Schooners and Castles and 'Beests...Oh my!

Courtyard Garden; photo by Sue Ann Pearson

So....it's Labor Day Weekend - already! August adventures were had and enjoyed; new designs have been explored, developed and are in process;  the garden has exploded with color and texture...I don't think my brain ever shut down during the summer and I still have ideas to work on. More on that to come soon....

Photo from Strandbeests Facebook page

                                                                    Theo Jansen's Strandbeests came to visit one of our beautiful beaches and I was able to watch from the water by boat. We didn't have a really close view but the crowd was huge and traffic was gridlocked so I was very happy to see as well as we did. It was very cool to see them move along the sand, even with a little help here and there at times.  You can see them on exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem for the next few months.

 

Did you know we have an authentic castle here in Gloucester? It was taken apart in Europe stone by stone, shipped across the ocean and reassembled here on the harbor almost 100 years ago by one of America's most prolific inventors, John Hayes Hammond (second only to Thomas Edison!). It became his home and laboratory and is now a museum that bears his name...and a landmark on the water's edge. I took this shot this last weekend when we took the boat out for a late afternoon picnic...they were having a wedding!

 

The gorgeous Schooner Columbia replica sailed into Gloucester Harbor last week to help celebrate our  Labor Day Weekend Schooner Festival - alongside the many other graceful tall ships that participate every year. (I hope to have more pictures of that event in an upcoming post). With a Boat Parade of Lights, schooner races and tours, fireworks and a Block Party downtown, Labor Day Weekend is a real celebration of our glorious summer!

September brings gorgeous weather, less crowds, beautiful sunsets and the fall gardens....and then I have SHOWS! First up is Celebrate Wearable Art 3, and I'm so excited about the runway look I have for this year. No pics until after the show but stay tuned, there may be hints.... plus there will be a panel discussion about Fashion and History on Cape Ann, at the Cape Ann Museum on the Thursday following the event, moderated by one of my past instructors...and I'll be on the panel too! More info to come as soon as I'm able to share the details.



Next up will be Cape Ann Artisans Fall Open Studio Tour, the annual mainstay of my Fall schedule. Three days of fine craft and art from all over Cape Ann; explore the main streets and back roads at your own pace. It's a beautiful time of year for a visit....look for our bright pink Studio Tour flags and stop in!

 

October 17, right after Open Studios is the BeadAffaire, Boston's best (and longest running!) bead show produced by Beadesigner International, The New England Bead Society. 20 years plus and still going strong....it's one of the most fun shows to do - and just may be my favorite!

                                                                                                                                              I have a couple of new events lined up for November that I'm very excited about but I'll save the details on those for another post (feel free to email me if you're curious!).  Check my calendar for show dates and details.

I'll sign off with some of my favorite shots from the summer.....inspiration abounds! Enjoy....

Summer!

Summer is in full swing, and after our past winter I think everyone is out taking full advantage of each and every fabulous day! There's just not enough time in the day to do all I want to do...so I get an early start and hardly stop til I drop - after the evening gardening session! Yesterday started our annual Downtown Gloucester Sidewalk Bazaar, ongoing through Saturday....so much fun when Main Street gets closed off to cars and all the shops open their doors, set tables outside and turn our little town center into a bustling shopping mecca! In addition we have food vendors, art and craft vendors, local non-profits, dance troupes and musicians and loads more folks lining the street and adding to the festive atmosphere.

 

Tomorrow, Saturday, is the 4th annual Blues Festival at Stage Fort Park....and it's going to be a gorgeous day for enjoying a full day of great music overlooking our beautiful Gloucester Harbor! 

So many other events are going on too: Farmer's Markets every Monday (Magnolia) and Thursday (Stage Fort Park), the Annual Waterfront Festival next weekend and so much else! In just over 7 weeks our third Celebrate Wearable Art Runway Event will be unveiled, and this year it promises to blow the first two out of the water! (Yes, I'll be there selling my newest designs and I'll have at least one piece on the runway as well...here's a "sneak-peek hint"!)

