Arts in RI team members decided to creatively challenge one another to come up with Mother's Day themed items and post them for you on our blog. We will be running a contest between now and midnight May 9th. All you have to do to enter our contest is leave a comment for the artist about the creation and you will be entered into a random drawing for a basket of handmade goods made by Arts In RI members. You can leave a comment every time we post a new item for multiple chances of winning! We are also offering the winner the option of having the winning basket sent directly to his or her mother if they so choose!
The next Mother's Day item is hot off the torch from The Venerable Bead. Paula made this Mother's Day themed skeleton key necklace as a statement for all the "good Mom's" out there who know the balance between limits and unlimited love. Paula says of her creation: "Being a good Mother is hard. It's the hardest job I have ever had but also the most satisfying. I don't always get it right but I try my best each day to find that balance between protecting, limiting, releasing, and unconditionally loving the most special little beings I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Sometimes the responsibility is awesome but as luck would have it so are the rewards!"
Paula's necklace features a lampwork bead in bright orange built directly on the shaft of a vintage skeleton key. She uses watch parts and other found objects along with beads and crystals to make a piece filled with nostalgia and forgotten times but updated for today's hippest fashion looks. For the modern Mom who enjoys a steampunk aesthetic.
Please leave comments for Paula here on the blog and you will be entered to win a Mother's day basket filled with handmade goodies from our Arts In RI team. The drawing will be on Mother's Day!
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Arts In RI team members decided to creatively challenge one another to embrace the season of love with Valentine themed products. Between now and Valentine's Day we will share some of these "lovely" designs with you here on our blog. Let us know how you feel about our art by leaving a comment. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a random drawing for an Arts In RI gift basket featuring goodies from many of our shops. (one entry per person per post. In other words you can enter once every time we post a new product!!!) Be sure to check back on the blog on Valentine's Day as we will announce the winner that day. Entries will be accepted until midnight February 13th.
The next Valentine item up for viewing is from my own shop The Venerable Bead. It's a boro glass beaded vintage skeleton key necklace inspired by a children's book. On the last few pages of Guess How Much I love you by Sam McBratney, Big Nut Brown Hare settles Little Nut Brown Hare into his bed of leaves and whispers "I love you right up to the moon - and back". I swear I never got through that last page without tearing up when my kids were babies. I tore through the house looking for that book last Sunday morning. Maybe I was feeling a bit melancholy because my baby boy turned 11 on Monday. I literally felt myself having panic at the thought this book had been put in the Goodwill bin. In front of 6 sleepover guests I was begging my son to help me find the book. He looked at me like he might just kill me right there in front of 6 witnesses. "Whew never mind I found it in your sister's room" I said a few minutes later. I heard him say to one of his guests that he had no idea why I would think a baby book was anywhere but.
This is a tribute to unconditional love that spans a thousands oceans, a million miles...to the moon...and back. It's comprised of a skeleton key that has a bright red borosilicate glass bead made directly on the shaft. It has charms and a hand stamped brass tag the reads: I love you right up to the moon and back. It comes strung on a 24 inch gunmetal chain with lobster clasp.
Let us know how you feel about this piece here in the comments and you will be entered to win a basket full of great prizes created by our very own street team.
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Our third installment in our collaboration journey is a mixed media piece done by Julie Beck of JulieBCreative and Kim Vredenburg of KimVGlass. Julie attached one of Kim's electroformed skeleton keys with a large glass cabochon to her painting. The theme of the piece is the education of children using the key set against a beautiful rural and rustic scene. We asked Julie and Kim about this project.
Please tell us a little about yourself and what kind of art you make.
Julie: I am an acrylic painter. I am happiest when I'm sitting in front of my easel, painting away while the day slips by...although I normally paint at night...so I guess it's "as the night slips by". My paintings range in all types of sizes, but I like to work in either square canvases, or very horizontally long canvases, bold colors, and nostalgic and/or rural imagery.
Kim: Up until last year I taught elementary school but once I retired I was able to devote more time to my glasswork. I've been working with glass for over 20 years, starting with stained glass and eventually lampworking. There is something so intriguing about melting glass in a flame and seeing what one can create with it!
Can you tell us how you got started on this project and how it has evolved?
Julie: After Arts In RI decided that we were going to do collaborations, I went through all the people participating and landed on Kim. She has skeleton keys that are flat on the back so I knew it would be a simple process to attach to a painting. She started out by making the key, and lucky for me, she had me make decisions along the way. I got to choose colors for the glass, from a selection of keys, as well as which glass cab I wanted when she was done. All those decisions ultimately led me to what color scheme the painting was going to be.
Kim: When the Arts In RI team members were discussing doing collaborations, I remember thinking that there wasn't one member that I couldn't envision working with. They are an extremely talented group of artists! That being said, I was thrilled when Julie contacted me about collaborating with her.
What inspired you about your partner's art?
Julie: I've used skeleton keys in the past for still life subjects, but I liked the blue patina she had on some of her work. Also, her use of color is really vibrant. I stick to bold vibrant color for the most part, so it seemed a perfect fit.
Kim: I love Julie's style, her subject matter, and her use of colors!!! I hoped that combining her work with mine would produce a fantastic mixed media piece....and I think I was right! :-)
How did you ultimately decide to make what you did?
Julie: I sketched out my idea before I started. Once I had the idea down, Kim made the key, and I got to work!
Kim: When Julie and I first started discussing integrating my glass into her work, I just KNEW I had to do an electroformed key. I was positive that it would meld very nicely with Julie's style and subject matter.
Can you give us some insight into your brainstorming process?
Julie: I started with the sketch and an idea. Kim and I talked over the idea and what the look and feel was going to be. We agreed on this type of scene...so the brainstorming process was the catalyst.
Kim: We used Etsy e-mail system and "talked" via Convos until we were able to meet in person. When we met, Julie brought her sketchbook with her and drew out various alternatives. Our project started to take shape at this point.
Did this collaboration stretch your creative limits?
Julie: Absolutely! I normally stick to bold earth tones, but Kim's colors for the key pushed me into a less explored color scheme. It sounds like it's not a difficult thing but in reality, it takes a lot of reworking and layers to get just the right color to match.
Kim: Did this stress me? Yes :-) I wanted to make the perfect piece for Julie and the glass doesn't always cooperate. Did it stretch me, definitely! The color scheme that Julie and I decided would look best with her work incorporated some colors that can be difficult to work with in borosilicate, and not some that I work with regularly. So, I was stretched "technically".
Were there any roadblocks or setbacks?
Julie: Surprisingly no!
Kim: No, this was a totally fun experience!!
Did you find this to be a rewarding experience and why?
Julie: This was a really great challenge and I am already on the lookout for next 3D item I can use in a painting. It not only forced me to work with different colors, but also got me thinking in a whole new dimension.
Kim: Absolutely! When I'm working alone in my studio I can feel a bit isolated (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and it felt good to expand outside my glass world!! It is really great to work with someone so creative!
Julie has created a time lapse video of her painting this work of art here
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