30.5.08 Bead infinitum - "Four Of Spades Bead" - part II

Ok, now I think we did it.

After a great workshop I had today, Varda joined me to try again the "Four of Spades Bead" which appears in Fig. 14 in Gwen Fisher and Blake Mellor's paper:
"Three-dimensional finite point groups and the symmetry of beaded beads" (Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, Volume 1, Issue 2 June 2007 , pages 85 - 96)
See also the Bead infinitum gallery and kits http://www.beadinfinitum.com/

I think we deciphered it. I am not sure because the connections might be different. We made it into two parts, as I concluded from last time and Varda really helped me with the connection step.

Another happy beading day is almost over!

You can have a look on other versions of the "Four Of Spades Bead" done by Lisa (Eclats Blog) and Andrea Kurth.

26.5.08 Escher inspired Beaded Knot

After Gwen Fisher's impossible beaded triangle I did, how could I not try the infinit knot, inspired by Escher?

It was easier comparing to the beaded triangle, but next time I plan to make it even a bit larger, to give some space to the small 15/0 seed beads.


16.12.08
Check this similar micromacrame knot from Joan Babcock.

25.5.08 Premio Arte Y Pico Award from Betina Guelman

I have received the "Premio Arte Y Pico" Award from my Israeli commune friend Betina Guelman. Thank you Betina for honoring me with this award!
What I like in Betina is the way she tries, with no fear, new techniques, patterns and so on... Additionally, you will not find a jewel without an assorting set in Betina's creations. You can have a look in her blog in the following link: http://betinaguelman.blogspot.com/

Betina Guelman

Now, it's my turn to pass on the award (and I have 10 more awaiting to pass...) to the 5 following blogs:

1. Benedicte Tarrade, from France, "De Perle en Perle" Blog, an extremely talented diverse artist. This blog always leaves me with open mouth. I consider what she does as A R T. Most of Benedicte's recent art is bead embroidery, which I just cannot stop admiring. She does perfect finishing, meticulous, original and very very authentic designs. A must in your favorites: http://benedicte01.canalblog.com/

(Benedicte - je presente ton blog avec beaucoup d'admiration a ce que tu fait. Tu est une source d'inspiration avec tes tresors aussi authentiques, originaux et uniques).

"De Perle en Perle" - Benedicte Tarrade

2. Olga, from France, "P'tits Cailloux" Blog, where you will find jewels from the legends. I like so much the forms and colors combinations Olga uses in her magnificent bead embroidery, beadwork or polymer clay jewelry. Olga does many jewels that can be worn in many ways - such as her flowers necklaces. Also expert in fimo and the lizard friend, I recommend you to visit this talented modest artist. http://ptitscailloux.canalblog.com/

"P'tits Cailloux" - Olga

3. Svetlana Eltsova, from Finland, "Reijo" Blog. Svetlana has the most interesting blog I ever encountered on the net about beadwork. A rich source of information and beautiful beadwork from various artists in various beadwork subjects. I feel like being guided in an interactive online museum on beadwork. Thank you so much Svetlana for sharing with us all this fascinating information and making for us the most interesting online beadwork magazine! Additionally to those reviews Svetlana writes, she does the most beautiful beadwork gardens. Very inspired from nature, she makes unique flowering garden necklaces with such beautiful compositions. Mostly recommended! http://reijo.multiply.com/

Svetlana Eltsova

4. Birgit B., from Germany, "Fofinhas" Blog. Birgit does perfect (and when I say perfect - I mean that) stitching and finishing, beautiful and colorful artistic beadwork. I am fond of her original designs inspired by nature. A candy pleasure to the eye http://fofinhas-perlenstuebchen.blogspot.com/

"Fofinhas" - Birgit

5. Zsuzsi Veres, from Hungary, "Vezsuzsi Gyongyei" Blog. Zsuzsi' ' s blog is full of excellent pictures of her original beadwork. I honor this blog the award on creative, unique and original forms and designs, for gentle and perfect jewelry beauties. http://vezsuzsigyongyei.blogspot.com/

"Vezsuzsi Gyongyei" - Zsuzsi V.

The rules for passing the award on are (you can copy&paste) :

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winning has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the ward itself.

4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Show these rules.

24.5.08 Jerusalem Botanic Garden

22.5.08 Gwen Fisher's Impossible Beaded Triangle

Youreii!

It succeeded!

This impossible and intricate triangle occupied me for about three hrs, but now that I understand how to do it I am sure it can take much much less.

