A lot of artists won’t take commissions. Some see commissions as being too restrictive of the artist’s freedom of expression. There is a fear that the client might impose too great restrictions or make unreasonable requests (seen as demands). So far I’ve been lucky because I’ve not only had happy collectors but I’ve been able to use my creativity to make unique and beautiful works of art.

The artists who complain about the expense and complexities have a point, however, and I am going to show you what can go on behind the scenes from the point of contact through to the finishing of the work.

It started when the client asked for two anklets similar to ones I already had for sale. These are shaped right angle weave with accent beads and toggle clasps. My client uses minerals for medicinal purposes and she wanted one of the anklets in blue with pyrite beads and the other using bauxite beads with warm colors similar to the bauxite colors. We exchanged emails discussing how to size the anklets and about the use of Argentium sterling silver toggle clasps.

Next, I went searching for nice looking pyrite and bauxite beads in the right size. Bauxite turned out to be a bit of a challenge because there are other common names for bauxite and similar materials that are, nonetheless, not bauxite. I found what I liked, in the right size and cleared them with the client (the pyrites are round faceted beads; the bauxite thick cylinders (heishe shape). I made the purchases from two different sources and when they arrived I started matching seed bead colors to choose the best combinations for both pieces.

Normally, I use two colors of beads for this anklet design but once I had the pyrites, I decided I wanted use three blues for a more interesting monochromatic statement. I scanned the beads in their packets and sent them to the client for her input. She loved my choices and the idea. I did the same with the two colors I chose for the bauxite anklet. Once I had her approval, I started the actual weaving, making sure to adapt my process to reach the length I needed.

When the anklets were both finished I took snapshots and sent them on to the client saying that I was ready to ship them. She loved them and asked me to make a third anklet, this time using jet. Jet was once a popular mineraloid for jewelry and other decorative arts but has been superseded by other gems (onyx, for example) and colored lead crystal. Jet is the gem variety of coal and when polished has an almost metallic sheen. It wasn’t easy to find jet in the size and quality I wanted but I managed. I would have loved to find faceted jet but there was none in the 4 millimeter diameter I needed, so I bought spherical beads; “A” grade and gorgeous.

As you can see, there is some room for spontaneity, but there is also a dialogue between artist and collector that not everyone is comfortable engaging in. Artists who like the challenge of including a different perspective are more likely to enjoy doing commissioned work.

Seed beads are small to tiny glass beads that I rely on for my bead weaving art work. They’ve been around for hundreds of years. Only recently has the production of these become mechanized, but that’s only at some manufacturers. After all this time, though, the basic steps are still the same. Make a hollow tube, split the hollow tube into thousands of tiny beads, and optionally, polish them. Bead making remains a cottage industry, family run and worked. Here’s what one beader described as her observation of one family’s enterprise.

The glass is heated until it is pliable. An air pocket is introduced and then two men run in opposite directions stretching out what becomes a very long tube. Another man moves down the length of the tube scoring it at even intervals. Then he taps the tube and all the beads fall apart onto the floor. They are collected and then polished so that the ends are smoothly finished. This polishing usually takes place in a large drum or container where the beads are mixed with clay or clay-like substances that fill their holes and keep each bead separate from all the other new beads. It is with this process that the final color becomes set, though dying and fancy finishes and other effects can be applied later.

The most consistently sized beads come from Japan with Czech beads being a very close second. Beads from China, Taiwan, and India are much less size consistent but this can work toward the bead weaving artist’s favor if she or he is working on a free-form project where diversity of sizes adds to the depth of the art.

quot; a necklace now in a private collection

Last month I set myself the challenge of creating 100 vignettes by Labor Day (September 2nd). This averages to 20 works of original art per month. So far all but one are around 5 inches by 3 inches. It’s a nice size to work because once the watercolor has dried it’s like having the most portable art studio possible. It includes the paper, a sturdy cardboard backing to work on, and the gel inks.

My favorite place to work on these is a local artisan bakery/café, Bread and Chocolate. I set up a small display of some of my bead weaving, lay out my gel pens and my paper and, with a hot coffee, tea, or chocolate for company, get to work.

Of course I hope to accomplish my stated challenge but there is also an unstated challenge. Each new work of art must be fresh, original, and thought-provoking. And unique. It doesn’t count if they start looking all the same. Besides, that’s no fun for me. There are themes occasionally: hearts is one purposeful theme. Mostly these are stream of consciousness after a bit of forethought and some rare planning.

The process starts with a blank sheet of watercolor or multi-media paper. I measure and lightly pencil in the separate rectangles that will be cut apart later. I go to my watercolors and choose some and then start laying down washes in all but one or two of the blank rectangles. Sometimes I draw on unpainted surfaces. Once, I liked the way the wash came out that I knew it didn’t need any more drawing.

After they dry I can pack up the paper with my studio-to-go. I usually work one at a time, after staring at the washes and letting one of them tell me what kind of beginning to make. Sometimes I have to argue with them. In the end, I have a collaboration between conscious and subconscious decision making (which seems to be the best way for me to work in general, not just with the vignettes).