 

Tickets are on sale now; book your ticket online by August 15th to be entered into our "Arts Destination: Cape Ann" Drawing! (Awesome opportunity!!)

Once we get into October, the Cape Ann Artisans Fall Open Studios will be looming - and right after that is Beadesigner International's annual Bead Affaire, the best (and longest running!) Bead Show in the Boston area. It's the most fun show I do...in Watertown, MA at the Armenian Cultural Center with about 40 vendors from all over New England and beyond. Great friends, great beads and great food!

This is the time I focus on making as much stock as I can to get ready for all these events - so it's the best time to stop by the studio and treat yourself and see what's new! (And this is what my workbench looks like in the midst of all this activity!)

 Hope you can pop in and say hello when you're in the neighborhood...

Escargot begonia in window boxes

Studio courtyard garden

 In the meantime, enjoy the summer - and don't forget to slow down and take time for sunsets!

Til next time,

 

A Very Colorful Trip!

Annual International Folk Art Market, Santa Fe, NM

I'm just back from Albuquerque......

What a wonderful trip, full of great memories and experiences! The 23rd Gathering of the ISGB was the main reason for going but we also planned a few extra days to enjoy the area. First up on Sunday as we looked out our hotel window we counted 32 hot air balloons off in the distance! Then off to the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe....richly colorful, lively, fun and so well organized it was just amazing. From the signage directing us to the parking to the busses carting us all back and forth, the volunteers handing out water and umbrellas for sun protection and making sure we all got on the right bus to get back to our cars....everything ran so smoothly it was a terrific experience. On the way back we stopped for a fabulous dinner on a friend's recommendation...the day just kept getting better!

We then had a day to explore ABQ, as so many people refer to it...the Art Museum with a "Killer Heels" exhibit (see the zebra chairs in the photo below?), a lavender farm complete with lotus pond in full bloom and chickens, turkeys and guinea fowl running free - on a beautiful day....I love taking a couple of extra days on these trips to see some of the area.

Tuesday morning I had the filming done for my presentation at the conference (Forging Ahead; Creating New Connections With Glass and Metal) and the A/V guys have the process so well organized that it was a breeze; they make it so easy I barely got nervous except for just a touch of the shakes...and that seemed to happen to everyone filming their segments!

Out hotel was charming with incredible views (mountains and balloons!), an attentive staff, great restaurant and lots of opportunities for outdoor dining....and the weather was beautifully cooperative! Gorgeous and not too hot for most of the day with dramatic thunderstorms in the afternoons....you can see for miles and miles out there!

The view from our hotel room window, every morning!

Thursday morning for me was the highlight of the trip....when we first found out last year that the conference would be in Albuquerque we immediately decided to book a hot air balloon trip! 6 of us went together (although there were 12 in the basket, plus the pilot) and it couldn't have been a more perfect experience; over 4000 feet in altitude, almost 9 miles distance and over an hour flying time....with a whisper-soft landing and running commentary from our extremely professional pilot....priceless! We got some fabulous photos before, during and after as well as certificates of completion during the mimosa-fueled "after" ceremony in the wildflower park....I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

We got back to the hotel by 8:30 (still AM!), freshened up and zipped off to a tour of Rio Grande, one of the largest jewelry findings suppliers in the country. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos but our tour guide was professional, very knowledgeable and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see behind the scenes. Back to the hotel for a bit of R&R at the pool....so decadent! Dinner and schmoozing with old and new friends.....it doesn't get much better than that.

Friday morning started the conference for real....the keynote speaker was terrific and the rest of the presentations were also very enjoyable. My talk was right after lunch (which worried me a bit at first!) but I had a pretty full room, maybe 300 people or so, and I didn't hear any snoring so I think it all went well. I did get lots of very positive comments during the rest of the conference...people seemed to enjoy it.

