I am not just a bead maker, I love art...all art. It has been way too long since I have gone to a museum, but when I do, I am always freshly inspired to pick up some form of expression and have at it.
Recently, a wonderful art gallery has opened around here, it is called Art Nouveau Galleries in Quakertown, and they have a great group of artists there. I am honored to have some jewelry in there along side such wonderfully creative people!
One artists work REALLY spoke to me. You know how it is when you make a connection with a piece of art.....you just get it, it keeps drawing you back in, it haunts you. Well, that is how Ward Van Haute's work is to me. Ward paints in reverse on glass.............let me say that again, he paints in reverse on glass. That alone is amazing. His work reminds me of characters in a story, fairy tale meets reality. So they speak to my love of reading and illustration. Yet the ones I am REALLY drawn to, are his graffiti like paintings.
I instantly wanted this one for my living room
Sunday Drive with Tony
picture property of Ward Van Haute
available for purchase at Art Nouveau Galleries
And then there was this one...........the one I will own someday. The one that reminds me of my studio floor designs, of my doodles, but done with color- in such a wonderful way!
Vision- by Ward Van Haute- picture property of Ward Van Haute
For those of you who have seen my studio, you know this is very very ME! This computer screen doesn't do this picture justice, the colors are much more vivid in person.
So it haunts me. I have no budget for buying art right now, but this, is at the top of my Christmas list this year!
(see, it would look great in here!)
Needless to say, its really inspired me.
I finally got to begin making some polymer beads in preparation for bead fest. I have been VERY behind, to say the least. I am seeing all these other bead artists making new and inspired beads in for Bead Fest Philly in August, and I haven't even begun, and had no idea what new things I could add to the mix. And then I got to thinking..................
I had tried doodling on plain white polymer beads before, and didn't like the results at all. So they got put to the side, or given to a kid of mine, and forgotten.
Then I thought of Ward's painting....and the color behind the beads. I couldn't wait to try it!
Well, here they are. I should be listing some this week, and saving the rest for Bead Fest.
Ahhhh.....inspiration strikes.
And it didn't stop there either.
I did some in reverse, with white designs, to try to look like batik (you know my love of everything hippie, tye dye and fabric seeps into my jewelry and beads!)
These turned out ok. I had hoped to put a crackle on them too for a more batik look, but you loose the subtle designs on the beads that way.
I also made more of my black carved beads, which as become very therapeutic for me. I began to make these because of I made a batch of black that wouldn't let paint stick for some reason (must have had oil on my hands at some point) and didn't know what to do with them. After the studio re-do, I found an old carving set, and it happened to be near my pile of beads, and the rest is history.
I will blog before listing in my etsy shop this week.
Have you ever made beads inspired by a painting? I am thinking this could be a blog hop in the future...what do you guys think?