Every Saturday, I upload a few more to “Watercolors and Ink,” an album connected to my facebook Page. Presently (15 April 2013) there are 26 vignettes in the collection. I hope you will follow my progress and cheer me on. And if you see something you’ve got to have, they are for sale.

This post is inspired by Lisa Call who recently posted a series of questions and her responses regarding her studio habits. She then invited other artists reading her post to do the same. Here’s my shot at it.

Is your studio part of your home or a separate space?

Would you believe it? Even though I designated a room to act as my studio I do most of my work pretty much every where but in there? Bead weaving as I do it often requires a lot of space, flat space to be specific. My studio does not, at the moment have flat space. Mostly because my intent was to use it for easel paintings. And I’ve yet to devote myself fully to those. Water colors, I do flat. You can see the mismatch, right?

How big is your studio?

Not big enough. I’d love to have room for things to sprawl more and to be able to have tables and easels set up. Also, I love large open rooms and this room is an internal room created in my cellar. It does have one piece of furniture in it that takes up a whole corner. It’s my double papasan that used to be in my very large bedroom in my last Maryland apartment. I’ve promised it to my nephew. Once it goes, I’ll have a whole quarter of the room back. I’d still love to have a larger, more spacious area. I dream of high ceilings and broad skylights. And huge windows!

Do you listen to music or watch TV while you work?

As much as I love music, I find it too distracting in general. This is because I tend to either sing or choreograph when there’s music going. Sometimes, music has given me inspiration but those are special cases rather than the norm. As for TV, never. I don’t watch television much and when I do, as when I am reading, I get involved in what I am viewing.

Do you answer the telephone while you are in your studio?

Sadly, yes, often. I’m still training myself to not answer it. I think I do answer because I’m always afraid it’s a family emergency. I have an answering machine, though, and I could just listen to see if I do need to pick up. On the other hand, if I don;t hear the phone ring, I can’t answer it.

Do you eat or drink in the studio or do you leave for breaks?

I like to have something to drink on hand, usually water or tea. I don’t eat in the studio because that’s another distraction. At the moment, because I am caregiving for my mother I don’t often get large blocks of time in the studio.

How do you balance Caregiving with being an artist?

Caregiving for a mother with Alzheimers, asthma, heart problems, and other ailments takes precedence at this time so, in fact, the balance is skewed. On the other hand, I am coming to think that being her primary family caregiver is going to infuse my voice with a special perspective and I am very excited about that.

Baltimore artist Joyce Scott is an artist of the highest caliber. Her work is shown in museums and galleries around the world. Her art is infused with political and social commentary and her medium is small glass beads (well, yes, and other interesting materials, but mostly seed beads!).

Joyce Scott as seen on the Wallace Foundation website

It is clearly important to her that she invest her work with thought provoking imagery as she does with the necklace “The Sneak.”

“The Sneak” by Joyce Scott © the Artist, 1989

Equally important to her is the approachability of art, knowledge and the museums that house examples of these, especially to children. Her mother, a quilt artist, introduced her to museums and their wonderful holdings when she was still a very young child. This is especially good timing, in my opinion, because children are unabashedly full of wonder and eager to experience new things and ask new questions. I agree with Joyce when she bemoans the overuse of the stern order, “Don’t touch!” which so impedes every child’s wonder.

Ms Scott received graduate degrees from Maryland Institute, College of Art (BFA in Art Education) and Mexico’s Institute Allende (MFA in crafts). She also has studied various art forms of Native Americans, (especially the Central American Cuna Indians), and West Africans.

Joyce Scott’s influence on my work is less in composition than in materials and the ideal of bead weaving as Fine Art. She is definitely, to me, a major force in contemporary art.

References
• Audience Development for the Arts, Wallace Foundation Knowledge Center
• Museum of Fine Arts Houston

This year has given me the most quantity of crocus blooms ever! I’ve got a wide variety in the front garden, starting with blooms that poked their heads up early this March – or maybe it was even late February. Of course they look great in snow but no less so poking up through the unprocessed mulch of natural leaves that piled up.

My exuberance is expressed this year in the digital painting accompanying this post. It’s been a while since I did straight abstract, but that’s what needed expression. These very cheering flowers uplift my spirits and my digital painting is meant to express this. You, the viewer will decide what the painting says to you, however.

As for the name, it seems to me that the plural of “Crocus” really ought to be “Corcii.”

Patricia's Bubbe Pin™ ©Patricia C Vener, 2010

From a simple strand of plain beads to the most ornate and complex weavings, beads have long been part of humankind’s history of personal and environmental adornment. We treasure these as keepsakes and works of art and because they are so dear, we should be taking good care of them. Read on to learn some of the most important rules for doing this.

