or less where the blooms will be positioned. This is not definitive, but rather a guide to placement and balance, but once I start laying on the paint, things will develop on their own.

This isn’t the beginning, though. Before I could paint this undercoat, the canvas had to be stretched and primed. I used to do this myself exclusively, but in this case, I have opted for a prestretched, gesso-primed Gallery depth canvas. The great thing about these is that they hang beautiifully without having to be framed.

Stay tuned for my next installment and see how the work progresses.

As we close in on the end of December 2009, it’s nice to stop a moment and reflect upon the accomplishments of the past year both professionally and personally. (Thank you Alyson Stanfield for the idea!) I’m going to start with a big personal accomplishment – I started getting back into shape (ok, I stopped when the Holiday season began taking up more of my time, but the start is there!). I envision myself being exceptionally healthy so I have to make sure that I pay attention to doing things that promote and support my good health.

The BlogI started blogging regularly and continued the habit from June til now. In that time I have picked up a few readers (hi guys!) and had some illuminating conversations. I’m a bit less regular with my newsletter but not a lot and I still count it as an accomplishment that I moved from a limited free version of an online ezine piblisher to using PHPList that is provided with my web host service. It’s been real work getting that to give me the functionality I need and want but I’m learning more and more about manipulating the code to get a look I like and functionality that works for me.

“Dreams and Delights” was a multi-artist Open Studio is a Tea Room which allowed me to put to use some of the marketing and promotion techniques I had been reading about in books, blogs and newsletters. I will be writing about the whole experience in more depth in another article, but suffice to say, I got to practice Press Release writing, contract negotiation, planning the event and obtaining other artists, advertsing, and a great deal more. So this is really quite an accomplishment for me.

My beadweaving stitch, Vener Chain Stitch, was published as a bracelet project in the internationally recognized “Step by Step Beads.” Here’s an example of the stitch used in a commissioned work recently:

Commissioned Necklace using Vener Chain Stitch

Photographing My Art I have learned how to get good shots from my Samsung digital camera and am a great deal more comfortable with my table top photo studio (purchased light box, three 6500 K lamps with broken fixtures – I no longer trust Staples, calcite from my collection as props).

I have 401 hearts for my Etsy shop and have begun listing there and in my 1000Markets shop more frequesntly.

Home and Garden My plants are flourishing and I got my Spring bulbs in (my mother is no longer able to do all the gardening she likes so I’m helping her get the most beautiful garden in town. Slowly. Over the course of the next few years). My octopus orchid is sending up a second flower pseudobulb.

Being Seen Entered two Etsy Beadweavers monthly challanges and two Beadweavers Emporium challenges.

New Works Created both masterworks and a new line of one of a kind dangle earrings.

Wow. It’s great to see one’s accomplishments listed out. I am finding it very encouraging and inspiring. I’m ready to take on 2010.

How about you? What are the accomplishments you want to shout about?