Sunday, April 26, 2009

Bird Beads: A New Chapter

I have had a productive weekend so far. I made 25 new pieces and only two sailed into the "Butt Uglies" jar!

I wanted to see what I could do with some of the larger bird images I purchased. I was cruising around Etsy Friday afternoon, checking to see what was new in some of my favorite Sellers' shops, and I stopped at Marcia Palmer's store.

Marcia Palmer is a polymer clay artist from Atlanta, although she works in other mediums besides clay. I admire Marcia's work tremendously. She has been a huge inspiration to me since I started working with clay almost two years ago. I think our sense of color and composition are similar, although she may not like the comparison. Her combination of warm, earthy colors and bold and exciting patterns and rich detail are what I strive for in my own work. I visit her shop and drool. Everything is so beautiful.

I purchased some background patterns a few months ago and haven't been able to come up with a way to use them until this weekend. I looked at the larger bird images and realized they would be perfect against the brick reds, mustard yellows and burnt oranges in the patterns of the backgrounds, made even more vivid by black outlines. They are all distressed to look even more "vintage". You know I love that vintage look! I really like the way these turned out, and hope to complete a few more next week.

7 comments:

DLSarmywife said...

I think your new bird beads look fantastic!

Lynda said...

Thank you so much!

sharon said...

Lynda, your at it again and tempting me something fierce!! Just fantastic!

Lynda said...

Aw, thank you Sharon! You're such a boost to my confidence! :)

Julz said...

Well Lynda...we have something in common...Marcia is one of my fave artists...shes wonderfully inspiring and her work is just gobsmacking. Ahhh... to have her talent!
I like your new birdies!!! So when you say larger...what size are you talking about?

Gillian McMurray said...

More beautiful beads. I do like the animal print backgrounds. Very funky!

Lynda said...

Thanks, Gillian. I am a nut about animal prints. :)

Thank you, Julz! The latest pieces average 3" tall and between 1 1/2" and 2" wide, 3/4" to 3/8" deep.