April Blog Carnival - Colour

The Starving Artists team monthly blog carnival is here again with the subject being colour in your work.  This is particularly important to me, especially at the moment with my venturing into looming and designing patterns.  I use Miyuiki Delica No 11's - and absolutely love the myriad of colours that are available to you within this range, the various shades and hues in each colour is amazing.

Last night driving home, the sky was ablaze with various shades of blue, purples, pinks - the way they merged together was breathtaking and inspiration for a pattern design such as this.

Colour gives a pieces perspective, it can either make or break a design.  I'm not partial to any particular colour, I love them all - whether bright happy colours or subtle shades, they can all reflect a mood. These patterns are an example of that:

My first piece I created on the loom was full of colour - although predominately an aqua blue, the other shades defined the piece.

So how does colour influence you?  To find out how other members of my team are influenced, check out their blog posts!

Musings of a Northern Girl

Island Girls Insights

Bead Sophisticate

J3Jewelery

The FamiLee Jewels

March Blog Carnival - Who inspires you in your work

This months blog carnival subject is who inspires you in your work.  This is an interesting topic for this month as over the years there has been many talented jewellery artists who have inspired me.

When I first started, the first book I bought was "bead on a wire" by Sharilyn Miller, her simple steps to create exquisite pieces led me to my first love of playing with wire, beads and my tools.  Other amazing  artists such as Delia Stone and Perri Jackson inspired me - especially as in my early days, I found they were approachable and willing to help you if you had a question.  You should check out their tutorials if you haven't already done so.

Wishing to expand my horizons, an incredibly talented Holly Gage posted some pictures on our forum of her metal clay creations, I found a studio in my local area and signed up for a class, and was hooked.  At the time it was only Precious Metal Clay (PMC) but then copper and bronze clays became available and our fabulous teacher,  spent many hours studying and playing with these mediums so she could pass her knowledge onto us.

One medium I always vowed I would never do although held great admiration for those who were able to conquer it was seed beads.  The combination of being able to create "something" out of those itty bitty seed beads and using a needle and thread just blew my mind - however, late last year one of the most talented  and gifted artists I have ever met introduced me to "looming".  Erin Simonetti convinced me to try and make a cuff as I was housebound after having major surgery. Through her encouragement and enduring motivation and the ongoing support by those within her beading group, I was able to conquer this "fear" and created my first cuff.

I am now in the process of designing a cuff that will incorporate my three loves - my passion for jewellery has been revitalised and I'm truly grateful to those wonderful inspirational artists who lead by example, not only by their work but their capacity and willingness to share their love of their art with those of the like of me.


To find out who others members of my team have have been inspired by check out their blogs ...

J 3 Jewelry

Islandgirl's Insights


Beadsophisticate

January Blog Carnival - what is your favourite material and why

The subject for the the Starving Artists team blog carnival for January is What is your favourite material and why.  At first I thought this would be an easy subject to write about until I had to actually decide what my favourite material was. Here are some of the materials that I use - I'll let you decide ....

Stones have a major influence on most of my designs.  When I pick up a stone, it tends to talk to me.  I love the colours and the depth within a stone as each one has its own story to tell.  I'll select the type of wire that I will use and other materials that I may draw upon to enhance and capture its beauty.

 
I have also incorporated Swarovski crystals within my work - more often as an accent to a piece.  The intensity of each colour, elegance and flawless cut speak for themselves - my favourites are 4mm bicones.

Another material that brings out the visionary artist within me is metal clay - whether it be precious metal clay (PMC), bronze or copper clay - each one lends itself to being moulded and sculpted into wonderful individual designs.

Resin is another material I bought a couple of months ago and after sitting and pondering on what I was going to do with it - I bit the bullet one afternoon and made my first pendant - I was hooked and now look for objects I can incorporate within its glossy embrace.

Towards the end of the year I started to use ribbons and leather in my creations incorporating flowers featured with stones and wire.  This unusual mixture is complimentary to each other - enhancing each medium, each piece stands out on its own whilst on a whole, they come together beautifully.

Recently I was introduced to the world of looming which meant using seed beads which is something I thought I would never do.  I always wondered why someone would want to utilise thread, needles and those itty bitty seed beads to create a piece was something that alluded me until I gave it a go, it was oddly empowering to to overcome this fear and I'm now planning my next piece.

Each time I discover a new material - it quickly becomes a favourite, now you know why it was difficult to pinpoint one!  So which one do you think is my favourite?

Check out the favourite materials of the other members of the team

Galadryl Design

O'Refined

Island Girl

The FamiLee Jewels