ArtBliss

I really can't say enough about Cindy Wimmer and Jeanette Blix. They are talented, ambitious, courageous, artistically gifted and all-round great friends and wonderful women. Their designs have appeared in just about every jewelry publication that you can find on the newsstands.

Cindy has just had four pieces of work published in the latest Easy Wire 2010 and the piece she shows on her blog post of June 30 for the Art Bead Scene Design Team Challenge is creatively lovely and so well-photographed that you would think it was professionally done.

Jeanette is also a  talented jewelry designer who has published several Glass Art calendars, teaches wireworking and is the owner of Fundametals, an online shop that carries anything you could possibly want for wireworking and jewelrymaking, including some very interesting beads and enamel. She's always looking for the newest and best and her prices and customer service are fantastic.

Together this Dynamic Duo have come up with an amazing event here on the East Coast in Northern Virginia, debuting this September 24-26, called ArtBliss with some very well-known artists teaching day and evening classes in jewelry and mixed media. See the sidebar and click on the announcement for all the information you need. I'm going down to DC from Vermont on Amtrak for the event and I can't wait to meet in person some of the people who have supported me with their ideas, collaborations and mentoring since I began blogging and putting my work out in the world.

The tagline of the event is “All dreams come true if you have the courage to pursue them” something that I have definitely found applies to my life and creative work. Consider taking a class or two-- I'd love to meet more of you in person, my dear online friends!

Milestones

Milestones are markers, like the stones that the Romans set up to guide travelers along their system of paved roads. That's the operative word here-- “guiding”- to show a pathway rather than mark a destination or goal, a meaning used more frequently in these 21st century times.

I believe that a milestone guides you in a direction as well as to a specific place. It's not a time to sit down and relax, to dwell on your achievements but rather to mark a passage and chart a direction for the future.

My goals when I first started this blog, this electronic journal (or journey) were to inspire, encourage and inform my readers in their creative endeavors. Obviously a pathway to doing that was to have my work, techniques and ideas published in print and online so as to reach more people. My first online contacts were with other art beadmakers and jewelry artists and I naturally hoped some day to get my work in the publications that inspired me the most. My Apocalypto Beads showed up in The Best of Stringing Magazine in a collaboration with Lorelei Eurto and this past spring I got my very own page in Stringing for my necklace tutorial “Reading the Stones”.

This past January I was contacted by the editor of Belle Armoire Jewelry, Christen Oliverez, on a referral from my good friend and fellow artist Deryn Mentock. I couldn't have been more thrilled or surprised, since BAJ was one of several magazines that I absolutely adored and admired for the quality of their articles and presentation.

So now I can announce that my very first tutorial has been published in BAJ in the Summer 2010 issue, called “Pas de Deux”. I am pleased as punch to be included with some friends (Barbara Lewis and Deryn Mentock) as well as other artists that I greatly respect for their work. But I won't be resting on my laurels, since I am full of creative energy and new ideas – for me the recognition is like a super wonderful tonic! I'm planning a book and hoping to teach my first classes this fall and possibly I'll have a booth at a major bead show next year-- who knows?

As I journey forward, I'm also looking back at pieces I've already completed. Some of these are going in my Etsy store to find new homes, some are being re-worked as my skills increase and my design sense matures in this wonderful medium of polymer clay.

Tundra beads - new in my Etsy shop

Tomb Relic pendant - new in my Etsy shop

Dance of the Ancestors - new in my Etsy shop

Dance of the Ancestors - detail

Dance of the Ancestors - detail of reverse side

Machu Picchu beads - new in my Etsy shop

Machu Picchu cuff - new in my Etsy shop

Delphi necklace - new in my Etsy shop

Delphi necklace - detail

Delphi necklace - detail