Sunday, October 26, 2008

Tree of Life - Autumn

Hi, this has been my weekend. Not only did I finally get my pictures on my computer and then post them on the blog, but I finished my October page. This is called Tree of Life - Autumn. Wikipedia says the tree of life has to do with immortality. I am not going for immortality, although we all do that through our art, I just liked the concept and it seemed to fit this month. The tree of life is another symbol I have always liked. When I doodle trees are one of the things I always doodle (along with flowers.) Wikipedia also mentions the tree of life in science as describing the relationships on earth from an evolution standpoint. It is a very old symbol. I am just going to think of it as meaning we are all interrelated. I think our work on the Bead Journal shows us that.

I used another technique from Robin Atkins book, Heart to Hands, Bead Embroidery. That was the tree trunks on page 8. I almost used the twisted lines as a border but decided to go with the beads the way I did. I had the bead soup beads from a leaf necklace I made a year or so ago. I kept them together just in case as I liked the colors all together. There are at least 10 different colors of beads in there.

I neglected to mention for my September page that I used Robin's bezeling technique from the same book on pages 52 and 53. I have seen similar techniques in other books. The thing that Robin talks about that worked for my page was the advantage of this technique on cabs (or items to bezel) that are not uniform. You probably can't tell from the picture but the bezels are ammonites (nature's spiral.)

Have a good night everyone, happy beading and in case I do not post for awhile please vote on November 4! Nancy

Here are my pictures, one with flash and one without:




10 comments:

a2susan said...

That tree looks/feels very solid. I really like it, especially the autumn leaves.

Robin said...

I agree with Susan... your lovely autumn tree of life looks solid... and old, too... yet still full of life, producing a full, healthy load of leaves. The way you circled the tree on the borders gives it an other-worldly feel, sacred or spiritual. Way to go!

Glad to read that you're finding useful techniques in my book... that is exactly what I hoped would happen and I love to see how different people bend the techniques to their own purposes.

The bead soup was just perfect for your tree!

Robin A.

KV said...

Wow, Nancy! This design is outstanding -- I love it!!!


Kathy V in NM

Jacquie said...

Beautiful Tree. I find trees always interesting as subjects and your work is very nice. I especially like how the trunk and branches seem to intertwine just perfectly.

Marty S said...

What a nice page for autumn! The way you used the bead soup for the leaves makes them seem to move.
Marty S
Crackpot Beader

heidibeads said...

The tree looks like it's growing and the energy is moving through the earth, through the roots and right up to the leaves. Nicely done.

pam T said...

Very, very nice! I love trees... they are kind of the whole "meaning" of life.... Great job!

Timaree said...

This is a great tree. I love the mix of beads you used for the leaves. Definitely has the feel of fall.

Mountain Salt Studio said...

It's so lovely. (and so is Juno!)

Diane

jollygems said...

wonderful beaded work.

Thanks