ART BEAT

Art Beat

Location: Downtown South Bend, IN

Time: ‎11:00 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday, August 27th

This coming Saturday is the annual event of the year in downtown South Bend.  

Food, Music and ART.  Over 230 vendors, what more can you want besides great weather! 

Oh, and did I mention it's Free!

Magdalena Moon Designs will be located on Michigan Street between Jefferson and Wayne Streets in Scene 5, our booth number is 5.19!

They have a huge line up of events and the artists are all from the Michiana Area.  So do come out and enjoy the day if you can and see some of the new jewelry designs that I've been working on over the last few weeks. 

This is my first year attending Art Beat and I really am looking forward to doing a show where I grew up and walked the streets as a child.  The Peanut Shop and Kresge's may no longer be there but the memories remain of Saturdays spent shopping with my Mom.

For more information go to www.artbeatsouthbend.org

ART AND MUSIC IN THE PARK 

WHITE PIGEON, MI - WADE PARK

SATURDAY AUGUST 20 FROM 10 -5

This coming Saturday is the White Pigeon, MI Art Show. 

I'm looking forward to this show since it is so close to home.  This will be my first time attending the show and I'm excited that the arts are building in this small community of ours.  

Now if the weather continues to be as nice as it's been all week this should be a great show to attend.  

Hope to see you there!!!!

 

Our Last Two Art Shows

Chesterton Art in the Park - August 6 & 7

Fern Lady Necklace - Bronze

The show last weekend at Hawthorne Park in Chesterton, IN was the hottest show we’ve done in five years!   Between the 97% humidity and 90+ degree temperatures I’m not sure what was worse.  Oh, yes, that would be the rain that blew in unexpectedly on Sunday morning but left just as quick leaving everyone including us drenched and feeling like we were in a sauna.  However, that didn't stop the shoppers who still came out after it was all over and enjoyed seeing the great line up of artists at this show.  

 This little critter on the right came to visit on Sunday and hung around for hours trying to figure out how he could get inside of my silver heart necklace that has a keyhole in the front.  His wings were like black lace and I just didn't have the "heart" to shew him away.  I must say he had good taste.

Many of my new designs flew off the shelf and now have new homes. I just want to say thank you to all of our old and new customers who came out despite the weather! We had a great time overall and meet some really nice people.  Thanks also to the great committee who watched over us, brought us bottled water and kept and eye on the storm so we stayed safe on Sunday.  See you next year!!!! 

Domaine Berrien Cellars 

Art & Wine Music Festival

July 30

We had so much fun at this show!  My hats off to the frogs who serenaded us and kept the children (me included) occupied.   

The sweltering sun didn't bother us much as we scored big time with a booth space nestled under a huge tree  right by the pond full of huge frogs!!!! 

While his mother was shopping at my booth  this little boy was in heaven catching frogs from the pond and I couldn't help but take his picture; this little frog still had it's tail!  His sister got in the act also and caught a whopper.  

This art festival was a family event and the people truly enjoyed their day full of music, wine and the arts.  The show was one class act and I do hope we will be juried back in again next year!!!

Seems the critters took center stage at the last two shows!  But don't be dismayed here are some of the new designs that we had during the show.  You notice I said "had"!

Road trip for supplys!

Knowing I have several big art shows coming up and looking at my dwindling supply's I knew it was time to restock and their is no better place than Von's for a girl to get her fill of gems and supply's. So, Monday I headed south to Lafayette, IN to the best gem and bead store around.  There seems to be no direct way to get to Lafayette and it's close to a 3 hr drive down country back roads.  So I packed up my bag with water, snacks and a my camera.  You never know what a girl will find! 

Basil Thai

By the time I got there, it was lunch time and I headed straight to Basil Thai for lunch!  Oh how I love Thai food and theirs is just terrific.  I had the spicy green curry pork with rice, heavenly.  With my tummy full it was time to hit Von's and begin my treasure hunt for gems. 
It is absolutely mind blowing the amount of gems they have.  From floor to ceiling, literally Von's Beads has it all.  With it old store charm and high ceilings I spent hours searching for just the right gems.  There is something around every corner to be discovered.  With the help of John the store owner and Jerry who has to be the nicest guy around I found more than I had hoped for.

