Total Art Soul - for artists

The glass seed beads, referred to as trade beads, played an important in the early colonies North America.  Columbus' first trade with the people of the Americas was done with the use of trade beads to gain the confidence and admiration of the native people. October 12, 1492, Columbus recorded in his logbook that the natives of San Salvador Island were given red caps and glass beads. This is the earliest written record of glass beads in the Americas. I believe a promise was made on a previous blog regarding a discussion about ancient glass beads.  Now, since it is January of a new year, I thought I should follow up on my broken promises.  So here it is! Among other nice shots, you will see what happens to an Ancient Majapahit Jatim Eye Bead from the 10th century after it hits a tile floor........it becomes broken. Jatim is East Java, in Indonesia where these beads were produced from 700 AD to 1400 AD.  My ancient bead that is now shattered as well as the reproduction bead also shown, show the influence of Roman and Middle Eastern beadmaking. My particular bead, was made of concentric colors of glass in a cane and applied to a core of a basic glass, which I will explain a little in a following paragraph. Needless to say, these precious beads and even their replica counterparts should not be dropped on a hard surface.  The glass is old and fragile.  The only good thing I can say about this is that you are able to examine the insides of a very old bead to see what it looks like, and this also gives you an idea of how it was made. Now this green bead is a replica of an ancient made with the traditional techniques but it is new. The beads I am showing here were created with a technique called "trailing and layering" with the use of glass cane similar to millefiore for those who have seen that in Venetian glass.  The canes are created by melting a glass core as the center, then layering different colors of glass one at a time around this core to result in the patterns and "eyes" that you can see on the bead itself.  Then a core is made onto a mandrel, (which usually a steel rod in modern lampwork beadmaking), then adding short bits of caned glass to the core, heating in a flame and shaping with something called a marver (which is still used in modern day beadmaking).  The marver is a paddle that can withstand the heat of molten glass, and on which the molten glass can be shaped into a cylinder or be coaxed into a round shape. Amazingly, the techniques used then were in popular use in glass bead making until the rise of Venetian glassmaking in the 15th century. That may be more then you would like to know, but there is more, which I will spare you in this writing. In another blog I will tell you a few things of interest about trade beads!

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So many folks if given the word gemstone, usually associate it with Diamond, Sapphire, Emerald, or Ruby.  And that is a fair association.  I love all of those sparkling gemstones, but since I have discovered semi-precious gemstones, my appreciation of gemstones in total has truly grown.

As a matter of fact, I am fascinated by stones like Jasper, Agate. Quartz, Chalcedony, Moonstone and Prehnite just to mention a few.

I would like to share a few of my favorite cabochons with you, which happen to be mostly Jasper and Agate,  and I hope you share my fascination.  Each cab seems to be a natural work of art in it's own right!

Russian Agate

One of my favs, Mexican Fire Opal
Rain Forest Jasper with it's natural brush strokes
Moss Agate provides another picture
Druzy Quartz exposes it's internal crystals
ChickenTrack Jasper, what can I say?

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I just hung on my white brick wall a painting that I just purchased.   I was so tickled pink with my new work of art that it started me thinking.
As I looked around at the paintings I have collected over the years  I had to stop and look at each one remembering the circumstances of my purchase, where was I?  Why did I buy it? And did they still make me very happy to see them.  I have to say,I am still moved by my little collection art works.
I suppose you could say I am one of those people.......probably one that most strict Artists would know right away is not a serious collecter, and probably not at all that knowledgeable about True Art.  

I have seen different blogs on the subject her at TAS and other forums and the feelings about it are diverse and sometimes controversial!  

Well I am one of those that sees what they like and if it provokes an emotion, a memory or just stimulates a love of color and form to a particular degree, and if I can afford it and love it,  I will buy it.  If I can't afford it, I will keep track of where there is a picture of it and look at it every now and again.

No less a lover of art, no less  appreciative of beautiful things, but not one who collects with an eye for the financial future.  Not intentionally anyway, I do have a limited edtion or two that have quadrupled in value, but that is not why I bought them!  We are not talking millions either!

Here is a picture of my latest coveting, and here is why I just love it:

The contrasts of the green of the buoys and the white background brought the subject to the forefront with a with perfect little shock of joy.

It brings back good memories of days sailing on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.

It reminds me of a very good book.

The colors are simple, but in the rendering caused you to think only of the buoys.  Which in turn makes you remember where you have seen this color combination before.  The green is an unmistakeable color of these old glass orbs and the white is the remembering of how the sun bleach out almost anything used in the sun over time.

I really think a lot of the artist, and like most of her work

I could afford it! 

by Cathy Savels

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