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2019 in Review: A Year of Making Art

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Making time for making art

Creating beautiful, colorful things brings me joy. If your life is like mine, you can get to the end of a busy year and wonder if you got anything accomplished. 2019 was such a whirlwind! Even when the schedule has been hectic, I still found time for making art and using color in fiber, cloth, and especially wire and beads.

As this year draws to a close, I wanted to share some of my favorite creative endeavors and highlight projects that appeared even amid occasional chaos.

Advanced wire techniques

In January, I taught a class on how to take wire embellishments to a new level. In the image below (the sample I created during the class), note the techniques of using pearls, scrolls, rhinestones, and wire-wrapped wire to add interest, volume, and sparkle. My focus was on teaching techniques rather than creating a specific project, so the resulting creations from the class were as unique and fun as each participant.

making art and learning wire wrapping techniques in Melanie Schow class

Recognition for my art

At Chris M. Sorenson Gallery this year, my piece “B Illuminated” was a particularly fun challenge and won second place in their Love of Letters show.

This year, I was invited to participate in the Fresno Art Museum gift shop. They requested that I bring my showstoppers, and it was exciting to display some of my high-end, fine art pieces in support of this local location! (I love this gorgeous “older” work featuring dragons by Robin Poff and a pocket watch works along with the hand forged wire and interesting beads).

Fiber and fabric

Attempting this complicated shawl made me one grumpy knitter, but after it was lovingly blocked by a more experienced knitter (Help Me Meg!), it now looks great. It’s such a great feeling when items move out of a project bag and into my closet to wear!

One of my biggest accomplishments this year was completing a quilt. After rediscovering my love for beautiful fabrics in a local quilting class, I got really motivated to finish a quilt for my own home.

Like a lot of creative people, I often work best when I have uninterrupted time and space. Well, I took the quilt project with me on vacation to Pacific Grove with a dear friend for company, determined to attempt a new and easier method of binding. We worked away on our respective projects, cheering each other on. Now it’s bound and on my bed! I call the back “technicolor zebra.” Every time I make my bed, this colorful quilt makes me smile.

A trove of wire art pendants

As the holiday season approached, I felt a new wave of inspiration to create with wire and my stockpile of beautiful, fun, and festive lampwork focal beads. In a matter of weeks, I created over 60 pendants for three local galleries to display.

Stretching my skills and local visibility

By far the piece of which I’m most proud this year was my entry for Celebrate Agriculture with the Arts. Since orange groves line nearly every road in the San Joaquin Valley, this piece celebrates our local farms. Entitled “Central Valley Slice“, my necklace uses stunning slices of lemon and orange forged from glass, that somehow look juicy. If you’re interested, this piece is now for sale ($395).

It’s always good to pause to celebrate life’s accomplishments. I wish you a bright holiday season and a colorful new year!

All that glitters

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Art glass pendants galore

As the holidays approach, I’m turning out lots of fun and colorful glass pendants using lampwork focal beads from some of my favorite glass artists.

From wise owls and cute pups to seasonal, wintry themes (I love the steaming cup of cocoa), I’m having a blast creating lots of swishes and scrolls to embellish these fun pieces.

Just a few of the dozens of glass pendants on my work bench

The wire in these pendants is copper that’s coated in colored enamel. It comes in so many shades, so it’s easy to find the perfect match with specific hues in the glass beads.

The wonderful thing about pendants is their simplicity. You can wear them with nearly anything—from dressing up your jeans or adding a little pizzazz to your favorite turtle-neck dress.

I’ve been collecting lampwork beads by various talented artists for years,  and it’s been so fun to revisit my favorites. I am always amazed by how much creativity, sparkle, and whimsy they bring to creating focal beads. I might have trouble letting go of a few of them!

With creative embellishments and colored wire to highlight each unique piece, each one becomes wearable art for everyday or the holidays!

I’ve created about 50 pendants in advance of the holiday season and will be displaying them at three different local art galleries. If you’re in the Fresno area, you’re invited to visit and take your favorites home with you!

