Summer Grace

Secret Gift

Barrels

Grind

Graduated Strand

These are biggies

45 mm x 25 mm.

B.O.U.S.

...Bead of Unusual Size. 

Having not made a B.O.U.S. before, I combined scrap with fresh color (pink) that I wasn't likely to use otherwise. That way, if I didn't care for the results it wouldn't be too tragic. Interesting, but not something I think I would do very often. I wore down two sander belts and still think it needs to be shortened up a bit. For some reason the pink is really bright in the photo - I honestly didn't color correct the image.

If you study the image closely you'll find hints of some of the challenges I have with this process. Occasionally, layers don't stick together well and the ends of the bead cane are less accurate than the center. Because all of the cane is included in this bead the ends are what show up in the grind making it difficult to create a very precise AND large bead. It's the reduction of the cane or snaking it out that makes the process more forgiving.

Last night I started two new patterns that break from some of my recent designs. Hoping to post some finished beads this week.

Beads and Faith

Back in July of this year, I posted an image of some black and white beads. They are some of the most precise that I’ve ever made as well as some of the biggest. They are also the only chevron beads that I’ve built into a finished necklace.

The beads were made specifically for a music video project. I sent them to Africa with a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir which is an all-volunteer group comprised of 360 voices. They’re based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and produce the weekly radio program Music and The Spoken Word which is the longest continually-running radio broadcast in the United States.

The soloist in the video is recording artist Alex Boye, who is also a member of the Choir. Those in Europe may recognize him from his former gig in the boy band “Awesome.”

I think the video is awesome! I knew that Alex was traveling to Ghana and that my beads would be around his neck during filming, but I didn’t know they were on-location at Cape Coast Castle. I also didn’t know he would be singing a spiritual. Here is the video or you can go to the choir's new YouTube channel.

I think the result is haunting. Alex seems to me a ghost representative of every soul who passed through the castle bound for the western hemisphere. What a tragedy slavery is. It’s difficult to comprehend and impossible to make sense of.

I hope that people watching the video recognize that there is hope to be found even in the most difficult of personal circumstances. The video expresses the Christian view that hope comes through “walking” with Jesus Christ. I’ve found that to be true in my own life and being part of this project has been a unique opportunity to bring together my personal interests in beads with my personal faith – something common to people of many different faiths found around the world. If curious, you can read more about my personal beliefs at mormon.org.

Well, there you go...

Now boarding beads one through five

These beads are off to find their way in the world. Good-bye beads of awesomeness. I hope you have a fantastic adventure!

The Nature of Selection

Making chevron beads kicks off a bit of scrap. As I clean up, I loosely organize the pieces by color similarity and then run the piles through the pasta machine creating some sizable sheets of mixed, muted clay.

After making several “planned” bead canes I had enough sheets to make one from leftovers. So I selected colors, alternating between vivid and muted clay, and constructed a new bead cane. The process was both random and intentional, artistic but serendipitous. I would not have intuitively selected these colors for a bead, but on a table of beads, I would probably pick this one up.

Experimental Grinds

I mixed it up here a bit and am glad that I did. It's interesting how subtle changes to the same stock can create contrasting results.

Photosynthesizer

A Twist of Lemon

There's a twist in these, see?

Lemon Stars in a Midnight Sky

Vivid

Unground

As I mentioned yesterday, my beads involve creating bead blanks or stock that are baked and then shaped after they have been hardened. Here are some examples of beads awaiting a date with the belt sander. Sadly, some may never make it there.

Tangerine Eclipse Chevrons

I built this bead cane  the day of the eclipse. Perhaps there is some poetic metaphor here, the way the dark color overshadows the glow from deeper within the bead.

Thank you to everyone for your comments both here and at Polymer Clay Daily. I am so grateful and feel like I've gained many more friends from around the globe.

I wanted to share that my beads are in fact shaped after they have been baked. But rather than a lathe, I'm just using a belt sander with a fine grit. This process is pretty similar to what glass bead makers do, only their tools are a bit more industrial grade and usually involve a wet sander. I do some wet sanding at the very end of the process with a fine grit paper. I imagine many of you do the same. Getting a symmetrical bicone shape is half the fun for me. Plus that's when the magic happens as I watch the layers come to the surface (and discover if the cane is spot on, so-so, or... garbage). I think there is huge potential in this kind of lapidary process and would encourage everyone to experiment (just take safety precautions and protect yourself from the dust)!

I use the same process for my tablet beads. I find that shape to be really appealing. Because I've thought about Chevron beads for so long, they are very exciting for me, but tablet beads are quicker to make, require less clay and are a great way to use scraps. They're actually pretty fun and have endless possibilities.

I'll post some images this week of both the "unground" chevrons and tablet bead blanks so you can see what they look like. Sometimes I just don't have the time to actually get around to the grinding process. For every bead that is finalized, there are a dozen or so that have yet to see the sander.

Shield? Tablet?

A large tablet bead or a shield bead. You choose. Either way, it's still two-sided.

Chevrons: A Fresh Approach

I've been working to improve my approach to polymer clay chevron beads. I'm happy with the results.

Reversable Turtles

Reversable Beads

Odds and Ends

Using Scraps

Circles

March 2012.

Stripes

 

March 2012.

Earthy Chevron