Happy Halloween!
And, if that isn't fun enough, it's also reveal day for the Art Elements theme hop for October. This month, Laney selected Eyes as the inspiration. I was late in signing up, though I spent chunks of time throughout the month thinking about the theme.
Initially, I played around in my art journal, drawing faces. But, after I got my bead loom and became obsessed with it, I decided to try to create an eye with it.
The idea came to me as I was waking up one morning and I couldn't wait to get to the bead store to buy some beads. I've never been one to work much with seed beads and all the ones I had were the cheap, irregular ones. And, I've found that I like the large 6/0 and 8/0 beads on the loom. So, out I dashed to the bead store.
Using the seed beads, hemp cord, and Wildfire; this bracelet came together pretty quickly on the loom. To finish it, I simply tied some knots and added a button for a closure.
I'm absolutely still learning how best to work with the loom, so if you have any tips, tricks, tutorials, or any other advice; please don't hesitate to let me know!
Once my first eye was made, I could relax a little about the challenge. I remembered that at the beginning of the month, after the challenge was issued, I had saved a link from My Modern Met on How to Draw Eyes. (I thought it was rather fateful that the challenge and this tutorial fell in the same month.) So, I made a quick attempt.
It's not great, but the tutorial really did have some good tips for working on my drawing skills.
Though I had already completed one entire project for this reveal, I couldn't get the idea of it being Halloween-time and needing something "spooky" for the reveal. And, that's when the image of the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings popped into my head. Seriously y'all. Any good geek knows how scary that eye is - perfect for Halloween.
Again, the design for this piece was something that came to me as I was waking. At first, I thought I wanted to do it in an organized bead loom-type way with lines of wire separating all the beads. However, as I drew out the design, I realized that it wouldn't work since I needed so many beads to get the image just right.
Instead, I created a frame with 14 gauge copper wire and strung beads between it. It was fiddly from start to finish, but I kept reminding myself that it would never come together if I just gave up. So, I persisted and am quite pleased with how it turned out in the end.
Perfectly spooky for Halloween!
Once that trial had ended, I wanted to go ahead and play with the idea of eyes in my art journal. As I pondered whether to try drawing more eyes or not, I remembered this envelope of eyes.
Seriously. I have had that envelope for probably 15 years or more, back from my Decoupage days - a seriously LONG time ago. So long, you can see that the envelope has begun to yellow.
And, yes, it's filled with eyes.
I've long had an affinity for the "windows to the soul" and went through a magazine-clipping phase for a while. So, I had plenty of eyes from which to choose.
I selected a pair that fit nicely in the journal I selected. It's an old Bobbsey Twins book.
From there, I just played with my art supplies until I was happy with the page.
It wasn't until I was selecting a sentiment for the page that I began to ponder the importance of eyes in our creativity. We often use visual words like: See, View, Envision, Visualize, Watch, etc that have everything to do with how we take in the world around us and how we creatives want/need to add to it. The eyes are such an integral part of that.
Alright, enough with the deep thoughts, I do hope you've enjoyed seeing what I created. Don't forget that this is a Blog Hop of artists. Make sure to head over and check out what the other creatives made with the Eye theme from Art Elements. Much thanks to Laney for the inspiration!
You have a wonderful take on the theme! Your collection of eye paper piece made me smile and I so love how your mixed media page turned out! :)
ReplyDeleteWow! you were busy this month. I love that you have started bead weaving on a loom. What a fun bracelet you created. And the way you created the Eye of Sauron is perfect. I'm glad you stuck with it. I had to laugh when I saw your envelope of eyes. I also have a large collection of eyes pulled from magazines from probably 10 years ago. I used to do a lot of collage/mixed media and I kept saving eyes for some reason. I love your journal page you created. Perfect for a pair of your eyes!
ReplyDeleteCathy, I wasn't near as busy as it seems. I packed all those in a day or two at the last minute as I was suddenly inspired. Yes, the bead loom has been a lot of fun to experiment with. It's always fun to learn a new skill.
DeleteI'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one who's hoarding eyes. Mine are from my decoupage days, but now they're coming into play with my mixed media. Isn't that funny.
Thanks so much for all your kind words!
Fabulous! I love the bead loomed eye, but also the Sauron eye, what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteP.S. If you ever have a question around bead looming, send me an email, I'll be happy to help! :-) cat @ catswire . com (without the blanks ;-))
Cat, Thanks! Once I actually started on eye-projects, I couldn't get the idea for the Eye of Sauron out of my head. It had to be done! Thanks for the offer of help with bead looming. Though, I'm not even sure what to ask as I'm just making it up from the little bit I've learned. I did get a book about looming for my birthday and do need to sit down and do more than flip through it! Again, thank you! I'll let you know if I do think of anything.
DeleteQuestions usually come up once you want to move on to bigger pieces, more complex patterns or shapes. That's how it was for me.