It would be interesting to try it with different colours also, as the one that did Gwen Fisher.

Again, I tried to reproduce one of Gwen Fisher's creation (from the Bead infinitum site) and as she writes, she got inspiration to do this triangle from Roger Penrose's impossible triangle, who also inspired the genius artist M.C. Escher to incorporate it into his famous lithograph "Waterfall" (1961) after reading Penrose's article (see the way leading to the waterfall in Escher's litograph - which are in fact, two connected impossible triangles)

This intricate infinity also reminds me of Escher extraordinary and impossible beigels.

I wasn't sure I connected it properly since I knew from Gwen's triangles that it might be tricky, but when I saw that all the AB 15/0 greenish-golden beads became all only one edge - I could relax :-)

21.5.08 Bead infinitum - "Icosahedron Bead"

1 1/2 hr of work.

Reproduced based on Fig. 26 in Gwen Fisher and Blake Mellor's paper:
"Three-dimensional finite point groups and the symmetry of beaded beads" (Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, Volume 1, Issue 2 June 2007 , pages 85 - 96)

21.5.08 Bead infinitum - "Tetrahedron bead"

1/2 hr of work.

Reproduced based on Fig. 24 in Gwen Fisher and Blake Mellor's paper:
"Three-dimensional finite point groups and the symmetry of beaded beads" (Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, Volume 1, Issue 2 June 2007 , pages 85 - 96)

20.5.08 Bead Infinitum - "Four of Spades Bead"

I spent about 2 1/4 hrs making and deciphering this bead. There is place for improvement, but the result is interesting.

This "Four of Spades Bead" appears in Fig. 14 in Gwen Fisher and Blake Mellor's paper:

"Three-dimensional finite point groups and the symmetry of beaded beads" (Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, Volume 1, Issue 2 June 2007 , pages 85 - 96)

It is also brought in the Bead infinitum magnificent site:

http://www.beadinfinitum.com/

I know that the thread path I used is not the correct one, but I already have an idea on how to try it next time (in two parts instead of one).

20.5.08 Bead Infinitum - "Cuboctahedron"

Thanks to Ronit Florence who encouraged me to read G. L. FISHER & B. MELLOR 's article
"Three-dimensional finite point groups and the symmetry of beaded beads" ( Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, Volume 1, Issue 2 June 2007 , pages 85 - 96), I succeeded to make two of the beads appearing in that paper this morning (the Cuboctahedron and the four of spades beads).
You will find the Cuboctahedron in Fig.22 in the paper above and also many other beautiful 3D beaded beads. Additionally, Gwen Fisher and Florence Turnour have a magnificent site with plenty of extraordinary beaded beads - when you can have a look into their site at:
http://www.beadinfinitum.com/.

After my third trial trying to decipher this bead, I understood it is very similar to Laura Shea's Plato bead ("The Art of Beadwork" by Valerie Hector p.34-35).

It took me in total a bit more than an hr to make it.

18.5.08 Jessica Beels Two-layer Virus Bead

In the center appears - Jessica Beel's Virus bead, at the left- my trial and at the right - Varda's trial.

Varda and I apparently fully deciphered Jessica Beels Two-layer Virus Bead. You can also visit Jessica's beautiful gallery at http://www.jbeelsdesign.com/. If you have the beadwork magazine subscription, you will find this month (June/July 2008) an explanation for another beaded bead designed by Jessica: "Deliciously Diagonal Beaded Bead".

Regarding the virus bead, this time, I tried to make the bead from its units, as did Varda, instead of one "beaten work", as my first trial, and it seems to be the right answer. It takes about 3 hrs of work and I still have a challenge to try it as my first trial in one beaten work. The problem is that it might get distortions...

17.5.08 Omer knows Herringbone!

I am very proud of Omer who asked me to learn how to make a simple ring and succeeded with it so well using for the first time the herringbone stitch.

15.5.08 Magatama Spiral Ring

I tried to make the Magatama embellished Spiral but it came out so thin with 11/0 and 15/0 seed beads, that I decided to transform it into a ring and next time to work with 8/0 and 11/0 seed beads for better results.

