Fasteners

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Bracelet Ends

Well, I admit, there is one thing I forgot in my last set of posts. Once strung, how are you going to keep all your beautiful beads from sliding right back off that wire? These lovely fasteners are the answer. In each set above, the loop goes on one end of the bracelet and the stick on the other. They're very easy both to attach to the wire and to do up when you go to wear the bracelet. You can find as many styles of fasteners as you can beads. I like to try to match them a bit to the bracelet: if I use gold, silver, or copper beads in the bracelet, of course I use the same color fastener. The heart-shaped ones give it a new twist as well.

Stringing Beads

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Putting Beads on Wire

It's time to get back to our handmade bracelets! My last set of posts explained all the materials we need, and we're ready to get started stringing. It's as easy as it looks. Just cut a length of wire at least twice as long as you want the finished bracelet (it doesn't have to be at all exact, just be generous). Make sure you have all the beads arranged in the pattern you like - it's much easier to change them now than once they're on the string. The bead palette works great for getting the arrangement down. I'll discuss different pattern schemes in a bit.

Bracelet Lengths

You may be wondering, how do I know how long to make the bracelet? To start, it really depends on your wrist size and how loose you like the bracelet. You can measure your wrist with a sewing measuring tape or piece of string. If you want it tight, add at least 1/2-1" in order to fasten the bracelet. If you want it loose, just experiment with different lenghts. Another option is to measure a bracelet you already like. As you can see in the photo, most bracelets range from 6-8."

Golden Days

Artist's Gallery

Golden Days in Mud Valley

And now for one last Holmes County painting before we move on. Above is the picture all finished. There's a reason I don't have a series of step photos like usual: I completed this in one sitting, using a very fast and bold technique. Starting with the greens and blues in the background, I proceeded to slap in dark and light browns for the tree trunks. Once all that was dry, I used fan and scrubby brushes to dab in the red and yellow leaves, both trees and ground. An interesting point is that I used pure white to create the light spots and highlights. I like how the texture and detail came out, but I'm not really happy with the color combination. I did like the name pun I came up with though: Golden Days in Mud Valley. Tell me what you think!

Walking Home 3

Artist's Gallery

Painting Complete

And here is my complete painting, framed and ready-to-hang. How do you like my people? I told you I was not good at painting figures! From my limited experience acquired since, I believe the proportions are a bit off, more like children than the adults I imagined. However, they look cute and happy and seem to fit in alright - what more can I ask? The tree added an interesting touch in the front compared to my previous painting, The Way Home, which I did from this same spot. I like the warm, glowing qualities about the picture - I think Walking Home came out quite satisfactorily.

Walking Home 2

Artist's Gallery

Stage 2

The trees have come alive in the next stage of this scenic painting. I was liberal with the brilliant yellow and red hues of paint. They contrast nicely with the rich greens of the grass. Note that I did not change the color of the grass strips along side the road at all from my last post. However, their appearance has really mellowed with the addition of the yellows on either side. It's a trick on the eyes.

I love painting roads for some reason. The shades of tar weathered with all kinds of traffic tires, and in this case, buggy wheels as well. Notice the long shadows in the foreground? I guess I had not yet learned, always paint a tree before its shadow!

Walking Home 1

Artist's Gallery

Sketched In

And now we're back to another regular painting I did from that same road in Mud Valley. In fact, you can see a couple similar paintings I've featured here; check out the reference photo here. Only this painting is a little different - it replaces the buggy with a couple figures. I'm not too good with painting people, so we'll see how it comes out!

I started out with the pencil sketch above, using a ruler to make sure everything was to scale with the photo. I don't usually take pictures of my sketches, so this is a unique shot! If you look closely, you may also notice that I added the foreground tree at the right.

Stage One: Background

The first step was painting the background. A brilliant autumn sky and multi-colored forest are backdrop to one of those quaint white barns...yes, one of my favorite subjects. Both the nature of fall and the afternoon sun color the grass green hues golden yellow. If I may note one issue here, the background colors are really way too brilliant and bold for being so far away in the picture. We'll see how that pans out in the painting.

The Milkman

Artist's Gallery

Milk Cart Candle Holder

The other candle holder I painted was a bit more complicated. I found the milk cart scene on a postcard and adapted it to the long, narrow space of the wall-hung holder. I then wanted to add some more color, so I painted large yellow ornamental flowers around the top and bottom, leading them back into the picture by gradually shrinking them. I'm really pleased with how this one came out.

Repurposed Art Show Flier

Both of my paintings were featured in the promotional poster that the art gallery published! Can you spot them above? I had both the pieces for sale, but neither one caught a buyer's eye. Well, I suppose they'll make good Christmas gifts.

Candle Holder

Artist's Gallery

Autumn Farm

Let's finish up our stay in Holmes County, Ohio with a couple more paintings from Amish country. As I mentioned before, I have already done too many of these Amish artworks, and more are coming. I suppose it's because this is one of my favorite subjects to paint. Anyway, our local gallery recently had a "repurposed art" show, and I was looking for something to contribute. What better way to repurpose old candle holders from the thrift store than to turn them into artwork? The piece above, only about 5" high, proved a very nice surface for a simple barn and buggy scene. Now I need advice: should I put a (small) candle in the holder, and if so, what color should it be?