DeleteHave fun with your book! I refused to bead loom after a terrible first experience with a "toy loom" and now I can't imaging not doing it :-D
I don't see myself making anything too big as I like more delicate pieces, but I do have a few ideas that I'm trying to figure out how to work out with the loom.
DeleteI'm glad you went back to the loom and are enjoying it!
you have been busy!! I love the beaded pieces but that envelope of eyes is my kind of envelope! Fabulous journal page , I too love to doodle eyes so don't stop practising ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your kind words and encouragement. They mean so very much to me.
DeleteYou did such a great job with your eyes!
ReplyDeleteThe loomed bracelet is really cute and your Eye of Sarin is just right. I really like that you built your own frame for that one. The journal page is fabulous. I haven't seen an old book used in that way before; what a good idea! And, do keep on sketching - I love seeing the creativity in people's doodles!
Dawn, Thank you!!
DeleteI thought I was going to try to use wire on the bead loom for the Sauron, but once I drew out the idea I knew it had to be a frame instead.
Oh, old book of various types and sizes are used as journals all the time! I saw someone use a huge magazine of some sort the other day in a YouTube video. That was a new one for me. If it's paper, some artist is going to use it in an unexpected manner. Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it so much!
My favorite piece is the last necklace that you made with the copper. The eye is placed so well in the focal. It is a great design.
ReplyDeleteKathy, thank you! Yes, I think that Eye of Sauron might be my favorite too. I even wore it yesterday for Halloween. I think the idea was so solid in my mind that it had to turn out. I'm glad I persisted!
DeleteOOOh, love that journal page and the sentiment, so perfect! And your loom bracelet is so cool, I have a loom that someday I'd love to be able to sit down and figure out! Great wire wrapping too, perfect for this month!
ReplyDeleteDo try a dark soft pencil or a ballpoint pen that slightly smudges to draw eyes. Something precise like a marker will not give you the best results. That said, it great that you are trying out so many different mediums. the bead loom looks quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteGreat interpretations. I think your eye sketch looks great. Exactly how I would expect a quick sketch to look. The loomed bracelet is great but wow, that wire pendant. The journal page turned out great. I used to save clips of eyes - not people though, all the other animals. Never got around to using them but they may still be buried in a box somewhere.
ReplyDeleteTammy, Aw, thank you. It's weird that I mostly saved human eyes. I did find a pair of owl eyes as I was sorting and put them aside to also use, but just ran out of time to get to it. I hope you find yours and put them to good use. I'm sure you'll create something amazing!
DeleteSuch an industrious month! I love how you explored the theme in a variety of media. Inspired! And inspiring! I am most intrigued about your use of an old book as an art journal.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, Thank you! Yes, I do hop all over the place with my crafting. But, it keeps me inspired for sure. I love using old books. That one was free outside my library. I'm not sure what anyone else would do with it. I'm just working my way through it. In some cases, I'm spreading out a layer of gesso before working on the pages, but not always. Some people glue several pages together or tear out some of the pages to ensure that the old books don't get so full they can't close. I haven't done that with this one. I'm sure I'll have problems once I get a little further in it, but am enjoying it for now. Let me know if you have any questions!
DeleteLove the eye bracelet - simple but effective! I think you nailed the Eye of Sauron - I love those colors with the copper.
ReplyDeleteAll those eyes looking at me :)
I love the collage you created with the eyes - I thought it captured this month's theme perfectly.
Thank you! The eye of Sauron just HAD to be made. My geeky self willed it so. I'm glad you like it too! :)
DeleteI love your different takes on this inspiration. The eye pendant is great!
ReplyDeleteAnn, thanks so much! Yes, I do love that pendant and am pleased I stuck with it despite all the cursing it heard as I worked my way across it! Ha!
DeleteBoth beaded eyes projects are cool! The content of the envelope (eyes?) was quite unexpected - made me laugh :) I tried drawing an eye but failed completely and got discouraged about participating. I now see the many possibilities I missed.
ReplyDeleteI loved your loom eye! And Sauron - perfect. I have been wanting to bead loom fro a while, and a friend just gave me more seed beads. I want all the seed beads! I love the palette you used in your art journal page - did you prep the page with anything first? Clear gesso? And do you glue a few adjacent pages together? Inquiring minds want to know... (Sorry I was so late to the hop.)
ReplyDeleteJenny, Thank you!! I have tons of seed beads too, but most of them are the irregular, cheap ones that won't work as well on the loom. So, I've invested in MORE beads. Oh dear.
DeleteAs for the art journal. I did nothing to the book. I know. It's going to be fat as all getout since I haven't glued pages together. As for prepping the page, some of them I will use gesso on, but I knew I wanted the book page in the background and don't currently have clear gesso, I just left it as it was. If the inks bled through to the back page, I'll just collage or gesso that side. I'm horrible. I know! ;)