Saturday was the annual Bead Bazaar which also was a lot of fun....trading for a few things, selling a bunch of my new work and loving my new minimalist table design....all in all a very good day. It's the first time I had done the bazaar in at least 10 years and I'd forgotten how much fun it is to do.

We had to clean up and be out of the ballroom as quickly as possible so the room could be turned over for the banquet, Hall of Flame award and live auction starting at 7...did I mention how efficient and professional the hotel staff was?

Balloon over our hotel

Goodbye, ABQ

So, Saturday night and Sunday continued to be fun and beautifully organized - and flew by! We had an extremely early flight out Monday morning so packing was on the top of my priority list Sunday night after spending some time saying goodbyes, always hard to do after a Gathering....but 4AM came way too early! Back to the airport and a relatively uneventful trip home....with a few hundred photos to go through and organize! Hope you've enjoyed the few I've included here.


Last but not least....a quick image of the flowers I gathered from my garden on the day I got home! I am always worried I'll miss some great blooms while I travel during the summer, but these ones held on....Lucky me!!

Echinacea, Daylilies, Balloon flower, Black-eyed Susans

   

             

Until next time.....

Textures....

(noun) - Texture is used to describe either the way a three-dimensional work actually feels when touched, or the visual "feel" of a two-dimensional work. (About.com)

A local group that I'm involved in, Cape Ann Artisans, is celebrating our 32 annual Spring Open Studio Tour later in June. Recently the topic of "texture" came up during one of our round table planning discussions; it was fascinating to see how everyone deals differently with texture ...what a great discussion came out of that! It was inspiring to see how artisans in different media use (or try to avoid!) texture and some of us decided to spend a bit more time musing on the topic. (From The Studio 2015)

Mermaid's Necklace

 "Texture"...what would our artwork be without it? Texture is the physical feel and look of something — smooth, rough, fuzzy, bumpy, slimy, and lots of somethings in between; sometimes very obvious, sometimes so subtle it requires a touch to get the full sense ...and I can't imagine making my work without considering what I want the final texture to be. It is one of those qualities that may or may not be clearly visible- it's different in every medium- but becomes a major component of the work we as artisans and artists all do, deliberate or not. A bead's smooth unblemished surface reflects a lively sparkle but that same light bouncing off a fluted surface creates an almost glittery effect, giving life and movement to the piece. I can completely change the look of the surface by etching the glass to a soft matte finish, by using tools to ruffle the edge of a disk or by embedding tiny gold spheres in the surface of the molten glass. The visual and tactile textures of the piece become part of what makes it unique to the hand of the maker - and desirable to the owner.

 

  I "collect" textures to use as inspiration in my work, often through photographs. Here are examples of inspiration and the resulting artwork: it's an interesting challenge to figure out ways to mimic Nature's colors, textures and finishes in my own.

Himalayan Blue Poppy (above) and Anemone Pendants Inspired by below...

I'm always on the lookout for new textures - and all the tools with which to create those textures!
More to come....and as always, thanks for reading!

Where to start? Better late than never....

Sunshine! Today it's above 40 degrees, the snowbanks are softening and beginning their inevitable (thank goodness) decline and there are folks walking around town, emerging from their "hunkering down" mode and turning faces to the warmth of the sun.

How many colors of snow do you see?

 

Such a contrast to BeadCamp, in Nokomis FL where I was lucky enough to spend a week between blizzards. Same beautiful blue sky....but that's where any similarity ends!

Thunbergia or Sky Vine

Gardenia bud just starting to open...magnificent fragrance!

Jake, the resident BeadCamp enole guarding the lanai

Detail of decorative columns, Ringling Museum grounds

Home of John Ringling

Ringling Museum grounds

Ringling Museum grounds

Nokomis Beach at sunset

Some of the BeadCampers after class one evening

I'm working on some new pieces that were inspired by this trip, and I promise it won't be two months before they show up here! 

Here is a sneak peek at one of the designs I'm working on....interesting details I haven't used before. Stay tune for more, coming soon.....and thanks for stopping by!