The studio class tonight was so thrilling for me. Well, as thrilling as it can be without Beatrice. Not only had we had to skip last week but, we also had some of the long-distance-beaders show up. Ellen came down from Palenville with the handpainted "canvases" she prepared for us to beadle-point (needle point with beads). She'd been inspired to to do this when we saw the beaded panel that Janet beaded, using a purchased canvas. You may have read about it in an earlier blog post. See it in the photo here displayed on a handbag that Janet found for her work. Ellen painted and then proceeded to bead the one at the top of the pic. Of the hand painted canvases Ellen offered to each of us, I selected the one seen on the left.
At the Bead Blast last month, a few beaders were working on Pat Riesner's tennis bracelet using permanent finish galvanized beads (size 8) and Swarovski bicone crystals (4mm). Ellen took that idea and ran with it, as Ellen does. She pumped up the number of rows of metallic beads and combined rows of gold with rows of platinum, along with the obligatory row of crystals. Rather than making it an endless bangle to slide onto the wrist, she added other beads, beaded beads and a gemstone and sterling silver closure,.

One shot shows the crystals and the other shows the play of gold and platimum beads.
Beautiful.

Ellen arrived wearing a herringbone necklace that she had created to showcase a Dora Shubert bead but, found they competed with each other. She'll have to make something else for the Dora bead.

Ellen said she's hoping to go to The Gathering, a conference of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB) to be held in Rochester NY at the end of the month. A few months ago Marilynne at Studio 34 had asked if I would teach at the studio in Rochester on the weekends of the Gathering. Later, realizing that perhaps it would be wiser to schedule them at distincly different times, rather than concurrently, she said we'll schedule some workshops for the Autumn or Spring. It actually better be Autumn because in March I'll be teaching in Europe and in April in Australia again. Speakinf of Australia. beadmaker Liz Deluca is coming in from Australia for the Gathering. We won't have time to schedule a meeting while she is stateside. But, I'm thinking she will produce beads for the workshops I will teach in Australia in April at Jelly Beads of Mogo, and perhaps we will meet then. It is all so exciting! And I have 3 new projects in my head just bursting to be rendered in beads in time to propose them for the Bead and Button Show 2011...Due August 6th! Wish me luck.