Hello folks! Just recovered from being sick all week, camped out on the couch watching the food network - I now have a serious craving for crab. Greg had a great time in Detroit doing the GLBG show and TJ had a fabulous time in Raleigh, NC showing GGS goods at the Bead Mercantile Show(a wonderful success, thanks to everybody who stopped by!).
So I was thinking, 'what do people wish we had that we don't?' I usually hear a lot of requests at the shows, but I don't do many shows anymore (that child cannot abide sitting still anywhere!). It occurred to me that most of my interaction is now through my laptop-which is kind of pitiful, because like most artists I need feedback and that is hard to come by as a stay at home mama. I would like to ask everyones two cents on what folks WANT (ideas on new products or projects you want directions for, etc.) and to make it worth your while........I have a bag of goodies (some new beads and a bezel with a handmade insert) I will send to the winner of a drawing from comments on this entry. So, leave a comment and you might WIN some cool stuff!
What I would like to see:
ReplyDelete1. Sculptural bezels
- seashell
- flower blossom
- leaf
- star
- heart
- sun
2. bronze components
3. MORE CLASPS!
- vine toggle
- owl clasp
- dragon clasp
- leaf clasp
- Japanese Cloud Clasp
- Ouroboros toggle
- wysteria toggle
- toad clasp
- updated fairy clasp
- mermaid clasp
- ribbon toggle
4. Expanded silver
- small charm line expanding on existing leaf charms
5. More rings/links like "Mystic ring" and "sun rock"
6. a simple pendant with the Botticelli eye, like the polymer one you sculpted (maybe with that Gaugain quote)
7. Lockets
8. Botantical line
9. Ready-Made Amulets
10. New Designs
- more owls
- a wolf
- tiger cub
- Stardust bead
- Mandrake bead
- Griffin bead
- Anatomical heart
- Swallow (bird)
- More dragonflies
- Man-of-war jellyfish
- Phoenix
More ideas later!
Hey Cynthia! Missed you here in Detroit!
ReplyDeleteI would love to see more clasps too, and some links and components with multiple holes for dangling sparkly goodies. I also love the rings so I would love more of those.
I love the frames so I am excited about the new ones you wrote about. I would enjoy some deep box/pendants for putting little objects or beads in.
I also love the size of your tiny flying heart and would love to see more smallish beads like that, maybe flowery or leafy types.
I love all your little treasures!
How about some small bronze figures or free standing little worlds that fit neatly in your palm. More magical themes and limited edition prints would be terrific also. Try having some letter pressed art made. Also how about a series of mythological creatures? If you need some inspiration you are always welcome to stay in Chicago and spend some time in the museum.
ReplyDeleteOh, NEW BEAD HOLDERS! Maybe ones designed for smaller beads. With thinner insert needles.
ReplyDeleteHi Cynthia
ReplyDeleteI'm in the UK and love your beads and things but I hear from my "friends" in the US that there is more choice at the shows (more than the website!) so my only wish is the website has the same choice as I can't see myself getting to your shows anytime soon sadly!!:(
BUt Andrew's ideas sound perfect ;)
Also a stay-at-home Mummy!!
Jo
x
I just came across your art work..and I love the resin baby you scuplted...I think little trinkets (statues) like that would be fabulous decor items. And I would love to buy one should one become available!
ReplyDelete-Marine life:seahorses, jellyfish (were all ready mentioned), sea urchins (can a fairy be inside a sea urchin??), sea stars, sand dollars...even pebble-like creatures (free interpretation), mermaids in shells...
-We live near Lake Tahoe...and anything woodland-like...pinecones, more owls, leafs of all sorts.
-I love your fairies...so more like the pomagrante fairy...how about fairy wings?
-Sun, moon, stars...the three images intertwined together...
I have three kids so I am always looking for things with 3 in them! And I am a Stay At Home now as well...quite the adjustment...and thus the new hobby!
Keep creating these artful inspirations for all of us to play with and enjoy!
-Sophie
P.S. I second, or is it third, the toggle suggestions!
I would like a few two or three strand clasps, if you could possibly do them, for using with chain maille.
ReplyDeleteI love your components with holes at both ends so I can use them as earring or bracelet parts. Thanks!
definitely bezels! and how about those triangular shaped metal elements that you find on a rosary? and lockets! big ones to hold locks of hair, though that may be a bit tough to cast... a set of sparrows? hand charms that can hold other charms.... miniature books?
ReplyDeleteHmm... what hasn't already been said?
ReplyDeleteObviously the bezels are top of the list. Is it possible to create bezells that look good worn in the front as well as the back?
Organic shapes and sculptural pieces made in such a way as to not need extra holes to string them. I'd love to simply encorporate these pieces into my work naturally. Swirls that loop back onto themselves. Mermaids with arms outstretched to hold onto... seaweed perhaps?
