Iolite - gem of the Vikings
Fashion Colorworks 2015. Notes
It's not patience - it's passion!
Beaded flowers as wearable art
Beaders Best Art Fair 2015
Perlen Poesie Magazine. Issue 24
Upcoming events
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February, 2015
From MyLovelyBeads.com with LoveAt last! It seems the winter is over and the spring is coming! Better late than never, read in the February issue of our MyLovelyBeads.com newsletter: info@mylovelybeads.com.Best regards,
MyLovelyBeads.com Team |
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Iolite - gem of the VikingsIolite is a transparent gemstone variety of the mineral cordierite. Iolite varies in color from sapphire blue to blue violet to yellowish gray to light blue as the light angle changes. A cube cut from iolite will look a more or less violet blue, almost like sapphire, from one side, clear as water from the other, and a honey yellow from on top. The name "iolite" comes from the Greek ION, which means violet. The legends say that when Leif Eriksson and the other legendary Viking explorers ventured far out into the Atlantic Ocean, away from any coastline that could help them determine their position, they had a secret gem weapon: iolite. The Viking mariners used thin pieces of it as the world's first polarizing filter. Looking through an iolite lens, they were able to determine the exact position of the sun, and navigate their way safely to the New World and back. The property that made iolite so valuable to the Vikings is its extreme pleochroism and the old name for iolite is "dichroite", a Greek word meaning "two-colored rock". It has also been called "Water Sapphire" and "Vikings' Compass". Iolite is surprisingly affordable, the richer the blue, the better. Iolite is sometimes used as an inexpensive substitute for sapphire but it is much softer and should be protected from blows. Nevertheless, iolite is relatively hard and with its attractive color and reasonable price is used in all types of jewelry. Iolite is cut into gemstone facets and cabochons and used to make rings, earrings, and pendants. The Vikings probably mined their gems from deposits in Norway and Greenland. Iolite is also found in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Namibia, Tanzania, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. The largest iolite crystal found weighed more than 24,000 carats, and was discovered in Wyoming, USA. |
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Fashion Colorworks 2015. Notes
Very soon, on April 1 we'll start getting Fashion Colorworks 2015 submissions! Many of you still work on your beauties, and some people email us and ask to explain the idea of using colors in the Fashion Colorworks contest. The rule says, "A participant has to create a piece with the predominant colors of one of the suggested triads (any shades of those colors)." It means that the colors of a triad MUST dominate in a contest piece. It's possible to use the shades of them to complement a design. It's also possible to use other colors if they don't distract one's attention (and of course, a juror's attention) from the main three colors. In general, more than three colors is pretty hard to implement, that's why we suggest only three and claim participants and jurors to focus on them. We wish you best of luck!
Fashion Colorworks 2015 rules
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It's not patience - it's passion!Today we have an artist from Germany - Kris Empting-Obenland. It's very exciting to see how beadwork has developed in Europe last time. Every new year new beautiful artists come to the beading scene, and they make great success. Kris is one of such masters and we're glad to introduce her to you. We like her bright beadworks and hope you will too! Kris says, "When you have four kids there is no chance to build any kind of professional career, so I used my little free time to explore different ways to express my creativity in several textile techniques, painting, wood working, and interior design, in order to find something that would fill my time and make me happy when the kids would leave the house... There have always been some beads in my life as well. When I was in high school in the 70s simple multi-strand strung necklaces were a must. In 80s I've made peyote stitch bangles from seed beads and even taught my kids' classmates and their moms how to design them! Today I don't understand why I didn't proceed from that point... I simply had no clue of the vast potential laid in beading! Years later I got my first book about beading, "Perlenzauber" by Katharina Dietrich (galerie-neue-perlen.de). Today I consider Katharina being my muse and think there was the turning point in my beading "career". Her very free approach and successful color combinations were extremely inspirational and attractive to me! When Internet finally arrived to my living room I discovered the fantastic creations of the Etsy Beadweavers! Their beadworks were absolute jaw droppers for me! Never before I had seen anything alike and my desire became to know how to do such beauties! And I could never imagine to be part of that team... Whatever I made I always make it just for myself. Until that day when I finally opened my own Etsy Shop - because I had so many pieces of beaded jewelry on stock that I thought I might sell some pieces... That was in 2010. Next year I joined the Etsy Beadweavers Team and immediately won my first challenge with the theme "Totally Twisted"! The necklace I made went viral and it was instantly sold, it was also published in Bead&Button magazine as well as in their 2012 Year Book. All that took me totally by surprise and completely overwhelmed me! What wonderful feedbacks and encouragement to go on! That's how it really began..."
