Happy Third Birthday, Max!

Max on April 9, 2021

Every April, I take a picture of Max and Mom. Last year I did a cock-eyed selfie of us featuring mostly ceiling. This year, luck had it that his groomer, Jen of “Groom with Me”, was here and took a great shot of us!

I like to include myself so my distant friends can see my face again. This is taken in my studio which I have been readying for my new normal life, but haven’t gotten to displays which show empty right now. New normal for me is an expectation of Open Studios in August and September as well as studio space for beading, acrylic painting and watercolor painting. The latter two are hobbies which I spent the last 13 months improving with Zoom classes and lots of daily practice. So I have two dedicated hobby spaces which I can keep as cluttered as I like! My bead space is the same Corian work area with side shelves for beading tools as I had built in 2000 in San Luis Obispo, CA. And, yes, my 52-drawer Chinese Apothecary Chest still holds my beads!

As for Max, he weighs 42 lbs, all muscle, and is healthy and active. And comical. His unwritten job description is to make me laugh at least once a day. Officially, he is responsible to be my faithful companion and he does that well, listening to me as I babble on. He is still mischievous, runs instead of walking, follows me around the house but thinks he is a free spirit outdoors! He still spends five days a week at Sunshine Pet Parlor, Hull, t play with Ralphie and his other pals.

That’s it for another year. May you also enjoy a good laugh every day!!!

Favorite Titian

“Favorite Titian”

Welcome back, dear Readers! A word of explanation is in order. I said Au Revoir on November 30, 2020, telling you I couldn’t cope with WordPress.com changes and upgrades. In January, I searched for new platforms but none were a fit for me due to advertisements, complexity, transferring readers’ emails, etc. So I drifted into inertia, too overwhelmed by technology.

Enter my Rescuer! Yulia Shea, my nephew’s wife and talented IT consultant! She and my nephew are here in Hull on a house-hunting trip, hoping to soon relocate from New York City. She suggested I stay on the WP.com platform and offered to train me. Contact her at yulia@yuliashea.com. She did an excellent job! Thank you, Yulia!

It feels good to showcase my work again even though I haven’t beaded for a while. I actually shut down my beading on July 28, 2020, since all my selling opportunities were Covid-cancelled. I stayed busy, however. I became a serial Zoom art student: watercolor, abstracts in acrylic, image transfer portraiture, and fun with metallic acrylics which reminded me of the colorful poster paints one uses as a kid. It has made me happy to dedicate eight months to my hobby of painting; it has challenged me intellectually (watercolors require a lot of mental engagement!) and artistically.

But now I am back to beading, my first love since 1995, and still resplendent 26 years later!

Today’s necklace features etched copper beads and rock crystal nuggets with a magnificent centerpiece of rock crystal shards encased in sculpted metal electroplated in copper. A word about copper. It and sterling silver vie for first place in my beading heart. Sterling doesn’t need an explanation since it is universally loved and appreciated. Copper is sort of a color to me: rusty, orange-y, Hermes-y and peach. Yet it is a metal which is an excellent partner and counterbalance for beads. The clasp is also copper, crafted in Mexico, as are the spacer beads close to it.

I named it after Titian who was the significant artist of his era (High Renaissance) because my bias for copper considers this a significant necklace of my hand. Priced at $99 for the set which includes earrings. $9 shipping or contact me at priscilla@beadleful.com to pick up. It weighs 7.1 ounces, less than half a pound.

A Max Moment

Max too has been missing sharing his adventures with you or so I intuit. I shall pick up where I left off–with his blankie (security blanket), which I pictured in the September 1, 2020 blog (and here, below right) as 20′ long and falling apart. I asked for help in how to get rid of it. Thanks for your advice–I kept cutting off a foot or two until there was nothing and swapped in a new fleece sofa throw during the holidays. Here it is mere months later, still providing him comfort and the forbidden bite when I am not looking.

Final Thought

How naive I was in 2020 regarding the Coronavirus-19, as I called it. In July of that year, I said the posted necklace was probably the last one I would make during Covid, as I call it now. I actually thought it was ending. It wasn’t and I have no idea when it will. As I did then, and do now, I offer my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to Covid. Let us pray it will end soon.

Happy Holidays!

“This is the Most Angelic You will Ever See Me”

 

These wings were a buzz item at the Summer 2018 Open Studios of my neighbors and colleagues, Donna and Paul Goes, mentioned previously in these pages.  A most creative couple, they taped the wings to a wall and invited visitors to be photographed.  Over 100 visitors enjoyed it!  (Except me since I was hosting my own Open Studios.) To continue the fun, they brought the wings as well as a surfboard background to Hull’s annual “Endless Summer” Street Fair where Hull Artisrs sponsors a Kids Tent with art projects.

I immediately saw this as a Christmas/Hunakah/Holiday greeting!

One of my favorite pastimes is to take time to laugh.  Me in angel wings was a grand opportunity to do so!  May the Holidays and the New Year give you many moments of laughter!