It’s an honor to have my work featured at these creative local galleries. If you need a little more sparkle in your life (or know someone who does), I hope you’ll come by!

Show and tell: Some of my favorite (studio) things

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Nothing inspires me more than being surrounded by color. Not surprisingly, this fact shows up in my studio and helps to support my creativity. Throughout my space, there are items that are meaningful, bright, and invite me into the space to create.

Here are some of my favorite things that inspire me in my studio.

Exhibit A: Watercolors by Kathleen Mattox

Both the framed piece and the tiny book marks are both painted by my artist friend, Kathleen Mattox of Mixed Messages in Sanger, CA. They are colorful and happy, and I love having them in my studio. The smaller collection of bookmarks were cut from works that didn’t go as planned, making them into something new. Seeing these makes me happy!

Exhibit B: Colorful ribbons

One thing to know about me is that I don’t just like giving gifts, I love making them beautiful. Wrapping presents is such a joy for me, and of course, one needs a collection of beautiful, unique ribbons for finishing touches.

Exhibit C: People who inspire me

Talk about inspiration! Mother Nature has outstanding taste in geodes and amethyst. This shelf also holds a book open to a page featuring the work of wire artist Lynne Merchant, one of my early teachers. Above it (not pictured) is a set of whispery chimes that reminds me of the intro to the song Age of Aquarius. Every time I walk by, they’re set into motion, reminding me of my first grown up theater, this musical in 1967.

Exhibit D: My lampwork bead collection

I store my lampwork beads in architects’ flat files to make everything more visible. Nothing delights me more than pulling open a shallow drawer and feasting on the color, variety, and possibility each collection holds. I like to arrange things by color—orange and pink, for example—and collect the beginnings of future projects. Any time I’m short on inspiration, this is my favorite place to go!

When I’m doing the more tedious work of running an art business (inventory or balancing the checkbook), having beauty and color around me lifts me up and keeps me going.

A juicy necklace for my next art show

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Every year since 1994, Madera (CA) County Center for the Arts has hosted a juried art show centered around our region’s agriculture. This year, I’m entering a necklace called “Central Valley Slice.”

While I’m saving the full reveal for the show itself, I wanted to give you sneak peek (details about attending the show at the end)!

lemon citrus glass bead

Inspiration

Where we live, produce is all around us. One of the most important crops grown in our area is citrus—from mandarin “Cuties” to lemons and navel oranges. All year, we watch the cycle of trees in blossom, ripening, harvest, and pruning—citrus, tangerines, nectarines, peaches, plums. We drive around and through it all the time.

Because of this, the Celebrate Agriculture show is on my mind year-round. Recently, when a beadmaker posted these citrus beads,  I jumped at them, knowing immediately that I would use them for this show. I love how accurate and juicy they look!

All the juicy materials

This necklace is completely hand-forged using copper-enameled, green art wire into a lariat-hybrid design. With citrus slice art glass beads made by Olga Boiko, and the lemon tree bead by Debi Cogwell, the piece makes a beautiful whispering noise when worn. It also includes Lucite leaves, lead-free pewter bead caps and spacers, and smaller glass beads.

What I love about the Celebrate Agriculture show

It’s a fun show and dear to me. I especially love the variety of artists and mediums and seeing their interpretation of each year’s theme. It’s a friendly competition between local artists.

To participate, a jury reviews all the pieces and decides which gets into the show. Then, there a second process in which each category is judged and awarded first place, second, or honorable mention. In 2017, I received an honorable mention for one of my submissions, Night Watchmen.

Want to see the finished piece?

You can see the finished work (and those of many other talented artists) by attending the Celebrate Agriculture reception at Circle Gallery on September 12. Not local? You can also follow me on Facebook where I’ll be posting images afterward.

