New Shapes

With my newfound wealth from my last show, I decided to buy myself a new tool.
I love leaf beads, but the ones I have been forming freehand so far have been fairly massive and heavy. They are beautiful and I am very proud of them, but I'd like to be able to create leaves with more of the lightness they would have in nature.

So I have invested in a leafmasher, and these are my very first mashed leaves.

I rather like them, though I can see already that the uniformity of the shapes is not entirely satisfying for me. I am pleased that the sizes are different, in fact making a perfect match might be a challenge. But that is part of the joy of nature and organic beads. They aren't supposed to match perfectly :)

I need to practise the final loop that makes them stringable. These are looped, but they are all quite wonky.  I intend to try making them on a spacerbead too, and on a length of wire. And while I try out all those solutions I will practice doing it quickly so the leaves doesn't crack from too much cooling before I am done fiddleing and re-fiddeling.

And when I get a good grip of that, it will be time for some post-mashing individual shaping, and time to get some colour and perhaps even sparkle into my work. I have after all admired this piece by Nina 'Sam' Hibler for years. Delicious! :)

Love,
Lene

Hillerød Kunstdage 2012, Saturday

The second day of the show has ended, and today I will show you a couple of favorites of mine, from the participating Amio shops.

This fabulous necklace and the beautiful trees are from Smykkeunivers.
I should have made closeups, that necklace is soo delicious. It is made from thousands of tiny seed beads and other little beads, it is firm and has a lovely weight, which is something I apreciate as quality in such a piece.

She also makes seed bead rope necklaces, beaded beads and also less involved pieces, all with good materials and beautiful elegant aesthetics.

Brightly colourful and large feather earrings from Tjekija Design.
They might be a bit much for me to actually wear, but I love them!

She also makes bracelets in reindeer skin with braided patterns of metal, leather and beads on them. Now this I can wear easily, so I brought this one home with me :) Check out her more blingy and colourful versions too.



And finally, little glass houses from Meng Design (sorry, I can't find her shoplink). Check out the millefiori for garden flowers. I am sure others have thought of it too, but I rarely look closely into fusing, so this is a first to me. Brilliant :)

It was a good day, and I look forward to tomorrow :)

Love,
Lene

Hillerød Kunstdage 2012, Friday

I did it! I signed up to participate in Hillerød Kunstdage, and today was the first of three days.
It's been a long day, so I will just leave you with a couple of pictures. Here is a view of the Amio Hall

Here is my space

and here I got to meet the two lovely ladies who made it all happen, Ann-Karina, founder of Amio.dk and Stine who worked her magic at the Frederiksborg Center

Saturday and sunday the show is open from 10am to 5pm, so come and meet the crafty people of Amio.dk and while you are here, go see all the lovely and interesting art at the artshow next door.

Love,
Lene

Happy New Year!!

Yes I know, you may think it is a little late for new years greetings, but I have good reasons.
I have decided to start my year over, and I'm doing it now! Yay!

Last year in october I attended yet another art show/market that didn't really live up to my expectations. Or anybodys for that matter. When that happens it puts a considerable damper on my lampworking enthusiasm. I get full of fellings like 'why bother', 'what's the point' and 'what a waste of time and money'. Luckily for me, I am not alone with these feelings, it is called 'the Post-Show Blues'. You can google it, but here are two links to set you off: Robert Genn and Lisa Call.

For me it is not a matter of a week or two, but rather months on end, and I don't even realize it for a long time. I just feel tired, and that other things are more important. Not even the thought of the Copenhagen Art Fair that I attended this past weekend, which is fairly huge, could shake me up. I find that odd, as deadlines usually will get me going, but not this time.

I have yet to find a way of nipping it in the bud, but as time has passed I am again feeling the call of the flame. Not only have the lovely Karin Castens plantet seeds of growing ideas in my mind (for later in the year), but the Art Fair was a great and happy experience, making me think that maybe there is a point after all :)

So - I am starting my year over. I am setting up my workshop even though the room has not been finished, and I am considering signing up for another show, in just over two weeks! Exciting? Yes!

For now I would like to shout out a great big THANK YOU! to all the lovely people that came to my booth at the Art Fair. To those that looked, to those that complimentet my glass, and certainly not least to those that invested in my pieces. I hope they bring you much joy.

Lene