Red-dy

The latest bead embroidery is finally finished and I'm quite pleased with it. This is the one that I showed a glimpse of about a month ago, to prove that I hadn't just been twiddling my thumbs.

I really like the effect of the silvery metallic beads in the lower left hand corner. I have a few ideas for the next one, and am thinking about combining beading with some embroidery stitches, but haven't quite decided yet. I think it might be time to move on from this format, too...

The purple and green one that I made for my sister-in-law's birthday was a huge hit! I've been told it's hanging on the wall above a favourite purple and green lamp, and has a ceiling spotlight focused on it! I rather think she likes it...isn't it great when all the work is worth it?!

Almost Beading Again

"Only as far as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be" Karen Ravn

I haven't been totally idle over the last few weeks, although the constant tiredness from my bout of Shingles has meant that I've done lots of reading (finding this great quote in the process!), but very little beading or embroidery.

I've also had lots of thinking and planning time, so I have some ideas that I want to develop, and a trip to Canberra to visit Our Kid and the Gorgeous Daughter-in-Law allowed a trip to the Bead Shop, and the photos show some of the results of that. They've now been decanted into containers, waiting patiently for me to call on them.
A trip to Canty's Secondhand Books in Fyshwick, resulted in finding a copy of Bead Embroidery by Valerie Campbell-Harding and Pamela Watts. I've been looking for a second-hand copy of this book, so I was very excited. It must have been waiting for me to get there and claim it!

I also managed a visit to the Degas exhibition at the National Gallery, and discovered works of his that I didn't know existed. Many of the photographs that he'd taken in the 1890's showed friends in their own homes. So, rather than the very stiff studio portraits that we're accustomed to seeing from that time, these are much less formal photos of friends composed with an artist's eye, and with interesting lighting. His sketches and paintings of dancers are still my favourite Degas works, though. Gorgeous.