10.5.08 Loquats Picking on Bat Shlomo hillsides

The landscape view was taken by Omer, on our bushy way to the white cave. Omer noticed this praying mantis which does excellent Camouflage next to this strange flower. It looks like an Artichoke and leaves orange juice on the hands, but I have no idea what it really is.
Anyway, I don't remember myself eating so many loquats of so many types on the same day (Falucce - the best, Aco1, golden, Yehuda etc...etc..). We harvested about 5 kgs of Loquats! I think we are going to make a great marmalade...
It reminds me that a friend of my father told me recently that in Algeria there used to be a common expression "I will pay you Loquats" meaning I am ready to pay a lot for that (while "eating loquats" means to avoid oneself from eating or afford something from lack of money):
"Manger (bouffer) des nèfles" . Se restreindre de manger par manque d’argent. "Tu va manger des nèfles avant de pouvoir te payer une moto pareille"

If you want to try the Jam, the recipe goes like this:

Carola's Loquat Jam

Leftover loquats - peeled, split to halves and cleaned

Weight the loquat and put within a cooking pot (1/2 glass of water for 2 Kg)

Before adding the sugar, heat 1/2 hr till the fruit gets soft

When soft, cut the loquat roughly with a knife (for pieces of about 3x3 cm^2)

For ripen fruit use 1.5 Kg sugar: 2Kg fruit (add 3 bags of vanilla sugar to 1kg sugar)

For unripe fruit use 1.75 kg sugar: 2Kg fruit

Add the sugar while stirring on a small flame

Keep cooking till it gets darker and almost doesn't drip, while stirring constantly, every 10mn for about 1 1/2 hr or a bit less (till you start feeling a mucigelic cover on a wooden spoon)

Let cool

22.6.10
Neora's Loquat Jam

Leftover loquats - peeled, split to halves and cleaned

Weight the loquat and put within a cooking pot with the sugar according to this ratio:

For ripen fruit use 1.5 Kg sugar: 2Kg fruit (add 3 bags of vanilla sugar to 1kg sugar)

For unripe fruit use 1.75 kg sugar: 2Kg fruit

Let it stand for several hrs till the fruits pour their liquids.

For 1/2 kg of fruit, Neora took 1 lemon fruit cut to half slices, lemon zest and one apple roughly scratched out.

Heat altogether till the fruit gets soft and keep stirring from time to time on a small flame, for several hrs.

Keep cooking till it gets darker and almost doesn't drip, while stirring constantly, every 10mn for about 1 1/2 hr or a bit less (till you start feeling a mucigelic cover on a wooden spoon).

Let cool.

Honestly I haven't tried yet this one, it will remain for the next year, but when I'll try, I'll post about it here to tell you how it goes.

4.5.08 Seven Blue Days influenced by the upcoming 60th Independence day celebration of Israel (8.5.08)

Watch this

For the last seven days, I found myself working a lot with blue beads, not knowing exactly why (it's not really my favorite colour). Maybe the 60th Independence day influence?!

Double Layer Netted Bracelet

The blue unfinished bracelet is taken from Diane Fitzgerald' s- "Double Layer Netted Bracelet" in her book "Netted Beadwork" (p.77-p.80). Few weeks ago, I had the occasion to feel this wonderful and simple bracelet, with such a smooth and fluent touch (thank you Orly 99!). To think that I had the book, but never thought of doing this project before...

Netted Flowers

Trying to get rid of some Chinese seed beads, I made Barbara L. Grainger "Netted Flower"- from her wonderful book "Dimensional Flowers, Leaves & Vines" (p.10-p.13). I made the center like a "Kippah". It was so enjoying that I decided to make more and more of those netted flowers but smaller and smaller . Reducing the netted flower to the first smaller size, still working with 11/0 sb, was OK, but more than that was too much and made me altered the tiny netted flower to an unfinished pale blue flower (see the small flower at the left of the second picture). I am still trying to think on how to improve it...

Beaded Beads... Flowers

Curious to made one, after seeing Ronit Florence's beautiful flower necklace based on Murida Gardiner Free project - "Beaded Beads... Flowers ", I discovered a simple and interesting way Murida uses for her flowers (see my example at the left of the virus beaded bead). I believe using two contrasting opaque colours will give a nice result for those small flowers.

Two-layer Virus Bead

Finally, Varda and I were surfing on the net, till we got to Jessica Beels amazing gallery. We encountered what Jessica Beels calls the - " Two-layer Virus Bead ". We both were very enthusiastic to know how it was done. On the same day, I had a version of this beaded bead finished, based on finding and learning the Icosidodecahedron polyhedron geometric form. The result needs some better finishes, but Varda already gave me an idea on how to do it... It contains so many "Star of David" with all these pentagons, it suits very well "Yom Ha'atzmaut" (Independence day).
I wish you all a very Happy Holiday!