Countdown...Inspired by Contrast

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.

~John W. Gardner

Paying attention to detail is what sets someone who dabbles in art apart from a true artist.

I really believe that the devil is in the details as they say. Details to me are unexpected surprises, finished edges, intriguing materials, making sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed. After I started designing my own jewelry I tended to look at any jewelry piece with a more critical eye. Not that I would criticize it, but that I would see it through the eyes of one who knows better.

My dad spent the past 25 years or so as the Vice President of Sales for one of the largest children's book publishers. He recently retired. But it is not uncommon for him to pick up a book that we might have lying around and open the binding to check the construction, picking up on details that the rest of the world would likely overlook. But he can spot a poorly made book a mile away. I guess that when you become an expert in your field, you can do that.

For my friend Mary Ellen Pollock, it is no surprise the details are what makes her work stand apart from the crowd.

From afar you may see that the pen and ink drawing is a seemingly random cacophony of lines and shapes. But as you move ever closer to her drawings you see that there is a complexity. It blows my mind how intricate they are. One of my very favorite ones that she had in her show earlier this year had all these ants crawling around in it. You couldn't see that from back. You had to be practically breathing on it to see that detail. But that is what sets her works of art apart from the rest.


Mary Ellen's art in her own words:

I have an unending appetite for things linear, patterns repeated and the tactile pleasure of making elegant marks on paper. Usually my pen begins to crawl around a space until composition emerges. Often these drawings have a narrative quality, sometimes as with this piece the outcome is more elemental.

When I was looking for the best artist to pair with Mary Ellen I was really stumped. I knew that the bead artist had to deal in very minute detail but also very graphic. There is a whimsy to Mary Ellen's drawings so I wanted to represent that. And I also set out to be sure to represent as many different mediums of art bead as possible.

I wanted glass.

But I had no idea where to start.

Enter my friend Kerry Bogert. I figured that the glass world would be small, and I was right. Kerry enthusiastically recommended that I check out the work of Dora Schubert who, she told me, was the best at stringer work in the world.

Seeing what Dora does with glass is really extraordinary. Each line on the bead is created by melting thin rods of colored glass onto a base bead. The intricate details were just what I was looking for. I poked around on her Flickr site and then found her Etsy shop, her website and her blog. That is where I read that she had a strict no custom order policy.

Crushed.

But I also found out that she would be at the Bead & Button show. So I took a chance and emailed her. She responded almost immediately, which is wild owing to the fact that she lives in Germany. I explained my proposal and how I found her through Kerry and how her style would be the perfect complement to Mary Ellen's work. Would she like to play?

Dora graciously accepted and told me that she would bring black and white beads for me to choose from at her booth. How cool is that? Out of curiosity she asked to see the drawing when I had a copy.

Well, when I started this whole thing, I knew that Mary Ellen wanted to participate and I knew her style well enough, but I hadn't seen what she was creating just for my show. {Did I mention that getting all these varied artists to play along with my time frame was like herding cats?} So I begged Mary Ellen for a picture. She finally gave me just a portion of what was done. And I sent it off to Dora.

When I went to Dora's booth, she seemed to immediately know who I was {could it be that swell picture of me as my avatar?}. She went in the back and dug out a small, carefully wrapped bundle. Inside were two of the most gorgeous lentil beads I have ever seen. When I placed them on top of the photocopy of Mary Ellen's drawing it looked like a puzzle piece that had been missing. It fit perfectly.

{Close-up detail of 'Elemental Surprise'}

I was stunned. Dora said that she was so inspired by what I was doing that she decided to be flexible and break her ban on custom orders. Did I like them? she wanted to know. I was nearly speechless {completely speechless would be an impossibility for me}. And she asked if she could make more for me when she returned to Germany. Would I want her to do that?

Despite the fact that these are likely the most expensive set of beads I have ever purchased, it was an easy answer.

Yes. A thousand times, yes!

A few weeks later, at the beginning of July, I received the most thoughtfully packaged set of eight round beads perfectly in sync with the first two.

{SQUEEEEEEE!}
{Thank you, Miss Dora, for making me an exception to your rule!}

{'Delicate Balance'}

The contrast between the stark black and white is my muse for this series. I wanted to go graphic and keep all the elements as simple as possible. And most of all I wanted to honor the tremendous beauty that a simple line and curve can have.

What do you think?