I cheated!

You saw the elephant painting a self portrait! Wasn't that absolutely fabulous? If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it. Anyway, back to Sylvie's online Facebook class. This week the assignment was to make a bead that was a self portrait. I cheated! I uploaded 3 beads because I couldn't decide which one I liked the best. I'll let you decide. Sylvie suggested that we go online and look at the way other artists portrayed themselves. That's how I found the elephant video. I also found many of the more traditional self portraits, then I found Picasso's self portrait. It was fabulous! His nose was in one area. His eyes in another. I was absolutely fascinated! That's when the idea of an abstract self portrait might be the way to go.

So, I doodled and doodled. I found one design that I really liked. I used black as a base and pink, guess who loves pink, as the other color in the bead. The doodle I made just reminded me of an Egyptian symbol. for what, I don't know, but it did. (Since I am also working on improving my stringer control, I thought this would be the way to go.) Oh, I know I need more practice, but that's not the issue. This self portrait made me feel the joy of being open to new experiences. Hmmmm. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

So, then I cheated. I added two more photos. We were only supposed to add one, but.....



















Again, I tried to show joy in the movement of the glass. Arms are up in the air, and I feel like I am dancing.



















This bead shows the diva in me. If I knew how to make eyebrows that weren't frowns and lips that weren't crooked, this diva would be much happier. If she didn't have a crack in her forehead, she'd be happier, too. I suppose there is a diva in all of us. I have found mine.

So, Sylvie, forgive me. I cheated. You can scold me in your nicest mean voice. (Sylvie isn't so tough.) This was a great assignment!

Sylvie's class - Finding Your Voice as a Glass Beadmaker-People Who Just Won't Leave

Sylvie Elise Landsdowne began a class on Facebook to help the glass bead maker find their voice and develop their creativity. I was one of the lucky people to be accepted into the last round. I am also one of the lucky people who just won't leave. There are those of us--Round 1 and Round 2--who continue to stay by simply not leaving.

This week's assignment involved taking a photo of one of our beads and creating a negative image, then we had to make a bead using that image.

Thank you, Deb Batten of Firebirdflamework on Etsy and her website, for taking the photo I sent you and providing me with a negative of that photo. I do appreciate it.

Obviously, this is the negative of the photo that I sent to Deb. I was amazed by the colors of the petals. Here's the orignial photo.

















That's quite a change isn't it? Well, now here's the new bead that came from the negative. I guess it's all right to show it since I posted it in the group photos already.

















So, what do you think? The petal color isn't really a color I would work with normally. I usually go for the brighter, bolder, primary colors. So this was quite a switch for me. Now, I'm wondering just how I can use these colors in other beads. Hmmm!

Thanks, Sylvie! By the way, be sure to visit Sylvie's store on Etsy and Sylvie's new website. The link for Sylvie's blog is at the top of this page.

No, this is not the challenge yet, but, the winner is....

I was really torn about which photo to use. The ones that were suggested in the comments were the ones I was thinking about, too. Tomorrow, I am making a bead that looks like the mailbox with the red flag. Well, maybe not the mailbox, but a bead in black with white and a huge blog of red. I am also going to make a turtle! I wish I had some glow powder. That would be fun because the turtle is a solar powered light.

Here's the photo I used, and here's the bead. The bead was very hard to shoot, so the pictures aren't very good. It's so much prettier in person. I honestly wish you could see it. It does remind me of the picture. I have to post this in the group yet, so you get to be the first to see it!
This is a shot of the city at dawn. It was about 6:30 AM. It is so pretty at that time. Yes, I am an early bird!
Doesn't this remind you of dawn? I'm going to show a brighter photo, too, just to show some of the details, but, I feel that this photo shows the bead best.

I Need Your Help!

As some of you know, I am taking an online class about Finding Your Voice As a Glass Bead Maker. Our teacher, Sylvie Lansdowne, gives us an assignment each week to help us develop our creativity and expression in our beads.
This week's assignment has me stumped.
I have completed the first part of the assignment which was to take photos of our environment. Well, in Minnesota, at this time of year, there really isn't much to see except for a lot of snow. That's true this year. It's also very cold. I didn't spend a lot of time outside because of the cold. I snapped these photos very quickly and went inside.
Well, that's beside the point.
Now, I'm really stuck. My creative voice is just saying, "It's too cold." So, now I have to choose a photo and make a bead.
Here are the photos I took.
Which one do you think would make a nice bead?
Maybe this is cheating a little bit,
but I'm really stuck.
I think my brain is stuck in the cold.
Help!
Make a suggestion, please.