Aquamarines

The selection of Aquamarines & Apatite was incredible and I couldn't resist picking several strands of these yummy colors in shades of soft summer blues.  I can't wait to put these to use later this week.  They are calling me a I write.

Kyanite!  Not Kryptonite!!!

 Then I found these interesting strands of Kyanite!  Such a mysterious stone and they are true blue in color and have a slight marbling, well these just had to come home with me.  All the way home I kept designing in my head how to use them. 




Then there were tourmaline's, rainforest jasper, labradorite, citrine, crysophrase, and rubies all calling me to come home.  Oh my!!!!  I'm stocked up for the rest of the year and can't wait to start working with these beauties!
  

 

Kayaking with my best buddy!

Living on this wonderful lake allows me to indulge in one of my favorite things - kayaking!  To paddle out on the quiet water in the morning and just be still quiets my soul beyond measure and when those times are shared and spent with family that's even better

  My oldest grandson, Chris, and I love to kayak but he's living in Korea right now and I miss those times out on the water with him.  Their dog Kay missed the flight to Korea (a really long story) so Kay has been living with us the last year and half and I have fallen in love with her.  She is my new best buddy.  SO, I thought it was time to take her out and go kayaking since Chris wasn't here to go with me.  I wasn't sure how she would react or if she would even stay in the kayak with me.  She hopped right in, and off we went. 

She did really well except for keeping her fanny sitting when a dragonfly or duck came by, but we'll have to work on that.  Sorry you weren't here to enjoy the ride Chris but Kay will have to due till you come back home.  Miss you lots! 

Griffith Art in the Park - Griffith IN

Last weekend’s show was a scorcher & the pack up was brutal!!!!  

This was our second time attending the Griffith Art Show.  I love the park where they hold this art show with its big old trees and meandering pathways.  My booth just happened to be conveniently situated between the hospitality pavilion and the toities – can’t get any better than that, unless there is a way to control the weather!  Oh, my gosh was it hot.   Sunday the heat index was well over 100 with temps in the high 90’s but we were fortunate to have a slight breeze that kept us all from melting.

Unfortunately, attendance was way down at the show this year but there is always a silver lining in every grey cloud as it gave us time to talk to the neighboring artist in our area.  We had the best booth neighbors right next to us. Ken and I had a great time getting to know Kathy and John from JFK Glass Works.  Can’t wait to see them again next year.

And last but certainly not least - I was more than surprised when I was awarded 1^st place in Jewelry this year!  I did not see that coming with all of the fine jewelry artists that this event has.  What an honor to receive this award out of the large array of jewelry artists at the show.   Now, I can start saving for a new artist tent that we really need.

A big thank you to all my loyal customers, old & new who braved the heat and came out to this event!  See you next year!!!!

STORM HITS BIRCH LAKE

 WOW!   What a storm and what a big mess!

Our peaceful Monday morning was quickly shattered and fractured as winds of 80 mph hit the lake and surrounding area with such a vengeance that trees were scattered all over the place.  In a matter of a couple of minutes the storm came and went leaving a mangled mess of trees and we were so blessed that no one was hurt.

Our road was blocked in both directions with downed trees and tree limbs and several neighbors including my son worked for hours cutting trees to open up the road. 

We were extremely lucky and had no damage to our house but our neighbors all around us were not as fortunate.  I have lived here for years and can't remember a time when a storm hit so fast or with such force.

The picture on the left is the house next to ours, they lost the most beautiful old pine tree you will ever see.  It had to be over a 100 years old cause it was huge when I was a little girl and well, we all know that I'm no spring chicken any more.  The patio furniture on the deck two doors down from us was mangled and broken yet the flower pots remained untouched and more amazing was the fact that their windows hadn't shattered.  They also lost a pine tree.  

Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of work done in my studio today. 

New Earrings

 Earrings, Earrings, Earrings 

I can't stop making them!!!

Over the last two weeks I've been trying to get my inventory of earrings built up. 

I've had so much fun creating these new designs and now I can't seem to quit 

making them. 

These new designs are made of bronze and I just love the multitude of colors that  formed on them in the kiln.   

Pictured are just a few of the new designs that I finished last week. 