Secrets and Tips You Should Know
• Don’t wear it to bed. Even if you sleep alone. Because you probably don’t sleep as motionlessly as you think you do. You twist and turn and at some point that necklace is going to be pulled in two different directions. It could become stretched out of shape or even break.
• Don’t wear it in the shower. It may be glass or stones but not all of the color and finishes are water resistant. And if the weaving material is silk or thread water can weaken the material and even sometimes stretch it out.
• When not in use or on display, keep it tucked safely away. I like to keep my pieces in cloth bags or pouches. Pieces with a lot of silver should be kept airtight and out of the light. Some beads have finishes which fade or wear over time and these, too, are best stored in the dark.
• Clean judiciously. Sooner or later you will probably feel the urge to clean your bead woven art. This is an undertaking that needs a light, careful touch. Most of the time all that needs doing is a light dusting with a soft cloth or a Swiffer duster. If your art has been exposed to body oils, perfumes, anything sprayed in the air, and suchlike, your cleaning is still a soft cloth but with slightly more pressure. Should the unthinkable happen and dirt gets dried on you can carefully work on it with a cotton swab dipped in soapy water.
• It’s art, not a toy. Don’t let children play with it. Especially be wary of the little ones who shouldn’t even have those scissors in their hands!
• Be careful who you loan it out to. Sad to say, sometimes things get lost or broken or simply maimed by people who don’t quite share your passion for your wearable work of art. On the other hand, a responsible kindred soul wearing it to her prom might make you smile “til it hurts.”

For more cleaning tips see my earlier post,

Earring lovers can’t get enough so I’ve created this series of earrings for the self-rewarding impulse buy without guilt because all of these are priced below $15.00 USD. Improv series are lovely beaded earrings with a simple premise. Each pair is unique and colorful. In Dance and theatre “improv” is short for “improvisational” meaning that the work is spontaneous. And so these earrings are as well. I start with a pair of beads for the main focus then add other beads to contrast or accentuate as I feel inspired at the moment. They are loaded onto Argentium sterling (or niobium) headpins and finished with colorful niobium French hook earwires.

Every day, I will be changing the pair of earrings on a hidden page on my website because the pair of the day will be for sale at a very special 20% discounted price. If that day’s pair is not sold in time, they will be listed at full price in my etsy shop, Silver Dragon.

If you are looking for something more dramatic, watch out for Fiesta series, bead woven spiral earrings for around $30.00 to $35.00 USD.

Family caregivers cry a lot. There’s frustration and guilt and depression and sadness. One thing that’s not often addressed is grief. Our care recipient (parent, spouse, child) is alive but we are grieving as if they were not…

Lately, I’ve been crying a lot. I’m not sad, really. I’m coping with almost everything and I’m doing a damn good job of caregiving for my mother. She has Alzheimers; tumbling off the cliff edge of the final quarter stage and I am forced to watch her decline.

She knows who I am because I remind her. I say, “Mama, what’s my name?” (Note the hint?) She usually knows. If she gives my Hebrew name I ask for my English name. If she gives my English name I ask for my Hebrew name. When she’s feeling mischievous she gets a look on her face and says, “Whatsername, you know.”

She is not the same woman she was and I miss her. I’m crying because I am grieving, because I am grieving for the loss of all the opportunities for profound discussion, for insights into her personal history, for insights into her desires for the legacy she would want to leave the world.

On the other hand, I’ve started putting coconut oil in as many meals as I can and I am so sure that I am seeing a positive difference. Because she does still know who I am and just the other day she recognized our house as hers – and she hasn’t for quite a while.

Dare I believe in a full remission? Maybe not to the extent that I can safely expect it, but I can hope for it or at least a measure of it.

I’m grieving because of the reality of her decline, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up hoping and working toward that much desired recovery.

Holidays might be grand, wonderful times of exciting hustle for most families but for many primary family caregivers they only add more stress and lead to deeper despondency. If you are a caregiver, remind yourself that you don’t need to live to any one’s expectations but your own. Enlist your family’s help and if they balk, you can do the same – you don’t have to fill the void.

Families, here’s how you can help: Cleaning and cooking. Yes, it is that simple. After dinner and after gift unwrapping are the two most exhausting non-care chores that your help will cheer the caregiver the most. For Chanuka, there will be approximately 22 people here all grating potatoes and onions to prepare the annual Extended Family Latke feast. I am willing to host this not only because my mother can’t really travel, but because I know that my sister’s in-laws will be right there with the clean-up. (Not that I’m not hoping that now that the kids are older the mess might be less, but don’t count on it. Have you ever had 6 people grating 10 pounds of potatoes in the dining room?)

The actual frying of the latkes will probably be handled by one or two of us (how many people can stand in front of a standard 4 burner stove, anyway?) but almost everyone wants a chance to flip the latkes. Make sure you, not the caregiver, takes responsibility for assigning who brings what (in our case that’s oil, potatoes, onions, graters, sour cream, applesauce, drinks, paper plates, etc).

Don’t leave the house looking like a fight broke out with wrapping paper and dirty dishes (or cookware) left everywhere. Get it clean before you go home (or mostly clean, I can handle a little leftover straightening up the next day) or at least easy to finish up cleaning.

Most of all, remember to include both caregiver and care recipient in the action and in hugs. There’s nothing like a comforting hug when it all feels like too much.