I have completed my first 'page' for the Bead Journal Project for the new round. For anyone that is not familiar with this wonderful project, you can read all about it here. You can also view many of the pages from quite a few of the participants last year in the 2007 galleries.
This year there are 259 participants from 16 countries. I am thrilled to be included!
I have named this page 'Swimming in a sea of code'. It relates to my full time job as a Business Systems Analyst. We are in the process of rolling out new software to offices all over the country. Lately I have been learning processes where I have seen and done my best to understand data mappings/translations from old systems to this new one. It can become overwhelming at times - especially this month when I had several deadlines looming.
My pages are 3 inches by 3 inches and will be sewn together to make a small bead quilt when the 12 months are completed. It is a bit hard to see, but there is a fish bead toward the bottom left of the square - that represents me, all the rest is codes, translations and mappings, etc.
I found it exceptionally difficult to do justice to the page with photographs. In person the colors in this page are very bright and the lines are clear. The photos looked either under or over exposed no matter how I changed the lighting. I tried outside, inside, with flash, without flash. But this is the best I could do. Next to the actual piece the photo looks over exposed and the colors look muted.
For this year of the project I have also decided to go back to the way I first learned bead embroidery and am using acid free paper as my stabilizer. You can see in the photos how I basted the paper to the fabric. I marked the guideline on the fabric in which to stay within as I beaded. I have since removed the black basting stitches and tore away the paper up to the edges of the beading.
I have included a photo of the back for anyone that might find it interesting.
27 comments:
Hi Grace,
You've used some of most favorite colors in your project and it's stunning ( as all yours are!)
I found you (fish)and can hardly wait to see how all your porjects come together in the end!
I'm working on my doll,
Lillian :o)
I so relate! I love the colors and I found your fishy! good luck with the project at work. I'm looking forward to seeing the quilt at the end of the year - but I'm not pushing.
hi grace
happy autumn!!
oh these colors are just yummy :)
beautiful work as always
enjoy your day
tammy :)
I know I haven't commented here in a long while, but just wanted to say that I do follow your blog in my blog reader and definitely wanted to say how much I love this piece....probably because those are "my colors".
Hi Grace,
Your page is gorgeous! I love the vibrant, lively colors. The textural design and colorful palette must have been great fun to bead and also a wonderful stress reliever from the overwhelming work stuff. Great job!
Hi Grace,
Love pink and orange together. It is very vibrant and definitely 'happy'. I can only imagine how beautiful a full year of your work will be in a finished quilt.
The photo came through bright enough for me and I love bright! They come across as the "hot" colors just short of neon. It's a great page and to be full of codes and stuff that has meaning to you is terrific. All I see is a design of a fish in "hot" water, lol. I just don't know anything about codes - I just use the computer.
Just beautiful Grace...I love the bright colors and the fish! I know the feeling of learning new versus the old and it can be overwhelming to say the least.
It is a great piece and I am looking forward to seeing your quilt when it is stitched together!
Even though my main pages are on Pellon, I stitched a part of my page on acid free paper. I have never used it before but it is great. It is amazing how stable and supportive the paper is and how it feels in your hands! I liked it a lot!
BTW...enjoy the day and german chocolate cake!!! ;-)
~Lisa
Beautiful, feel-happy colours, and I love the sea of code idea !
Very cool Grace! What a dynamic start to the project! If you start out the way you mean to go on, then it's going to be so beautiful, bright and wonderful!!
Cheers, Denise
Hi Grace, your colors are exactly the opposite of what's outside life here today.
Brings the sunshine into my little house. Sea of sun .....
Your idea and the transcript is great.
Hello from Hamburg
:-Tally-:
Hi Grace,
It's a great start! I like the colorful waves and those little cubes!
After a day spent working on all blacks,it sure looks bright to me!
Cheers,
Saby
So cool, Grace! These colors are wonderful together . . .
Kathy V in NM
Hi Grace ~ The colors and movement of the piece, building one "hill" on another look a lot more cheerful and orderly than my impression of your job right now (which sounds like a challenging nightmare to me). You, the fish, seem to have quite a lot heaped upon you... yet you're swimming merrily along. Wow!!! My big question is "What do you think the black line in the upper right corner represents? It's the mystery in this piece for me... However you interpret the piece, it is such great fun to see! Thanks! Robin A.
Congratulations on finishing September. Your colors are so bright and cheerful - can't wait to see October. Beautiful work
"nevertoolatetohavefun"
Wow, Grace - gorgeous colors and beautiful page!
pam T (WI)
Hi Grace:
You captured your feelings fantastically. I love it that you used bright colors. The movement in the piece is perfect and that little fish was wonderful symbolism. Isn't it amazing how we find a way to express our feelings in our beadwork.
Happy day to you and yours.
oooo! I love the colors and the little fishie!! a wonderful piece!
--Maria
How bea-u-ti-ful! Love the colors and the energy. Really inspiring work!
...wow, Grace!This is a gorgeous page w/its glorious bright colors which I love!Thanks for sharing the paper backing tip, etc...you are so talented!
Hi Grace! Thanks for the suggestions on my blog about embroidery techniques! I will have to check them all out. Wanted to let you know how beautiful your poece for September is! I love the vibrant colors and the symbolism too. I looked back at your entire blog and have to say i am blown away by last years pages too. WOW you are incredible! tracey
Gorgeous!!
I love how you relate this piece to your busy work life! I can hear the swooshing of the waves,
the colors are quite VIBRANT on my screen but I so know what you mean about the frustration of not getting a good pic.
Good for you to join the next round. I'm out (for obvious reasons). Am I noticing you picked a smaller size for your page?
I get sucj a kick out of seeing the back of your pages... the stitches are just as incredible to look at (for me) as the front!
happy day to you, Moi :)
It's so bright! I almost needed my shades!
Grace, What a way you have with beads. Love the various textures - can only imagine how much more extraordinary it is in person! I feel your pain on the photography limits - no matter how great a pic is it can't hold a candle to the real thing! Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog - I hope you find the shot glass idea helpful ;)
Grace , your work is as amazing as ever.... I love the colors you have chosen for this piece. Thanks for sharing
xoxo
((((hugs))))
Maggie
I love the bold colors of this piece Grace. They just pop!
And what a great way of expressing your feelings about work too.
You are obviously a intelligent cookie as well as a talented artist!
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