Well that uncontacted tribe post totally got me googling...
(Note: I said "adornment," not "clothing"...which is mostly absent in the photos below.)
http://www.amazon-indians.org/explorers/magicgallery/06-Explorers-ps.htm
Matis Indian girls in traditional jewelry of handmade beads
http://www.amazon-indians.org/explorers/magicgallery/17-Explorers-ps.htm
Piercings I had never seen before....no, seriously. This is an elder, a medicine man, in jaguar mode.
http://www.amazon-indians.org/explorers/magicgallery/09-Explorers-ps.htm
"When I am an old woman, I shall wear..."
SERIOUSBEADER ~ Mixed Media Beadwork & Altered Art from the Land of Enchantment
Friday, May 30, 2008
Whoa!
Did you see this story in the news today???
Survival International did a fly-over of this "uncontacted group" of people in the Amazon. I'm having a hard time digesting this. Talk about two worlds colliding. And these people are ready to take down a flying machine (or at least the photographer in it) with bows and arrows. I don't know whether to cry or laugh but I'm leaning toward crying.
Survival International did a fly-over of this "uncontacted group" of people in the Amazon. I'm having a hard time digesting this. Talk about two worlds colliding. And these people are ready to take down a flying machine (or at least the photographer in it) with bows and arrows. I don't know whether to cry or laugh but I'm leaning toward crying.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Recent NMBS Challenge of the Century
This must be the week I forget to pull the blogposts outta the queue. (Did I just spell queue right???) I totally forgot to write about this hilarious and amazing challenge put on by the New Mexico Bead Society at their recent meeting.
But let's start from the beginning...I received an email asking if I could be there for a most secret challenge. Shhhh! I was not to tell anyone. So I replied, "Ok. I won't even tell my husband."
To which Geri V. replied, "Good. You seem to have a sense of humor. Do you watch Iron Chef?"
And I'm like, HhhhhunH? (you have to say that like Scooby Doo, it's my favorite thing to do since watching that Kathy Griffin marathon over the weekend...). I didn't recall there being a lot of humor in Iron Chef, but then again I've never watched it all the way through.
So I keep my sworn secret (except I did tell the fam where I was off to), arrived at the meeting, and sort of lurked in the hallway until the business session was over. Then it finally clicked -- they were planning some kind of Iron Chef Beading Contest! I thought to myself, oh no, this could be bad. Are they going to chop things up? And how do you bead fast, anyway?
But Geri and her posse had it all figured out. They sorted the guild members into teams of three. Each team had a captain, sorta. Geri had even taped the opening music from the show and played it while they read from cue cards to announce the challenge and give serious bios of us judges. At the appropriate moment, her trusty assistant threw off a blanket that covered a bunch of embellish-able thrift store finds -- like fuzzy blue slippers, various hats, clothing, baskets, and so on. The captains rushed forward (we jumped behind the table for safety!) and grabbed an item.
They had been told in advance to bring all their gear, plus there was a big box of thrift store beads. I mean -- a HUGE box -- to select things from.
The teams had one hour to bead-embellish the item. And I am telling you, there was some serious talent in the room. And some serious teamwork. We judges mosied around, watching them work and conferring on their strategies and strengths, as well as their teamwork. Right away we decided we didn't want to be the ones to announce the one winning team -- leaving the rest as losers, despising us forever. ;-)
I had brought some little packets of cabochons, thinking I'd dole them out to all the participants who stayed for the challenge, but I didn't realize how much the NMBS has grown, so I hadn't brought enough. Instead, I ponied up enough cabs for a 3rd place winning team. Another judge offered gift certificates to the bead store she manages. The NMBS had already provided a first place prize, so we felt much better being able to give out 9 prizes instead of 3.
It was so hilarious when the timer went off and each team had to come up and, we thought, put their bead embellished item on the table so we could judge them. Instead, they sashayed on up and made us all laugh with their presentations explaining their items. There was a blue jean skirt decorated with brightly colored vintage plastic boho, a beautifully wire wrapped candleholder one team turned into a "beadpourri," an amazing feathered hat, a beaded lamp with shade, a vest, a purse that looked like it came with the beautiful embellishments they put on it, and more items I can't even remember (sorry, bead teams).
I sorta knew the other teams were in trouble when I saw what would become the winning team working stealthily on fabric flowers, beaded motifs, and assorted mixed media items to decorate a lovely summer hat. Oh and as it turned out, one of the winning teams (the lampshade group) consisted of three first-timers to the NMBS meetings -- what a neat welcome eh?
I thought it was a really cool idea for a challenge I wanted to share it with other bead society members out there. It was positively amazing what a team of three could come up with in just one hour!
But let's start from the beginning...I received an email asking if I could be there for a most secret challenge. Shhhh! I was not to tell anyone. So I replied, "Ok. I won't even tell my husband."
To which Geri V. replied, "Good. You seem to have a sense of humor. Do you watch Iron Chef?"
