Beads and Beach Walks

Pods and Seeds from Another Planet:

I'm quite pleased with this series of pods...made over a two day period, all of the colors harmonize together and there is a lot of subtle detail revealed on close examination. Some of them have a sparkling goldstone core under a surface dusted with enamel, so the glitter can only be seen at certain angles. I really like them in the flowerpot on mandrels too...I'm considering displaying them just like this at the Oasis show...what do you think? The tiny O-rings keep them in place nicely and the moss and terra cotta work well with the color of the beads. I'll need to be sure that my tiniest tags will stick on securely.

Satake Earring Pairs:

Satake Sets:

Satake Roses:

It's a beautiful Monday today, breezy and sunny and cool and Augusty. There is a subtle change in the quality of the light as August draws to a close...it becomes more golden and autumnal. The clouds are racing across a sky that is achingly blue, and the lake is sparked with silver, brown and blue flashes that look exactly like Labradorite.
Beachwalks have yielded some treasures lately. What a blessing it is to enjoy finding rocks and bits and pieces like a child...please let me never become so jaded that I don't enjoy finding a cool fossil or a pretty piece of glass!

A fantastic beach stone with the most perfect hole!:

A lovely calm egg-shaped rock and a modern craft jewel...how did that get onto the beach?

The egg-shaped rock:

A beautiful piece of banded chert...as smooth as though it had been polished:

An opalized fossil shell with a hint of the softest blue:

A pile of pretty glass. Note the pale lilac...and the "Holy Grail" of glass afficionados...the red piece! VERY hard to find!

It always amazes me how the beach can change so much in a single day. Layers of rocks and shells are revealed and then hidden beneath asmooth bland surface of sand. Sandbars and valleys are appear beneath the water and then disappear, swept away by waves. The water can be motionless and tranquil, and a few hours later be roaring with huge crashing waves. Water that appears deep can actually be shallow, shallow-looking channels can be surprisingly deep. A lot to learn here, about not clinging to what changes, and that things are seldom what they appear to be be.

Check out Cristina Leonard's new blog. It's a lovely blog, and a treat to see Cris's silver work and her experiments with the brand new bronze clay. One thing that is good to know about Cris, which she may not reveal on her blog, is that she really enjoys being hit in the back of the head with broken saw blades ...(just kidding!)

An interesting, though anonymous quote:

"It's unfortunate that our society equates criticism with intelligence. It has created paralysis of the negative. It implies that contentment and happiness and easy-going spirit are naive."