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No matter which way you slice it

These gorgeous beads inspired this year’s submission to the Madera County Arts Council art show, Celebrating Agriculture with the Arts. Slices of lemon and orange lampwork adorn this lariat-hybrid necklace. Here’s the inspiration for its creation!

http://bendwire.com/a-juicy-necklace-art-show/

Five tips to fit creativity into your busy life

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Too much to do, too little time to create

It was the end of a long day and my artist friend and I took turns apologizing for yawning through dinner, cross-eyed from too many days of busy-ness. Like usual, our conversation turned to the art projects we’ve been working on. Kathleen mentioned a new watercolor series she was thinking about starting.

“I wonder how I could carry color from one painting to the next?”

Suddenly, we both perked up. My favorite conversations start with, “I wonder how…” This question invites curiosity, creativity, and new possibilities to explore. Ideas were flying about color and technique. Suddenly, we were both energized as the creative possibilities bubbled up. We could hardly talk fast enough!

Colorful complicated quilt block

A colorful, complicated quilt block I completed thanks to Tip #4.

How to perk up your creativity

It gave me an idea to share with you some of the ways I bring creativity into my life when there isn’t enough time to make art. If your projects are languishing untouched, and your to-do list is long, I hope these ideas inspire you.

Tip 1: Ask artistic friends what they’ve been creating lately.

This is an enlivening topic of conversation for creative people. It opens up a world of discovery when you ask about what’s on someone’s easel or needles or workbench.

Tip 2: Talk about what you would make if you had more time.

This is the creative person’s variation on the “what would you do if you won the lottery.” Even when life intrudes, you can take your creativity to the hypothetical world where you have lots of free time and no other commitments. What would you create? What techniques or mediums would you like to experiment with?

Tip 3: Ask “I wonder what would happen if…”

In the case of Kathleen’s project, she was considering a larger question about color-blending techniques. Although her medium is watercolor, I shared about creating gradients with yarn (alternating rows of the previous color and the next color) and seed beads (increasing and decreasing percentages of colors). It gave us both a new appreciation for how widely-different media create similar visual impact. Wondering out loud is juicy!

Tip 4: Sign up for an in-person class. If there is a physical location to visit and people waiting for me, it really does make me prioritize creating. I’m nearly finished with a complicated quilt because I enrolled in a class with a friend.

Tip 5: Offer a class.

This is one way to really force yourself to create even when the stack of mail beckons. Teaching a class means creating samples and showing up in person to assist others. If you have access to space and a local following, this is a great way to get out of a rut and have fun creating. It’s an extra bonus that I often learn as much from the students as they do from me.

How do you fit creativity into your busy life?

Do you have ways to bring more creativity into your life when it’s busy? I’d love to know about it in the comment section!

My new wire art class!

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A new wire art class

For the first time in six years, I’m offering a new advanced wire art class! It will feature creative skills for working with wire including bending, embellishing, shaping, adding hanging elements, and balancing a piece. I’m very excited! Here’s the first of two samples, this one is in silver:

Designing a class is an art

Not surprisingly, the process of designing a class requires creativity too.

The name of the class is Meander. Being a lover of words, the first thing I did was look up the definition and make notes about the descriptive words. This set the tone as I wrote the class description and made a list of materials.

Artists who teach likely have two general strategies for preparing a class–a chicken and egg approach, if you will. The first way is to create a piece with a specific class in mind, taking careful notes along the way, step by step. The other approach is to create a finished piece and then think, “Hey! This would make a great class!” This is more challenging because you must reverse-engineer the creation process from memory so that students have clear instructions.

When I create art pieces, my primary focus is always to ask “is this sturdy and stable?” I hardly ever think about the order I did it in. Fortunately, for the Meander class, I did it the first way and have good notes.

New wire art skills and techniques

In the past, I’ve taught classes that feature a specific project that participants walk away with. I’m excited that this advanced class focuses exclusively on students pushing the limits of wire, embellishments, and balance. Instead of a carbon-copy, students develop their confidence in creating an original piece using the techniques discussed in the class.