Full article by Kris Empting-Obenland
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Beaded flowers as wearable artSome artists take color combinations, some like organic shapes but some try to replicate in beads natural creatures and make floral designs. Elina Ivanova, a young bead artist from Donetsk region is known for her jewelry with beaded flowers. Not complicated, her pieces are elegant and tender; it's hard to define which flowery Elina's necklace is better. Welcome to our newsletter, Elina! Elina says, "My work with beads began when I got interested my mother's hobby. At that time, it was 90s, making small creatures like crocodiles and mice, as well as simple baubles and bangles from beads was in fashion. And my mother caught by this bead "disease" has woven such items too, and so have I after my mom. Soon after I got my first bead book. Basically there were patterns of simple bracelets for girls. I wove a lot and wore my jewelry almost without taking it off. We had a funny belief that when you do something, you need to make a wish, and when your piece breaks your wish will come true soon! Then all my work seemed to me masterpieces, but in two years I was given a very beautiful beadwork magazine, and I fell in love with that craft. I haven't seen such smart bead jewelry like in that magazine, though now I find them pretty simple. This time my hobby received a second life. I started making jewelry, they were mostly made using netting stitch with square rope fringes. Then I had a desire to create something new and unique, not by existing patterns, and I began to weave flowers. I have woven them even today sometimes switching to non-flower pieces. Early in my career I tried bead embroidery and even made a couple of bracelets, but embroidery seemed to me boring, for me it was much more fun to engage in weaving. Although maybe someday I will return to this technique. As it sounds trivial, I get inspiration from nowhere. I make some necklaces just because I want to weave a particular flower. I learn a living creature of nature (or on a photo) and try to recreate this miracle in my beadwork. Certainly, Mother Nature cannot be surpassed, I understand it very well and just give a try to replicate a natural splendor modestly with glass beads..."
Full article by Elina Ivanova
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Beaders Best Art Fair 2015The fifth Beaders Best Bead Art Fair will take place on August 21-23, 2015 in Hamburg, Germany (Google map). The show schedule includes intensive jewelry making program, the classes will be taught by internationally recognized bead artists: Zoya Gutina, Adele Rogers Recklies, Larissa Novak, Isabella Lam, Monica Vinci, Elena Markovski, Fran Griffith, Nadya Gerber, Jolanda Violante, Patty McCourt, Galina Baer, Natalija Bekic, Nadja Muller, Laura Giusti, Olga Haserodt, Heike Becker, Swietlana Karimowa, Helena Tang-Lim, Julia Bachmayer, Loredana Ferrari, Caro Rzepka and other artists.
The workshop price includes the kit, and the kit includes all materials and findings needed for the workshop, and tutorial (patterns with instructions). Anybody who doesn't finish his work on site will be able to finish it at home.
Workshop "Sleeping Dryad Necklace"
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Perlen Poesie Magazine. Issue 24PERLEN POESIE 24 is already live! Diverse and full of vision into spring! A treasure trove of 15 fresh projects awaits you. Great beads, fresh colors, many techniques and the second part of the peyote stitch course. As always, all of it beautifully presented and explained. Besides many tips and news, 3 exciting artist portraits provide you with plenty of ideas. In addition, 59 workshops tune you in to a beautiful summer event in Hamburg: the 5th BEADERS BEST Bead Art Fair!
• Statement vs Standard
Tamuna Lezhava: Inspired by many, but influenced by none. The physicist and one-time film student makes incomparable, opulent jewelry for gutsy women who aren't afraid of the limelight. • New Dimensions Peyote Course, Part 2: This time you will learn how to do circles, tubes and triangles. We will explain how 2-drop and 3-drop peyote are worked as well as what "zip together" means. • Moved by Water Portrait of Eleanor Pigman: They almost seem to pulse - with the help of beadwork the artist models marine organisms and structures from Florida's coast. • Course Offerings 5th BEADERS BEST Bead Art Fair: Choose from the wealth of first-rate courses offered in many techniques by qualified jewelry designers! From beginner to professional. • Aesthetics of Understated Clarity An interview with Jinmin Lee: The South Korean artist creates jewelry in a mixture of strong clarity with organic structures.
Subscribe to Perlen Poesie magazine
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Upcoming events
April 17, 18, 19, 2015
April 24, 25, 26, 2015 Juried Fine Art & Craft Festivals since 1976. Find the unique handcrafted artwork of thousands of American Artists! Decorative creations for home & garden, exceptional fine art and crafts! |
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February Issue
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