Northern Virginia Bead Society Exhibition
Through January 29th, the Workhorse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia is hosting the results of the Northern Virginia Bead Society challenge. In this annual challenge, bead society members start with a kit of all the same beads, and everything in the bag must be used the finished piece. No images at the NVBS or Workhorse…
Mid Century shape and color at MIA
On a recent trip to the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, I stopped in the gallery with an exhibit of Mid Century textiles. I enjoyed the textiles, but really loved the shape and color of the glazed pottery in the center of the gallery. This is Red Wing Pottery (from here in Minnesota), designed by…
Kumihimo sample, plus beads!
With the braiding disk came some cotton yarn in three colors, fuchsia, green, and gray. There was twice as much fuchsia as the other colors, so I chose this pattern in a simple 8-strand braid. This was easy to keep smooth with the thicker diameter of the fiber, and actually more consistent than later the…
Fused glass plus kumihimo, finished
So, here is the completed necklace with Carol’s fused glass pendant: I used copper charlottes to make a simple bail as well as beadcaps, and then used a copper clasp. It’s very wearable! My braiding smoothed out towards the end; as my braid ended up being maybe 3″ longer than I needed, I cut off…
Beadwork at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
I visited MIA last week, during the last week of the Art of the Native American special exhibit. The pieces on display are owned by the Fenimore Art Museum, and photography was not allowed (MIA permits photos of items that they own). There were examples of the finest beadwork, quillwork, basket making, weaving, and more…