Since I last taught a class, I have learned new skills from the art I’ve been making. Sometimes wire does unexpected things in the course of producing new work. I am eager to share these discoveries with students. One of the other departures in this class is the option of rhinestones – something sparkly – instead of my more usual pearls or beads (I’m more of a monochrome designer, but hey sparkles, what’s not to like?). We’ll be playing with curves where you can choose to add rhinestone chain (among other things!).

One of the signs of artistry is being able to develop your own design aesthetic and learn to trust your own sensibilities. This class will be an aesthetic challenge for participants to discover what’s pleasing to them. To answer that age-old question: “How do I know when I’m done?” For all these reasons, I can’t wait to teach the class in January!

Learn more about my newest wire art class! 

Want to see a second sample piece in copper and read about the class? Visit Creative Castle’s website.

Opening a treasure chest

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The other day, I opened a box of treasures and everything inside was my own work!

Like a lot of artists, I’m most productive when I have a deadline. Art shows in particular motivate me to think creatively and often put me into that flow state where I hardly know I’m creating—present, focused, and enjoying myself.

Working for that deadline, I don’t stop until I’m done. I don’t take photos. My other tasks fall off the radar. All my energy is focused on finishing my art pieces and delivering them in enough time for the show.

That’s why opening this box was such a surprise. As I marveled at its contents, I kept wondering, Did I make all this? 

I did! Last year, I showed my work at a local gallery where the shows, deadlines, and new themes kept me hopping. When I requested last year’s pieces back, I opened the box and could hardly remember making it. So much fun stuff!

Best of all, this means I have extra goodies to bring to a holiday boutique this Sunday—along with new pieces too. If you happen to be in southern California and didn’t get the email invitation, please let me know!

In the doghouse

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I wear lots of hats—artist, farmer, dog mom—but this year the farm has moved from the back seat of life to the front. Correction: The farm is actually driving.

For that reason, it’s remarkable that I’m still managing to work on an art piece for an upcoming show. In fact, it’s one of the more fun pieces I’ve created in a while. I’m sharing it because it’s cute and also to hold myself accountable for finishing it, no matter where the farm takes me.

A weekend with my art group

For a busy artist, there’s nothing more helpful or encouraging than time away with other creative souls to get stuff done. There’s fun, banter, and conversation while each person creates her own project.

When I spent a weekend with my art group recently, I started a new piece for the 25th annual Celebrate Agriculture with the Arts Show put on by the Madera County Arts Council or as we say, “the Ag Show”. This is a juried show with five competition categories all related to agriculture and it even has cash prizes.

The theme is “Agriculture’s Animal Friends”. I imagined a black-and-white farm dog in a rustic dog house, resting in the shade. In terms of structure, my inspiration was the woven owl box piece I created for the 2017 Ag Show (recognized with an Honorable Mention and sold!), only larger and more rustic.

When you create art with wire, you have to think beyond its finished appearance to the sturdy internal frame on which you build color and embellishments. Not only does this piece need to stand up on its own, the doghouse itself will hold a pendant when it’s not being worn. A hanging pendant needs good support, so I am considering a base of antiqued wood.

The engineering of a piece is often the biggest challenge. Creating component pieces that work together and display art jewelry for everyday enjoyment is an especially fun challenge.

The dog bead (made by the lovely lampwork artist, Tammy Mercier) will have a red collar made from wire I special ordered. I was at a local craft store when I found some really unique blue wire, but I really wanted red. Imagine my delight when an online search revealed a line of 12 colors in the same style. Eureka!

While I proceeded with weaving wire into the structure I built, it looked too fragile. I debated taking it out and redoing it, but things have a way of working out. I tried switching to thicker, 21-gauge, half-round wire. Now it looks sturdier, and the different color wires give it a rustic feel.

I created a prototype to put grass and plants in front of the doghouse. Although the copper one I created looked great, I remade it in green wire. This conveniently covers the smaller-gauge wire too. I love it when it works!

When it was time to add a roof, securing the textured copper sheets proved challenging. The doghouse has a steep peak with a lot of space between wire. Without too much trouble, I used the vertical wires to create rustic-looking nails, wrapped down even and tight.

