My gosh, I have been bad about posting. Working, getting ready for a move, working magazine articles (!), sewing, housework (blah...) and making jewelry again has really occupied my days from morning til fall-into-bed time. The earrings here were a custom order, sterling with green sparkly fine aquamarine stones and overwraps. I had such fun making this pair, I already made another pair to put on etsy. Being freestyle wraps, they look a bit different but still, same idea.
Such lovely beads! So pretty.
And another custom order.. black spinelle rondelles and Peruvian blue opals. Gorgeous opals! The nicest quality I have ever been able to find. These are truly dazzlers.
And last weekend Michael and I attended the grand opening of the newly opened renovated Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Great looking guys (see above), beautiful artwork, free food and drink and wonderful live bands made for a charming evening. We walked from our apartment to save the environment and the parking fee, and the museum was quite huge so we really got our work out for the day. I'm sorry I cannot remember who painted the magnificent painting above but it was Michael's favorite.
My favorite painting in the 21st century art section, Self Portrait in a Coral Bed, 2003 by Julie Heffernan. The plaque on the wall said she has painted mostly self portraits in recent years but none of them really look like her physically, it's the meaning behind it of which she was conveying herself. Hmm. I need to look back at my notes to see what she was conveying here but it was most stunning and I spent quite a while engrossed in studying this piece.
Close up head shot of Self Portrait in a Coral Bed.
The museum opened at 10 a.m. last Saturday, after having been closed for renovations since at least a year ago (don't quote me on that). A group of Tibetan monks came and created a sand mandala. This is the mandala in a stage of completion. I wanted to see them finish it and then sweep it all away but alas, we missed that part.
There is a small room of incredible stained glass from the 14th and 15th centuries. This was my favorite piece.
Me in a moment of repose, taking a break from my flat, tired feet.
This wall divider was all needlepoint! The middle panel was more realistic, if you can call mermaids realism, but compared to the opposite panels, you get the idea. Again, stood here a long time and analyzed the workmanship. Quite stunning. We were so engrossed in all the artwork (and three wings of the museum have not even opened yet, still under construction...) that I neglected to write down many of the artists or even the time period. Pens were not allowed out in the museum so that hampered my efforts a bit. I can't imagine defacing a painting but I suppose it happens.
Family Portraits, 1944, by Robert Gwathmey. I am particularly fond of African American folk art. This piece spoke to me.
And who waited at home, contemplating his revenge while his tuna bowl lay empty? Hmmm. Sorry, Mango!
Last week I drove from Richmond to Lexington, Kentucky to attend the University of Kentucky School of Costume and Design class in tambour bead embroidery, an ancient technique that is almost an extinct art form. Today it is taught almost exclusively at Ecole Lesage in Paris, an haute couture embroidery school that teaches day classes and professional classes in many forms of embroidery, including the above, which was worked with a tambour hook. A tambour hook is a needle sharp, tiny crochet-like hook that is used to work chain stitch on the reverse of the piece (stretched taut in a slate frame), utilizing a glorious array of threads, sequins, beads and fabrics to create dazzling purses, dresses and other garments. The photo above is a bead and sequined flower in progress, worked in such a way that it is three dimensional.
My class piece in progress, above. Black bugle beads, gold and purple sequins, lame and gold seed beads are worked in slow progress with the tiny tambour hook. 
Wracked with nerves at first, I have my organza stitched onto and stretched across the frame before calming down to begin the learning process of holding the hook properly (over and over and over again!) so that it does not snag either the delicate fabric or thread as it pierces and loops a chain. Here I have almost all flower outlines complete, day two of the class.
Our utterly charming and incredibly talented instructor, Bob Haven.
The costume design classroom at University of Kentucky School of Fine Arts, hard at work on our projects.
Fine Arts Building where our class was held. Now that my love of this technique is confirmed, I can't wait to become more proficient with the hook, finish my class project and move on to other works of art. Lesage, here I come! (someday....)