Wish I could post them all but this is just the tip of the iceberg and a taste of whats to come.

Silver earrings will be coming soon once I get caught up with all the new fired pieces I made over the last few days. 

My work station is calling me as I write.

 

Incredible Colors

Today’s load of bronze had the most incredible colors!   Turquoise, purple, greens, rust oh my.  It’s amazing and baffling at the same time to achieve such a great mix of colors in one firing.  If I could achieve these colors each firing I would be so excited.   I'm still using the first batch of carbon that I bought when bronze clay was introduced several years ago.  Seems the  longer I use it the better the colors get and its not breaking down  either.  

I can’t wait to put these new pieces together.

Knot Your Daddy's Ties!!!

I am finally able to introduce my newest creation "Knot Your Daddy's Ties"!
I have so many ideas for them that my head is spinning (I hate that when that happens ;))

During the elimination rounds of American Idol this season one of the contestants vying for a place in the top 10 spots was wearing this unique rhinestone tie that night.  It sparkled and glittered and I was sketching before I knew what was going on. 

To make it out of bronze would be a chunk of metal and I would need to make it fluid and curve to a women's shape.  If I didn't it would end up looking like a sword ready for battle.
I drew and kept working on templates till I was happy with the design.  Pictured on the left is my first one all polished up and waiting to be worked into a necklace.  I tried several variety's of chains, big and clunky, oval links and rose gold too but I still wasn't happy with the look.  For the tie to stand out on it's own I decided it needed a softer chain and maybe teaming it up with gemstones would be the right combination this time.  This tie fired the most incredible oranges and golds so I teamed it up with Carnelians and TA DA!  I loved it.

Three more designs quickly followed and I introduced my ties at the Kalamazoo Art Show last weekend and got rave reviews from the judges!  Most judges just look and keep on going so to get a verbal compliment  from 2 judges made my day.  The women loved them!

I am working on a series of ties with fun names, "Knotty Lady" , "Knot Tonight", and the list goes on and on.  I can't wait to spend more time working on these.  

New Bronze Designs

Bronze Glorious Bronze! 
It has been a hectic three weeks and I have been pumping out the bronze like crazy.  I love the rich tones of bronze and have been creating up a storm this last month.  I have not abandoned my beloved silver but since the price has increased almost 128% from this time last year I decided that this would be a great time to create more designs in bronze and I really am loving the results, most of the time!

To the right are several pieces fresh from the kiln including my new logo tags, earring components, an angel, rugged cross and many more.   They have not been cleaned or polished yet and are full of carbon dust from the firing chamber in the kiln, oh what possibilities. I can't wait to get started designing with them.  Pictured below are several of the designs once they are finished.

I have had so many people interested in my award winning Mother Nature necklace but the amount of silver in the original design makes its a costly piece, so this summer I'm introducing the birth of "Baby Nature"!  Made out of bronze she is a smaller version of her mama and wears a leaf bonnet over her head.  She still holds nature close to her heart as her mama taught her. 

I have had this image of an angel for years and thought she would make a lovely necklace and decided to team her up with a swarovski crystals and a little wire work.  I really love how she came out and will me making many more of these I'm sure.  I wasn't able to capture the color in this piece but the crystals are rich plums and blues.  I think this one it mine!       

    Last year Ken and I were walking the beach up at St. Joe and we found a great piece of driftwood that I made and impression of.  I have been using it to make crosses.    This one came out of the kiln with the most interesting color variations of pale gold and blue grey.  I thought it would look nice to team it up with faceted labradorite rondells.  It came out really nice.

I don't make many small pieces of jewelry and thought these little caps would make sweet necklaces with just the right gemstones.  I bought crab fire agates in two different colors last summer and I thought the turquoise ones would go nicely with these little caps.    Teamed up with crystals and a little wire wrap swirls this makes a cute necklace for those who like things on the smaller side.

And last but not least are some new earring designs.  Simple dangles that sway and are as light as can be.  I'm working on many more new earring designs and hopefully I'll be able to share them with you in the next couple of weeks.  For now these two new designs will have to temp you.


There are several other components in that basket that I have to work up yet but it won't be long now before the tell me what they want to be!