The pendant itself will be simple with a collar under the face and a dog tag. I’m also considering paw-print earrings to complete the ensemble.

Want to see the dog house when it’s finished?

Be sure to follow me on Facebook! I will submit it to the Ag Show by August 1. Hopefully it will pass the jury, and you can see it in person at the opening reception on September 13. Wish me luck!

Lampwork glass at the heart of my art

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Lampwork glass and wire, together

Lampwork is the art of making glass beads in the fire of a lamp or torch. At the center of my wire art jewelry, often, are other artists.

I love working with wire. I love its challenges and the creativity that wire inspires in me. Although I’ve dabbled in other mediums, wire suits me best. But I also love the depth, color, and variety of lampwork focal pieces.

As I watched glass artists at their craft, I realized that no matter how gorgeous, I didn’t want to learn this craft just to have beautiful focal beads (plus fire—ack!). It is intricate, delicate work. So instead, I’ve become a connoisseur of lampwork and the artists who create using glass.

Borne of fire

Each lampwork bead has layers and layers of glass from rods and tiny shards that artists work in a flame. The flame makes the glass fluid; it melts as they work, so they have to keep the piece in motion to keep it from dripping to the floor. It’s mesmerizing to watch.

Some of my favorite lampwork artists

This month, some of my favorite talented lampwork artists are allowing me to feature them in this post, hard at work. Read on for a sneak peek into  some of the art they’re creating right now.

Gail Crosman Moore

Gail’s studio is in Provincetown, MA and has won many awards for her glass art. She uses various types of glass and her use of materials continues to expand. Often her work features metal or fiber along with the glass.

Gail's glass art in progress

Gail’s glass art in progress

Here are three of Gail’s recent works:

My necklace, Breastplate for Ninsun, features beads by Gail.

BreastPlate for Ninson lampwork wire art necklace (c) Melanie Schow

Molly Cooley

Molly’s studio, Windswept Tree Glass Art, is in Michigan. She told me, “My space is a complete mess…for some reason I can’t create if it’s clean!” (It looks colorful and gorgeous to me!)

Here are two of Molly’s recent works:

This is a holiday-themed necklace I made with one of her tree-themed pieces.

Viktorija Vait

A few months ago, we featured one of Viktorija’s peices. She’s located in Lithuania and many of her beads are mix of both glass and paint (Etsy).

With Viktorija’s lampwork red bird bead, I created this necklace:

The best part of buying art from different lampwork artists is the variety. There are so many styles—from humorous to artful and everything in between. If I made my own, I’d be much more limited to my style only.

In creating my own art, I love that I get to support other artists. Be sure to check out what these talented women are creating!

My artful and art-filled studio

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Nothing inspires me like other people’s art. Especially when my life is busy, and I don’t have time to sit down to create my own. Seeing the unique ways that people express themselves inspires me. Having splashes of color around me is uplifting.

Nowhere is this more true and visible than in my studio.

Present-wrapping in progress…

In our old home, I had a shared office with some art snuck in. Now I have my own studio to decorate as I like. As I’ve moved into this space over the last few years, I’ve collected watercolors from Kathleen Mattox, big wire pieces from Paul Parichan, and ceramics from Laura Fraedrich.

With gorgeous books as backdrops, quirky little things I’ve picked up find a home on the narrow shelf that runs the length of the room.

The little vignettes around my studio reflect my creative process. Pulling treasures from everywhere create something even more fun and fanciful. Plus, this guarantees that I’m surrounded by my favorite color (pink), even if the rest of the house is more neutral and rustic.

Sometimes I escape to my studio for a phone call or business planning—something unrelated to art. Sitting in my cozy orange chair surrounded by color and fun brings joy to the most mundane tasks.

It’s so important to bring beauty and inspiration to our creative spaces, to have something that reflects who we are and what we strive for. If the practice of creating and enjoying art is sacred, then my studio is a sanctuary.