“Max and Priscilla” by Michael Domina

Michael Domina is another of Hull’s most creative artists and a close friend.  Some time ago he did a contemporary self-portrait and we discussed doing my portrait in that fun disjointed style.  Well, when the time in his schedule arrived, so had Max.  Quick change of plans.  It’s me and my doggie companion on a new road in 2018.  And in case if your viewing screen is small, let me tell you it is a very orange work of art.  I’m so happy Michael interpreted me so on the mark!

Closing this last blog of 2018 by saluting my readers, offering much gratitude for following my meanderings.  It gives me great satisfaction to write, to share my craft, and to laugh.

Sending special wishes for you to close out this year with a bang and to enjoy 2019!!!

 

May 1, 2018: AMBER.2.Faux Amber (Resin)

 

“Heaven’s Gate”

One of the treasures I found while revisiting the Amber drawer was some faux amber beads I found in an outdoor market in Bhutan, a landlocked Himalayan nation in South Asia. Its 800,000 citizens are surrounded by India, Tibet and Nepal. They are peaceful Buddhists. Instead of GDP, Bhutan measures Happiness.

I knew the necklace was faux, but I bought it for the memories, not only of scenic Bhutan, but of the last trip Don and I made together before the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease were unleashed. Now, five years after Don’s death, I release these beads into the world. May they be someone’s personal measure of Happiness!

It was a gift of the two-toned resin beads from fellow artist Donna Goes* that made me think of the Bhutanese beads and I think they pair well together.

I added sterling silver beads and a Tibetan centerpiece of copal with pretty silver work.

Ah, copal:  another twist to the Amber story. For 23 years, I have described it as “young amber,” just to make it more understandable to my clients, but always labeled it as copal. Now that I’ve researched it, I was correct: it is tree resin, like amber, but has not completed its fossilization. It is measured in thousands of years; Amber in millions. Copal is softer, opaque, citrine in color.

Weight: 8 ounces

Length: 20”

Price: $79

Size of largest bead: roughly 5/8” from hole to hole by 1” high.  Centerpiece:  1.75″ hole to hole by 1″ high.

Wear your silver earrings.

*Read Donna Goes’ story and see her amazing fused plastic paintings at www.luckylife.com.

 Heads up! Visit us both + 38 other talented artists at Hull Artists’ 23^rd annual Open Studios Art Tour on July 7-8 & August 18-19.

Drawer 27: Vaseline Beads

“Things Rare and Strange”

 

 

My Apothecary Chest: in 1994, it arrived via container to California from Hong Kong, where I discovered beading during an ex-pat assignment. Serves as the repository for my beads.  Handcrafted.  It has 52 Drawers, mostly sorted by color.

2017 Challenge: Create a Necklace a Week, using only the Beads from one Drawer at a time. Voila!  52 Necklaces!

Week 27/Drawer 27: July 5, 2017: “Things Rare and Strange”

 When I found these opaque aqua beads in a section of Drawer 27, I gasped at their beauty, mostly due to the intensity of their color. As I fondled them, I realized there were subtle differences in their aqua shades; I also observed they were so old that their faceted surfaces had become smooth! They are trade beads, after all. These discoveries made this strand mysterious—what secrets were they sheltering?

Since the secrets are unknowable, let me address “What the heck are Vaseline Beads?”

Beads have been made in Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) since the Romans occupied it in 400 AD. Until 1400, they mostly made rosary beads.  In the 1500’s, a major expansion in bead-making began, attracting Spanish, Italian and English traders.  In 1800, the Industrial Revolution invented machines that produced pressed glass beads in great volume, different designs, and at lower prices.

One of those innovations was fluorescent Vaseline glassware and beads. The fluorescence was created by the adding uranium salts to the glass.  They kept lowering the amount of uranium to the 1-2% that worked.  It actually shone in the dark!  Today, with electric lights, a black light is needed to see the fluorescence.

Vaseline beads had their heyday from 1900 to 1920 and continued to be made until artisans lost their ability to buy uranium when governments became universal procurers in the 1940’s.

 

 

 

 

 

Typical Vaseline beads are transparent in color and usually yellowish green.  The short strand third from left look to me like they may be shine-in-the-dark variety! 

 

They were so named because their color resembled the petroleum jelly sold in the 1900’s under the Vaseline label.  Doesn’t that sound so mundane for beads made from uranium?

My opaque aqua beads are called Vaseline Beads, but they are a variation: during the Depression, iron oxide (a glass-ceramic) was added to the formula to create opacity.

Today’s collections of Depression glass, milk glass, Fire King tableware, etc. all have roots in Bohemia, uranium, and iron oxide!

Before closing, let me name the other beads I used in this necklace: aqua serpentine which is a cousin of jade; Czech glass “spades” drops; round matte glass which looks like ceramic due to iron oxide.  Also I was quite pleased to find an aqua glass circle in my “creative clasp stash” and made a sterling silver toggle for it.

