Thursday 15 March 2012

Silence….

A long time… a long time indeed… since I last posted… what can I say… I’ve been in a really funny mood… winter? life? I don’t know… I just didn’t feel like talking… or writing… I can’t say I was depressed… I just needed to have silence in my life.

Very little beading happened during this quiet time… I couldn’t find myself…. so I occupied my mind (and my creative craving) by redoing my son’s bedroom… painted it, bought some new furniture… (a desk, a cupboard, some cool wall stickers)… updated it and reorganized it to fit his age…

bed 1

 bed 1 (2) bed 1 (1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m really proud of myself because I managed to do everything on a really tight budget!!! The paint was about 300 NIS (c. $80), I found the cupboard on sale for 400 NIS (c. $108), the desk, also on sale for 200 NIS (c. $54), of course I had to build them, which I did all by myself!!! :-) The rest of the furniture I already had, I just reorganized it and gave away a ton of toys that he had grown out of… bought some wall stickers, that he chose himself …  and voila’ :-) I’m so glad he finally has a proper cupboard to keep all his clothes in and places for most of his toys… plus, most importantly, a desk!!!! to do his homework on, draw, do whatever he wants (instead of on my dining room table) :-) I wanted to paint the old wooden furniture white, but Ethan didn’t want me to… so I left it…

My lovely (and talented) cousin Bettina made him this gorgeous ceramic Mezuza cover for his new room and even made me 2 more for my bedroom and my workroom. Aren’t they gorgeous!!!

mezuza1 mezuza3


So once the room was done you would think I would get some beading done, right? well… no! still waiting for my muse to return from her extended hiatus!!!! So…. I started doing some origami… and started checking out things one could do with origami… came across this amazing artist (who happens to be in Israel too) Ilan Garibi…. you have to check out his amazing origami lamps!!!!

image

Design by Ofir Zucker and Albi Serfaty in collaboration Ilan Garibi.
Photo by Albi Serfaty.


Then after a bit of origami…. some crochet!!! :-) I started making a blanket for Ethan's new room… some angry bird hats… anything to avoid the frustration of sitting in front of my beads and having nothing to say…. my beads are silent….

Then, the other day, a friend came round to show me how to start on my metalwork… I’ve had the equipment for almost a year and all I made was a pair of earrings which I posted a while back:

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I simply had this fear of the torch and the unknown… so my friend Penny came over and kindly spent the morning showing me how she makes her lovely hammered copper bangles – see below her lovely work and check out her etsy shop - PenelopeStern!!!

             image image

And here is what I made!!!!

copper bangles copy
Couldn’t have done it without Penny’s help!!!! I made one with her, then spent the next day making 2 more 1/2 round ones and 2 flat hammered ones! and I LOVE them!!! I’ve been wearing them ever since!!!! :-)

Armed with this new knowledge, and having got rid off some of the fear of using the torch, I thought I would use one of my books and try and make one of the projects, a ring… here is the result… not perfect but not bad for my first attempt and good enough for me to wear! :-)

 ring 01 copy ring 02 copy

It feels really good to be making again!!!! and I look forward to playing more with my torches… so stay tuned and see what I come up with! :-)

9 comments:

  1. what wonderful metal creations, can't wait to see what else you come up with, I've also just begun a foray into metal. I'm sorry to hear your beads are silent, I have no doubt they will start speaking to you again soon, probably when you're least expecting it.

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  2. Hey Triz, I have missed you. I think a lot of people are going through the (no beading phase) my self included. I went back to some art I use to do in the 1970's. It changed my attitude and got me to a new and better place of art.
    Ohhh can you come redo my room. Looks great.
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  3. Your son's room looks great, as does your torch work! Sometimes I get my muse back for making jewelry by experimenting with different mediums for a while.

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  4. I absolutely love the bangles and the ring! This makes me miss working with metal -- I bet it would be a fun thing to combine with bead embroidery.

    I think silence can be a part of the creative process. Creative people are a little bit like water bottles -- every now and then, we need refilling. :)

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  5. Hi Triz good to hear from you again!, The room looks great, and the ring you made as a project looks great too. I am sure your beading muse will come again soon with new wonderful projects. :)
    A hug
    Miri

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  6. You Son's room looks great. I love the new bangles and ring you made. Looking forward to seeing more of your creations.
    Therese

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  7. Hey Triz,
    I am really impressed! I love the bangles and the ring that you made. I am so happy that I was able to help you get going, and I look forward to getting together again soon.
    Ethan's room looks great!
    Many thanks for the link to my shop.
    Penny

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  8. Welcome Back Triz! We have missed you. Great to see what you have been up to. I think just about all craft people - especially beaders need to have a bit of a hiatus away from beading. It is all consuming for us when we are in the zone so sometimes the mind needs a break and a new focus before returning to what we love. I know when I started my beading studio last year - I went through several months of feeling guilty about not beading. I wanted to - but just couldn't find the energy or the "Muse" to do it. I was exhausted after setting up website, buying stock, creating things, setting up the studio etc that I just needed to sit back and do nothing. So like many others who follow you work - I hear you! Glad you are back and loved seeing your metalwork creations. Gorgeous. Am loving that ring big time. So from a sunny Auckland NZ day - wishing you a happy weekend.

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  9. Great creativity, can't wait to see more!

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