New Designs

This is the last day of Summer in Texas as school officially starts tomorrow.  It is 100 plus degrees outside most days and the ground is parched from the heat.  Road trips to visit family and friends and to explore the great state of Texas are done for this Summer.  With a new school year comes the promise of new discoveries and mixed emotions.  The opportunity for my girls to discover new knowledge and friends, but more rigid schedules and no sleeping in.  Fall will bring cooler weather and a welcome relief from the Texas heat.  School sports will begin and be added to my busy schedule.  All in the great circle of life that I live as a mom and artist.   

Sometime I have a million ideas, but not enough hours to explore them.  Yet, I am thankful for the moments I spend in my roles and I am thankful when an idea becomes tangible.  I am always excited to open the kiln, to see what was earth is now art.  I love the art of pottery for its inconsistencies and variety.  That a glaze is never the same, and that it has a free nature about it.  It amazes me that mud can be manipulated and made so beautiful.  Each bead I make is made entirely by hand, from forming and cutting the mud or clay.  To texturing and shaping it, with molds that were once mud and now they become press molds to recreate a design that has been etched into them.  The kiln is the only item that requires electricity, it takes me weeks to be able to produce enough to fire the kiln and it takes approx. 9 hours to fire and more that 24 additional hours to cool before I can lift the door and see the fruit of my labor. From the day I pull the mud out and start a bead until the day it comes from the last fire of the kiln is a 6-8 week process.  So in the spirit of new discoveries, here are some of my latest designs that began at the start of summer and are just now ready to share at the end.

 These beautiful beads have a large dimensional; flower in vibrant orange and yellow.  I made this set for myself using some agate beads and cord for the pendant and one of my distressed leather cuffs and cord to assemble the cuff.  It is a beautiful set to wear.  I have these beads available in my shop.

 This Elli bead features a horse head with a leather texture background.  It is curved and would be a great start to a western bracelet.  A different type of horse below, a seahorse.  This one is flat for a pendant but I made some curved for cuffs, this is a larger version of my ELLI bead.

 

 

 

This is a set I made for a friend using the last of a glaze that I had (This color is no longer available) 

I mixed my beads with Azurite stones and it is a great combo of blues and greens.  I made 2 pair of earring to give her some variety. 

The above great design was made with my art washes bead by Christina Hosford.  She made the bracelet as a gift for her favorite artist friend Brandi Dayton She made her a double strand bracelet with Labradorite, Phantom Quartz, Garnets, Kiwi Jasper, Mookaite and Turquoise.   She states that "It was a really fun piece to make, and I really enjoyed working with your pottery piece."

I hope you enjoy the new designs, I will have them in my shop soon.  If you don't see them in the shop send me a message and I will send you the link.  Thanks, Cindy

A tiny peek at the process

Just because many people don't understand the process of taking mud to beads I thought I would share a quick peek at the process. The mud I use comes from Austin, Texas in 25 pound bags, and it is gray and...smells like mud.  Or I often imagine it smelling like a good pot roast as it pays for the groceries among other things. 

 

Mud new in the bag

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry blossom photos by: Martin Stankewitz
photos

Spring, glorious Spring.  I am so excited that the weather is warm here in Texas and everything is blooming.  Ok, the truth it is already getting hot and the air conditioner is running and it is barely April, but I do love all the flowers that are blooming.
I have a good friend in Traverse City, Michigan who is always excited with Spring comes to because of the Cherry blossoms.  I made these wonderful cherry blossom cuff beads with these Spring blossoms as my inspiration.  I received a wonderful set of photos of my Cherry Blossom bead used in this lovely cuff bracelet from Kaushambi. I just had to share these with you.  Kaushambi has a sweet little shop on Etsy called Beaditi. She has made such a beautiful piece using my bead as a focal, antique copper tone chain and wire wrapped keishi pearls.  I also love the little lampwork redbird she used.  It is so cute I am tempted to buy it from her.  LOL!!!  It is always such a pleasure for me to see a finished piece using my beads. If you buy beads from me send photos and I can share them on the blog. 
Happy Spring.

Texas Bracelets

My local jewelry guild, Brazos Valley Jewelry Arts Guild or BVJAG has a quarterly challenge.  This quarters challenge was to use something "Green or Recycled" in your design.  I had just received new license plates a few weeks ago so I cut the word Texas off the old plate, and sanded the edges.  I then punched small holes and attached it to a leather cuff using silver daisy beads, micro screws, and nuts.  It is really comfortable to wear and reflective too.  

Cuff made with old recycled license plate and leather

 Here are some pottery Texas flag cuff beads I have in my Etsy shop.  I have made one of these in to a bracelet also.  I just love my state of Texas.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/91020623/texas-flag-bracelet-bead