The necklace is 20”. $115.

OPEN STUDIOS SEASON IS HERE!

July was crowded with brisk sales; August 20-21 is next with lots of new work; October 15-16 is a bonus last opportunity for artist-made gifts!

Open Studios in Hull is like Christmas in the summer!  This year there are 39 artists creating their visual treats to present to you in August and October!  Get your info on www.hullartists.com or pick up a free map-flyer at a local business.

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Now for my Beadleful updates:

My July Open Studios was filled with old and new friends and art appreciators!  I waved goodbye to 29 pieces, mostly necklaces, but earrings and bracelets also.  I love watching my work go to a new home and it motivates me to design more fabulous pieces to take their places!

Why such success?  In addition to my beads’ fabulousness; I also cut my prices to below wholesale, making it easier to splurge on jewelry in a still-soft economy.  I am also working on re-focusing my creativity to four styles, down from my previous eclectic six + styles.  As I approach a big birthday, I’ve indulged in goal-setting and refreshing my work.

More on what’s upcoming in the next blog.

Right now I’m working on new pieces:  glass is my current bead love!  Here are a few images:

Here’s more on Open Studios (OS):

There are additional reasons for large crowds in July.  Hull Artists, now celebrating our 21^st annual Open Studios, has grown up!  We have engaged in a branding program under the leadership of our own Graphic Artist, Paul Goes.  Notice the clean design of our map-flyer, followed up in the posters on the doors of local businesses; yard signs; large signs alerting visitors on 228 and Geo Washington Blvd that it is Open Studios Weekend; our wind sock in distinctive aqua and white; even signs and balloons on street corners where artists are showing!

Additional improvements are establishing a data base to alert our visitors about upcoming events (best to state right now it is for our private use only).  We jettisoned our old website and introduced a better one…same name…www.hullartists.com.

Lory Newmyer and Connie Crosby organized us experienced hands to share our seasoned knowledge of OS with new artists, at two workshops, resulting in upgrades to our customer service.

Of course we wouldn’t be fully of age until we engaged social media!  Two tireless members set us up on Facebook (Bart Blumberg) and Instagram @hullartistsopenstudios (Connie Crosby).

And none of these efforts would have happened without our Fearless Leader, OS Chair Karin Nauth-Shelley.  Karin is a Patron Member of Hull Artists and a technical Marketing Whiz in her professional life…as well as a volunteer like the rest of us.  Thanks, Karin!

I’ll be looking for you August 20 or 21!

Priscilla Beadle                                                                                                                 Bead Jewelry Artist

 

Welcome to my Open Studio

Teal windsocks on cross streets in Hull will mark the locations for fascinating studios where real artists work!

Please visit me in my studio in Hull Village on July 9 or 10, Saturday or Sunday from 10am to 5pm.

23 Andrew Ave (3^rd Left after Library on Main St), Hull.

781-925-0484

Be prepared to find newly designed Beadleful necklaces, lots of my trademark chunky bead jewelry, some bracelets and earrings!

Also, Marilyn MacDonnell returns with fabulous totes, key chains, purses and a new line of beach towels!

OPEN STUDIOS has been proudly presented by www.hullartists.com for 21 years. Visit our website for a map and info about the 39 participating artists

 

Priscilla Shines in Hull Times Interview

 

HULL ARTIST, PRISCILLA BEADLE’S OPEN STUDIO THIS WEEKEND

Teal windsocks on cross streets in Hull will mark the locations for fascinating studios where real artists work!

July 11-12 and AUGUST 22–23, 2015

Please visit me in my studio in Hull Village on Saturday or Sunday from 10am to 5pm.

23 Andrew Ave (3^rd Left after Library), Hull.

781-925-0484

Be prepared to find newly designed Beadleful necklaces, lots of my trademark chunky bead jewelry, some bracelets and earrings!

Also, Marilyn MacDonnell returns with fabulous totes, key chains, purses and a new line of beach towels!

OPEN STUDIOS has been proudly presented by www.hullartists.com for 20 years. Visit our website for a map and info about the 34 participating artists

 

IT’S MY 20^TH ANNIVERSARY AS A BEAD JEWELRY ARTIST!

Do you know I made my 2773^rd necklace yesterday?

Ok, that number includes a few bracelets and earrings.

I gave myself a present: a carved wood sign with a “beaded”edging in the middle of my garden near the street.

OK, winter 2015 ruined my old sign. Let me know what you think of its replacement.

Venice in June!

Venice, June 2013

 

While vacationing in Italy, I resolved to take the vaparetto to the storied island of Murano, established a millennium ago exclusively for “flame workers”, as the glass bead-makers were called, due to the fear they would burn down Venice.  Fires never happened but glorious beads were created!  I found exquisite large, minutely detailed beads never before seen in the States plus more exotic, larger versions of some I’ve seen here before.  Designs were swirling in my head on the vaparetto back to Venice…look for them at Open Studios, July 6-7 weekend!