And I'm like, HhhhhunH? (you have to say that like Scooby Doo, it's my favorite thing to do since watching that Kathy Griffin marathon over the weekend...). I didn't recall there being a lot of humor in Iron Chef, but then again I've never watched it all the way through.
So I keep my sworn secret (except I did tell the fam where I was off to), arrived at the meeting, and sort of lurked in the hallway until the business session was over. Then it finally clicked -- they were planning some kind of Iron Chef Beading Contest! I thought to myself, oh no, this could be bad. Are they going to chop things up? And how do you bead fast, anyway?
But Geri and her posse had it all figured out. They sorted the guild members into teams of three. Each team had a captain, sorta. Geri had even taped the opening music from the show and played it while they read from cue cards to announce the challenge and give serious bios of us judges. At the appropriate moment, her trusty assistant threw off a blanket that covered a bunch of embellish-able thrift store finds -- like fuzzy blue slippers, various hats, clothing, baskets, and so on. The captains rushed forward (we jumped behind the table for safety!) and grabbed an item.
They had been told in advance to bring all their gear, plus there was a big box of thrift store beads. I mean -- a HUGE box -- to select things from.
The teams had one hour to bead-embellish the item. And I am telling you, there was some serious talent in the room. And some serious teamwork. We judges mosied around, watching them work and conferring on their strategies and strengths, as well as their teamwork. Right away we decided we didn't want to be the ones to announce the one winning team -- leaving the rest as losers, despising us forever. ;-)
I had brought some little packets of cabochons, thinking I'd dole them out to all the participants who stayed for the challenge, but I didn't realize how much the NMBS has grown, so I hadn't brought enough. Instead, I ponied up enough cabs for a 3rd place winning team. Another judge offered gift certificates to the bead store she manages. The NMBS had already provided a first place prize, so we felt much better being able to give out 9 prizes instead of 3.
It was so hilarious when the timer went off and each team had to come up and, we thought, put their bead embellished item on the table so we could judge them. Instead, they sashayed on up and made us all laugh with their presentations explaining their items. There was a blue jean skirt decorated with brightly colored vintage plastic boho, a beautifully wire wrapped candleholder one team turned into a "beadpourri," an amazing feathered hat, a beaded lamp with shade, a vest, a purse that looked like it came with the beautiful embellishments they put on it, and more items I can't even remember (sorry, bead teams).
I sorta knew the other teams were in trouble when I saw what would become the winning team working stealthily on fabric flowers, beaded motifs, and assorted mixed media items to decorate a lovely summer hat. Oh and as it turned out, one of the winning teams (the lampshade group) consisted of three first-timers to the NMBS meetings -- what a neat welcome eh?
I thought it was a really cool idea for a challenge I wanted to share it with other bead society members out there. It was positively amazing what a team of three could come up with in just one hour!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Margot Potter on How To Get Published
Just this morning I was thinking about an artisan I know who couldn't get published if she paid the editors (no, you do not know who I'm talking about). Why? Because she and her drama have worked their way through one major craft mag after another, and apparently dealing with her is not worth the effort.
So today in my Google reader, I see Margot Potter's spot-on post about getting published, and, well, go read it -- it's very good! (Er, if you can get the page to load! All that glitz and glitter makes for quite the bandwidth-hog blog) I would only disagree with a couple of things, and one is, you don't even have to be a good writer to get published in most craft magazines (but it does help).
A lot of beadwork magazines, for example, mainly want you to be knowledgeable and create a nice project, they'll take care of your bad grammar. But if you want to be accepted a second time, well, read Margot and/or do this:
So today in my Google reader, I see Margot Potter's spot-on post about getting published, and, well, go read it -- it's very good! (Er, if you can get the page to load! All that glitz and glitter makes for quite the bandwidth-hog blog) I would only disagree with a couple of things, and one is, you don't even have to be a good writer to get published in most craft magazines (but it does help).
A lot of beadwork magazines, for example, mainly want you to be knowledgeable and create a nice project, they'll take care of your bad grammar. But if you want to be accepted a second time, well, read Margot and/or do this:
- Do what they ask & don't be a diva. You are not the Queen. An article is basically a collaboration -- be a team player. If you don't like the rules, you can always self-publish.
- Read previous issues and/or the mag's writer's guidelines and follow them as closely as possible.
- Don't indundate the mag with long communications. If you have to ask a question for clarification, keep it short. Editors are BUSY people.
- Make the deadline (oops. This is why I'm more or less on hiatus this year -- between my health and grad school, I have too little control over my own time.)
