April 2020 Creativity Challenge

All About Spring!

 

Congratulations to Elizabeth (Erin) Morris!

 

 

 

Thank you to our sponsor!   

Angelika Beele

Artist Statement

The first signs of spring on my balcony are the violets.

For this reason, I used the opaque color mystic violet AK104 for my Bling-Top.

With the golden butterfly decal, I applied my finished Ring-Top by special handling and heated it in the oven with a specific bend curve, burned it in and slowly cooled it.

This is one of my spring creations.

Entry

Ivy Boyer

Artist Statement

Although I live in Arizona, I love spring because my rose bushes bloom and I get flowers with great color and scent.  I made a bead with various rose murrini and a butterfly murrini by Jackie Gundlefinger.

Entry

Rosa Caird

Artist Statement

Here is my entry for 'spring'. I experimented with 3-D flowers, and violets are one of my favorites. Also raccoons, because the babies are so adorable.

Entry

Nina "Sam" Hibler

Artist Statement

Spring in Texas means wildflowers, a much anticipated burst of color & life. This necklace is a small landscape of the wildflowers found along the Texas roadsides.  You might recognize Threadgill coreopsis, Bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, Firewheels, Little blue eyed grass & more.

Entry

 

Diane Kermode

Artist Statement

There is something very comforting and grounding in spinning molten glass, perhaps it is the sense of balance that is required to spin a sphere of glass.  Life is difficult in the era of Covid, bright colors, flowers and nature provide much comfort.  I chose a very simple design, the cobalt blue base and bright colored flower beads represent the blessings of spring.

Entry

 

Cynthia Konow-Brownell

Artist Statement

Hello from sunny San Diego.   I'm Cynthia Konow-Brownell,  and I was inspired by some sunflowers in a neighbor's yard.  This bead is made of boro and the sunflowers are slices off of a Momka cane.

Entry

 

Marcy Lamberson

Artist Statement

Spring flowers!

Entry

 

Shelley Morren

Artist Statement

In southern Ohio, spring activities might include anything from shoveling snow on Monday, hiding in the basement from a tornado on Tuesday, to eating an ice cream cone in the sunshine on Wednesday.  Lately, the weather hasn't mattered much since everyone is staying indoors most of the time.  To celebrate spring, for these beads I decided to use some traditional pastel spring colors and make my own version of Easter eggs. These are blown hollow beads from alabaster glass and hand made silvered ivory shards. I wish they were full of chocolate!

Entry

Erin Morris

Artist Statement

My tulips have been coming up with all the speed of a two hundred year old tortoise, but at least the birds are happily working on their nests. Since I'm still waiting for those pink tulips, my challenge this month was to use silver glasses Clio and Kalypso to give me that pop of pink, instead. I had avoided those colors for some time, after a series of disappointing outcomes. My approach was to start over and to start simple. No layered base colors, just Clio or Kalypso, reduced and encased in clear. At last, I had lovely pinks again. In the process, I built on my encasing skills, and I was even able to breathe some new energy into the birds I typically make. At least if the tulips take another month to bloom, you can always grow daisies in the bead garden!

Entry

Mary-Clair O’Neill

Artist Statement

Spring to me means flowers!  Here is a photo of a 3-D orchid pendant.  It is made out of borosilicate glass and strung on a pink cord.  I enjoy both soft glass and boro, as each has properties that the other one doesn’t.

Entry

Susan Otto-Bain

Artist Statement

My All About Spring set of beads started with wanting to make a bright, cheerful Easter egg bead to send to my mother, since we were not going to be able to spend the day together this year. I decided that CIM Oobleck green just screamed out spring and happiness and chose the rest of the colours around it (CIM Alhoha, CIM French Blue, transparent aqua, and light lapis). I was so happy with the colour combos on the Easter egg that I decided to make a whole bouquet of beads with them.

Entry

Janet Prentice

Artist Statement

White Wedding Day with a touch of Gold - The first flowers to come up on the high desert are little white ones. Have added them to this set of lentils,  the gold just sets them off to make the perfect wedding necklace.

Entry

Karyn Sweezy

Artist Statement

Mothers Day necklace

Playing with transparent flowers and working on the balance of the bead.   The Blues are ink blue & Azure.

Entry

Janie Trainor

Artist Statement

When I walk around my neighborhood, people’s yards are bursting with colorful flowers and blooming trees! It is so lovely - poppies, tulips, iris, roses (stopping to smell them, of course)…  This Spring is a tough one.  I feel blessed and I feel worried.  Walking in my neighborhood and making beads is keeping my spirits up.  I chose bright colors for the bases and the flowers because I love bright colors that are blooming around me.  I played with dichroic and baking soda for some extra bling.  I love Hibiscus, so big and glorious; a challenge for me in glass. As always, I need to make more Hibiscus!

Entry

Wendy Velasquez

Artist Statement

The Spring of 2020 will always be remembered as the year of the Covid-19.

Hopefully, this will be a “once in a lifetime” experience.  This virus is what inspired me to make this bead.  Stay safe everyone.

Entry

Inge von Roos

Artist Statement

This Bead was inspired by the green hills and poppy fields of California in spring. I used Bullseye glass in various colors and blends of green, yellow, orange, and blue. The base was French Vanilla.

Entry

Shelly Woollvin

Artist Statement

Spring in Northern California starts out all about the poppies.  Their exuberant bright orange dot the hillsides near my home. Then slowly, all the other wild flowers start to show their pretty faces.  I used frit to bring in the other wild flowers and swipes of encased orange to make the poppies.

Entry

Natalie Zhitomyrsky

Artist Statement

My name is Natalie Zhitomyrsky and I live in the center of Israel.

In the spring, our mountains are covered with millions of scarlet anemones. 

There is even a festival dedicated to their flowering! 

My beads are inspired by these bright colors. 

I used wonderful glasses - Dirty Martini, CiM 120 Lady Bug, Messy Color Monarch, which made it possible to create joyful spring tones!

Entry

April Entries