An interesting thing happened this weekend. I got to work with some beads - and the attendant sorting, reorganizing, making-a-mess-of-things - and made five pendants, and assembled them with sterling chains that I'd gotten quite a while back. And I planned out a multi-strand necklace that will likely get assembled on Sunday, while Mr. P and I are recovering from our competition day. So I have actually met the minimum requirements of the bead challenge!
But while I was doing this, and bearing in mind that Mr. P and I do plan to go to the Gem Faire, I realized that I really don't want to buy anything new. Historically, a good fossicking in the bead supply has engendered some degree of bead lust. And I don't promise that once I get to the Gem Faire, I won't see something I simply Must Have. But during the hours I was working on Saturday, I was mostly just feeling a little regret, a little guilt almost, that I had so thoroughly neglected this hobby for so long.
When it comes to visual art, my skills are modest. I can draw, and I like to paint, but I don't have any training and I don't often feel driven to create drawings or paintings. I've had some training in silversmithing, which I enjoy, but it's expensive, messy, and not the sort of thing one should be doing in a rented apartment, so I've really only done it in a class environment. And while I have some facility with silver, again it's not something that really drives me.
I'm getting quite good at photography, mostly due to an excellent instrument (one of the Canon PowerShot models) and some guidance from my sister, whose skills are considerable. I love taking photographs on our vacations and I do try for the occasional artistic shot, but mostly I am just making a record.
I've been making bead jewelry for twenty years, and have sold nearly everything I've made (since I don't wear much jewelry myself! I just like making it), but really I think the jewelry is just an excuse to play with beads. I have made a few things that I thought were special, and quite a lot of things that were competently constructed and pretty, and there is value in doing anything competently.
Where I do feel I have a bit above-average talent is in what they call "surface design," and my best work has been a combination of fabric (applique/collage), embroidery, and beadwork. Even my paintings tend toward the surface-designy end of things, with elements of collage and a distinct emphasis on texture over representation.
I want to use up a lot of my beads this year. I want to make a whole slew of necklaces and winnow down the bead collection so that what I have is what I love (as I've been doing with my books). And I really want to get back into my series of "wall jewelry" pieces. It is truly the one activity where I can enter that Zen state or "flow," where I'm completely unconscious of passing time, and with everything else that's been going on in our lives the past few years I am feeling the need for that. With my family tendency toward monkey brain, and my personal tendency to ask a little too much of myself (and others), I think this is something I need.
Whereas clearly, I do not "need" more beads. But you just never know ... .
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