I have had this idea percolating in at the back of my mind for quite a while now, though I have had serious beader’s block for quite some time, combined with having sporadic beading time over the last few years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKcl4-tcuo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo
After David Bowie died a few years ago, I thought about making a series of beaded pieces inspired by two of his songs Life On mars and Space Oddity and I started gathering cabochons and stones that looked like they either could have been found on distant planets, or washed up on shore, or were covered in divots and small craters. My friend Lisa Peters Russ has been making some ceramic cabochons that looked perfect for this project. The project was put on the back burner due to work related projects.
When Gary Lightbody and Snow Patrol released Life on Earth recently, that rekindled my desire to work on the series, the song fitted so well with the other two.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqYWcp1JH7Y
The designs will employ a combination of different free form beadwork techniques, including bead and thread embroidery, peyote stitch, herringbone stitch, bead netting, Chenille stitch, Albion Stitch, right angle weave and CRAW and appropriately enough Hubble Stitch. There will also be bead crochet, wire work and maybe some chainmaille in the mix too, who knows. There will be photos showing sketches and progress photos, as I go along – if you are sure you want to know how my warped brain works! Some will be wearable, others may be art pieces, we shall see…
To get you in the mood I had a little fun last night making the modern equivalent of a mix tape – a playlist from Google Play. These are some of the songs I have been playing regularly as I bead, it is just under 2 hours long, but I hope it gives a feel for the project, which will be open ended as long as I can think of new ideas for it.
https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXynegh6sc_DJwtWlvPJT9aq04On0e1_hr6XJFkyzEocRf7lPW7bUZs2gYmUXjHfAs5BxJ-FVMM6lpiY6OudFVGZ6tlId1g%3D%3D
This is the track listing for the Playlist:
1. French Navy – Camera Obscura
2. Girl From Mars – Ash
3. The Girl Who Fell in Love With the Moon – Boo Hewardine
4. Tonight We Fly – Divine Comedy
5. Rhymes of an Hour – Mazzy Star
6. The Universal – Blur
7. Woke From Dreaming – The Delgados
8.Tonight, Tonight – Smashing Pumpkins
9. The Moon Is Mine – Fairground Attraction
10. Mykonos – Fleet Foxes
11. Desire Lines – Lush
12. Iceblink Luck – Cocteau Twins
13. Sixth Sense – Imelda May
14. Damaged – Primal Scream
15. Life On Earth – Snow Patrol
16. In the Frame – Del Amitri
17. Pink Moon – Nick Drake
18. Moon on the Rain – Fairground Attraction
19. Solid Air -John Martyn
20. Side – Travis
21. Moondance – Van Morrison
22. Guiding Star – Teenage Fanclub
23. Edge of the World – Kevin McDermott
24. Space Oddity – David Bowie
25. One of a Kind – Naomi Bedford and Justin Currie
26. Life On Mars – David Bowie