====================
Hmmm, after rereading this I realized I should prolly acknowledge that there are times to walk away from a publishing/design gig -- there are bad editors, sloppy publishers, etc. etc. and people who just don't treat you right. Sorry if I sounded like the drama was always coming from the designers/contributors. 8-)
====================
I remember a totally embarassing publishing mistake in an article a few years ago. I had written a cuff bracelet project where I used Ultrasuede instead of leather and the editor (I'll go ahead and say, it was the lovely Jean Campbell, who I would follow to the ends of the earth to work with) had edited the article to say I "hate" leather, when I didn't actually say that. I do use it, it's just different. What was embarassing is that this happened in their special Native American issue. Full of leather projects. Oh yeah. And guess where I live and work? Smack dab in the middle of Indian country. But what could I do but be gracious? Everybody makes mistakes, even editors. Even Jean, LOL! (I hope she doesn't read this -- talk about gracious, she's got that in spades). She published an errata (if that's what it's called) in the next issue.
There's just one other thing I'd disagree with Margot on, and that is self-promotion. I think you have to find a way to promote that fits your personality. You can make a heckuva lotta money just being yourself, and quietly delivering a good product. Not everyone wants their own craft show (Go Margot!). And not everyone (especially other women) wants to hear you tooting your own horn all the time. But it's true, without promotion, you and your beautiful gifts will probably just sit there.
Take Bonnie Brooks. You might not have heard of her, cause she's a modest thing, but as a hand-worker she can spin gold. Everything she touches turns be000tiful! The fact that she is a graphic designer and a consummate artisan makes her an excellent independent technical editor. Her hands and her eye for detail are there behind a lot of great craft books. She gets work because she does work. Good work begets good work. Or something... so keep working. Promotion is sometimes an inside job.
Utimately, there isn't a right or wrong way to promote, and, thereby, carve out a niche for yourself (and frankly I don't see crafters getting filthy rich at it anyway), so my advice would be to, yes, stretch, pounce on possibilities, but be yourself. Because at the end of the day, you're who you come home to. 8-)
Actually, there is no ladder to climb, only goals to set for yourself. Once you get into the so-called "big leagues," don't be surprised if the landscape looks pretty flat, because, after all, it's populated with folks just like you, who happened to arrive a little sooner than you did. But don't be too disappointed if you no longer have time to do what you love -- make things. Personal things. Deep things. Studio time is usually the first to go.
Thinking about all this promotion and getting published and being a designer, I guess my secret weapon is "Just Say Yes." When a new door opens, walk through. If you don't like the party, you can always leave. If you go broke following that lead, well, you've earned more in wisdom than if you hadn't tried it. You'll work smarter next time. If it's a waste of your time, no biggee, just pull back and focus on what's productive (for you). If you're scared, make yourself do it anyway. It will be less scary the next time. If your dream is to get published, that will never happen unless you submit something already! Woot!
Check my other posts on this topic (label: getting published) for a list of bead/jewelry-related magazines to submit to.
There's just one other thing I'd disagree with Margot on, and that is self-promotion. I think you have to find a way to promote that fits your personality. You can make a heckuva lotta money just being yourself, and quietly delivering a good product. Not everyone wants their own craft show (Go Margot!). And not everyone (especially other women) wants to hear you tooting your own horn all the time. But it's true, without promotion, you and your beautiful gifts will probably just sit there.
Take Bonnie Brooks. You might not have heard of her, cause she's a modest thing, but as a hand-worker she can spin gold. Everything she touches turns be000tiful! The fact that she is a graphic designer and a consummate artisan makes her an excellent independent technical editor. Her hands and her eye for detail are there behind a lot of great craft books. She gets work because she does work. Good work begets good work. Or something... so keep working. Promotion is sometimes an inside job.
Utimately, there isn't a right or wrong way to promote, and, thereby, carve out a niche for yourself (and frankly I don't see crafters getting filthy rich at it anyway), so my advice would be to, yes, stretch, pounce on possibilities, but be yourself. Because at the end of the day, you're who you come home to. 8-)
Actually, there is no ladder to climb, only goals to set for yourself. Once you get into the so-called "big leagues," don't be surprised if the landscape looks pretty flat, because, after all, it's populated with folks just like you, who happened to arrive a little sooner than you did. But don't be too disappointed if you no longer have time to do what you love -- make things. Personal things. Deep things. Studio time is usually the first to go.
Thinking about all this promotion and getting published and being a designer, I guess my secret weapon is "Just Say Yes." When a new door opens, walk through. If you don't like the party, you can always leave. If you go broke following that lead, well, you've earned more in wisdom than if you hadn't tried it. You'll work smarter next time. If it's a waste of your time, no biggee, just pull back and focus on what's productive (for you). If you're scared, make yourself do it anyway. It will be less scary the next time. If your dream is to get published, that will never happen unless you submit something already! Woot!
Check my other posts on this topic (label: getting published) for a list of bead/jewelry-related magazines to submit to.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Crow Feathers
A great Santa Fe flea market find, these little carved horn feathers. Black as a raven. I had just made the spiralling earring wires, wondering what I'd do with them. Course, they were a bit dusty. I had to wash them off (and make sure the black didn't come off with the sand). I've never seen horn this dark.
In my Etsy shop, y'all.
In my Etsy shop, y'all.
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