Vessels, especially those that can actually hold essential oils. That would require a cork stopper or maybe a carefully crafted hinge though.
I agree with more rings. Some that are not simply solid but maybe startbursts, a collection of images (say koi fish) circling into a ring shape.
I'd love to see some metallic cabachons. Faces, scenes, random images, words. All would be beautiful.
This is hard to describe, but more serious imagery. That is, more realistic images rather than the fanciful ones.
Whatever you create, I'm sure it will be fabulous.
Your beads are more than objects for us: they're like another land we never want to leave, where there are always surprises waiting behind the ginger pod trees & the lavender sky glitters with colored stars even at noon. What new shores would we visit there if we could steer the ship?
ReplyDelete1)Things with words:
*pebbles, discs, medallions, etc. in all sizes with quotes or phrases
*same with words in languages that use other lovely alphabets, english translation on back
*small pebbles with single words or small word groupings that could be used singly or together on a charm bracelet, say, to make a phrase/quote all the way around
*teeny alphabet sets of pewter letters in a funky font
2)Ideas for new designs:
*Buddha-related
*body parts - hands of different sizes, arms possibly holding things, legs, feet with or w/o shoes, large eyes, etc.
*wings, wings, wings - scaly, feathered, cob-webbed, nubby, furry, etc.
*half people, half something else - tree women, thistle flower headed babies, female-faced cats, books/keys/gloves/non organics with faces
*men! - handsome merguy, weird little gnome dude, sad-eyed faerie prince hiding under a lilac leaf...
3)Containers:
*little decorated pewter boxes w/ holes going all the way through to hold beads, found objects, etc.
*matching bead caps with hollow glass beads to hold old photos, words cut out of books, a lock of hair
*larger pair of cupped hands that could hold a bead in their palms
*larger drilled pods of all sorts that could hold small beads, shells
*small frames in all designs which could hold photos, pieces of a letter, petals from a treasured flower
*unusual lockets - shaped like faerie heads, two closed hands, books you could open, nests with eggs that would swing open to hide a picture underneath
4)Other ideas:
*polymer clay - everything from small accent beads with your designs stamped in them to your amazing sculptural beads
*rings for fingers - shaped like a swimming mercat, covered in simple designs or words, etc.
*your wonderful paintings - bead designs made from the images you create on canvas, clay or glass beads with the actual images on them via a variety of image transfer methods
Thanks for the gift of your art! Your work brings us joy every single day.
J.J. Rohmaller
=^.,.^=
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello, it's me of the ginger pods & colored stars again; this is my blog now. One last idea: I'd love more one-of-a-kind pieces! There's one of your shibuichi faeries in our local bead shop, and I've got my eye on her...I find after being into beading for about six years now, I often tend to buy one-of-a-kinds rather than a lot of littler things; they are true treasures. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteHi Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteAndrew got me started thinking about zodiac designs as a suggestion, and I've been working on what to actually suggest. I don't like most of the astrological pendants that I've seen, and I love the way you create fantasy creatures, so I'm thinking of a combination of these in a pendant. I saw the article on you in Beadwork, really nice!, and I realized that the Grow Strong tree/leaf boxy pendant would be perfect for this. I'd love to see a fantasy/mythological representation of a zodiac sign on the front, using the archetypes for each sign as a guideline. I can send you a list of archetypes from Steven Forrest's Inner Sky book, such as Warrior, Survivor, Daredevil, Pioneer for Aries. Then the glyph could go on the back and some descriptive words on the sides (like warrior, etc). The more I think about it, the more I love it!
Spiritual themes would also be nice, spirals, mandalas.
Dolphins playing with the word 'play' or 'be playful' or something like that.
Tarot themed images.
The four elements, fire, water, air and earth.
More fairies inside things like flowers or fruit or acorns.
Forest children like in the Elsa Beskow books.
Thanks for making this contest and offering the chance to send suggestions, it was fun to play with the possibilities!
Cindy
Why, Goddesses of course!
ReplyDeleteJust a few more ideas (this is such fun!):
ReplyDelete*mini shrine pendants - figure inside a glass bead/box/enclosure, with decorated/engraved metal frame around the sides so we could see both front and back...I have several of these with Buddhas and Hindu figures inside, and have always thought your wonderful creations would be so delicious this way
*Asian anime-inspired little girls, with nature elements in their clothing or hair
*elemental faeries, with flame faces, tornado shaped bodies, dresses of raindrops!
*spooky things - little ghost girls, creepy keys and stern owl women, skulls with Mexican hats, cats & jack-o-lanterns inspired by antique Halloween decorations
*pods, pods, & more pods!
Thanks for this fun & inspiring post!