Coloring False Notes

"If the colour is wrong, everything is wrong: just as, if you are singing, and sing false notes, it does not matter how true your words are." ~John Ruskin

First and foremost I have to say thank you in really big letters for the show of support I got from my breakdown, woe-is-me post from this past weekend. For those of you who took the time to write such insightful, supportive and gosh-darn all-around encouraging thoughts, I thank you. And if you were lurking and thought I was just being full of myself, well...you caught me. I fell off my high horse and got a bit bruised. Being away from any sort of electronic medium as well as anything that passes for jewelry making supplies for a full three days will put your life back into perspective.

Since I got my camera to talk to my computer, I thought you might be interested in seeing a sneak peek of what has been keeping me up late.

But first you have to understand three things about me.

First...I live by a self-imposed goal of living a creative life and also a life without regrets. I don't want to look back in a decade or even a month and feel that I didn't give it all I've got. You all made me realize that I am giving it my all....and that if I don't do all that I set out in my mind, the only ones that will know are named Me, Myself and I.

The second thing is that I picked two words at the beginning of the year. They are completely coming true with this exhibit. What are these words you ask?

INSPIRE
and
UP

I want to be an inspiration and to be inspired by everything around me. {It is no accident that this exhibit has been named "Inspired by..."}

And UP is all about the positivity that I really do need to work at. I had a pity party, and you all came and brought the chips and dip and a big ol' bottle of wine with your chocolates, but now it is time to start pulling myself UP, looking UP and maybe lifting UP someone else. Because that is about the best way I know how to ensure that UP works.

And the third thing...is all about color. I have a tendency to use very dark, brooding colors. I realized that I needed to shake my tree a bit this year. So I set a goal to be all about the color. Especially the colors that scare me the most.

So of course, I had to seek out inspiration. There are a lot of color palette lovers in this world. Are you one of them?

Here are a few of my favorites:

ColourLovers: COLOURlovers™ is an international community of designers and artists of all kinds who visit the site to get color inspiration, ideas and feedback for both their professional and personal projects. COLOURlovers' loyal members create colors, palettes and patterns to nurture their ongoing love affair with color. They join color-inspired groups and forums and share the love by commenting on their favorite creations. The COLOURlovers blog fuels the world’s online discussion of color with its entertaining posts on color trends and news, including interviews.

Color Collective: Laura Wilhite, a graphic designer, created Color Collective as a designers' resource for color. The color palettes are pulled from the work of various designers, artists, and photographers that she is inspired by. Her hope is that you will be inspired too, and use these palettes in your own creative projects!

Brandi Girl A Life Inspired by Color: is a blog devoted to sharing inspiration, whether it is her thoughts for pieces in her jewelry shop, Catie's Blue; colors that inspire her; or things that bring her joy. Through brandi girl, she wants to connect with other artists and art lovers, and support the handmade community.

Many of the palettes of the artwork that I am using for my exhibit are very colorful. That made it at once easy to break my color mold and hard. Easy because the colors to use were right in front of my face. But I really had no beads in these bright snappy colors. It has entailed many an online shopping cart.

One such local rtist who works in riots of color is Brenda Wenberg. Her canvasses are full of a wonder-filled palette of bright colors and layers upon layers of acrylics. There is a child-like innocence in these pieces but also a playful exuberance. Brenda says that she often will paint over earlier paintings and scratch designs in them allowing a bit of the story from the previous art to peek through. I like the idea of layers and stories peeking through as a teaser.

Kerry Bogert noticed element that right away. She wrote that she used a layering technique in her glass beads to show that aspect of Brenda's work. I can't tell you how much in awe I was with the beads that Kerry sent me. Not only were they the first ones that I received, but I think they actually took my breath away when I opened the package. I know I was trembling when I saw them. And I might have licked them. Or at least drooled on them. Just a bit ;-) Kerry went above and beyond what I could have expected for this exhibit. I am so glad that she agreed to participate and that she took this challenge so willingly. And it seems that I picked the perfect bead artist for Brenda's work.

I took my cue from the vivid color palettes that both Brenda and Kerry used. I layered different textures and beads in all the pieces so far including ceramic from Jennifer Heynen at Jangles, enameled beads from Barbara Lewis of Painting with Fire and recycled bottle caps from Glass Garden Beads. I wanted to honor Kerry and her Totally Twisted book so I got my coiling on with all sorts of snazzy colors. Here is a teaser...

Art: Lookin' Good by Brenda Wenberg
one of two paintings that I interpreted...


What do you think?
Am I coloring false notes, or true ones?
Do you think I picked the right bead artists to carry out my inspiration? Truthfully, that has been the most amazing part...

Do you have some color communities or inspirations you would care to share?

Do tell!

Enjoy the day!