Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Progress on the Bead Journal Project

For those of you who won beads in my OWOH drawing, I put them into the mail yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon.  So you can look forward to getting your little prizes shortly!

Fortunately I didn't wait until today to ship them out.  My 86-year-old mom, Yvette, lives with us and last night she took a fall in her bedroom.  I was working on my BJP vessel while I was watching the men's figure skating short program out in the family room. I heard a crash and went running into mom's room - and there she was, sitting on the floor with a stunned look on her face.  She's gotten to the point where she doesn't lift her feet much when she walks and apparently she got tangled up in the rug on her floor.  Throw rugs and the elderly do not get along well, so the rug is now out of there.  Good thing she's a little pipsqueak - I was able to get behind her and lift her right up.  But I spent a good part of the morning tending to her - she was in a fair amount of pain.  Ice packs and Ibuprofen last night and this morning, and now she's feeling a lot better.  Scary!

Speaking of my BJP vessel, here are some pictures of the "state of things" at this point in time.  Here we are, heading rapidly toward March and I haven't even finished January yet.  Sigh...






I still have a lot of work to do on this piece.  I need to patch up a few "holes" that are obvious when you look at the last picture.  And then the collar... yes, this vessel will have a collar.  I've already started it, but it's going to take a bit of time.  

I sure have learned a lot while doing this piece.  The thing I dislike most about this one is how abruptly the organized stripes begin (see middle picture).  This is totally wrong, both from an aesthetic point of view and from a symbolic point of view.  And I couldn't really rip it out and start over - which is the second thing I learned.  I need to make knots every so often rather than use up most of my long length of beading thread before I make a knot.  Then it won't be such an issue to do any "frogging", as they say in the world of knit and crochet.  Another thing I learned is that it's much easier to bead when the felted base is thicker.  I felted this  vessel a lot more than some of my other vessels and I'm having a much easier time beading it.  But I also learned that I need to pay attention to the size of the holes in the seed beads that I buy.  The red ones have tiny holes, and I've managed to break two needles.  It will be interesting to see what other things I learn as this Bead Journal Project progresses.

Oh, and if you're wondering what I meant earlier about "from a symbolic point of view", I've decided that each month's vessel will be based on what and/or how I'm feeling about life in general that month.  In January, I was feeling very strongly about getting organized.  Before I got heavily involved in craft-related activities I was very organized.  Even my spice rack was in alphabetical order.  But since I've become more artistic, particularly with activities involving beads, my physical environment has become very chaotic.  Not just the beads, my entire environment!  I'm out of control... and I hate it!  So the beading on the vessel represents how my organized life has spiraled out of control and how I want to get things back in order so that I can enjoy my environment and be more productive creatively.  Wish me luck on THAT one... LOL!

Now I'm going to work on that collar while I watch the Vancouver events on the TV.  And YOU go have yourself a happy and creative day!

10 comments:

Ginga Squid said...

Hope your mum is ok? Sounds like she (and you) had quite a shock.

None of the free TV channels here in NZ are showing the Winter Olympics - shame as there are some really cool events on it that I would like to watch.

Shirley Cook - Jumping Jack Glass said...

Vicky, she's ok. That was the 2nd time she had fallen during the last few weeks. She's amazingly tough, though - nothing busted, just bruised and sore. She's taken many falls during the course of her life. When I was a kid, she fell down the basement stairs and busted up her ankle. She also fell down an escalator in a department store and was never able to ride one again due to fear.

I'm surprised that the Olympics aren't being shown on free networks, isn't it a rather big deal? I guess not...

Carol Dean Sharpe said...

I know you're not happy with the abrupt change from chaos to organization in the piece but perhaps it represents how much you want to go from one to the other at the snap of your fingers :D

unnur said...

Ive never even heard of felting...I would love to learn how that is done! I can relate in 2 ways.....my mom is 77 and lives with us... and falls down occasionally, weve had our share of E.R. visits...she went into the hospital for shingles and broke her hip while in the bathroom getting ready to come home! My studio is a mess right now... and its driving me crazy! I seem to do better when things are in order. Anyway I really like your piece so far, I want to touch it! Im very curious about the "collar"!

Shirley Cook - Jumping Jack Glass said...

Carol, I think you're on to something. :-)

Thanks, Linda! I'm doing some beadweaving to make the collar separately, then I will attach it to the rim of the vessel - I hope! - LOL!

Marty S said...

I'm fascinated by your combination of felting and beading. So far it's beautiful! Glad to hear your mom is ok.
Marty S
Crackpot Beader

Carol Creech said...

The vessel is coming along beautifully! I love your beading and can't wait to see the woven collar. Hope your mom is feeling better!

Shirley Cook - Jumping Jack Glass said...

Thanks, Carol! I'm about 1/3 of the way finished with the collar. And again, I've learned some new things. That's one of the reasons I'm really enjoying this project!

Robin said...

I'm with Carol regarding the "abrupt change"... Furthermore, I believe there's always a message in our art (or more than one message) and that's why I rarely take anything out or make changes. I just figure it's supposed to be that way even if I don't know why.

My Mom fell quite often.. and still does even though she's in full nursing care. The physical therapist cautioned us to do those toe-tapping exercises faithfully. She said that when we don't our ankles can't lift the toes and we trip when we walk. That certainly seems to be the case with my Mom... She could trip on a dust bunny these days, poor dear. You're smart to clear out the rugs.

Robin A.

Shirley Cook - Jumping Jack Glass said...

Thank you, Marty! And Robin, thanks for your encouraging words, along with a reminder about ankle exercises. Mom broke her ankle in a car wreck in 2004, and it was the same ankle she damaged when she fell down the stairs when I was a kid. It's no wonder that she shuffles rather than walks.

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