About Me

Lindsay M Starr is a beadwork and mixed media artist currently based in Nashville, TN. She spent her early childhood in Alaska, and her school age and college years in Oregon. Lindsay has a great appreciation for history, science, and nature and is consistently inspired by insects, sea life, color, and the significance of beads and beadwork throughout human history. She spends her days beading, walking at the zoo, and practicing yoga. Lindsay loves to share her knowledge and passion for beads and beadwork to hobbyists of all skill levels.

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month Reveal April 2015

 Oh my, where did the month go!?  How is it time for the Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month reveal again?  I know I spent half of April in post surgical recovery stupor, but seriously...anyway, moving on.  When I found out we were going to be able to play with one of Rebekah's little wood heart beads I was super excited - just look at them!

Rebekah sent me a lovely little copper heart, and it arrived a couple of days before my surgery.  I fondled it often during recovery, attempting to generate an idea to no avail.  And then the lovely Jenny sent me a recovery package and the entire design came together 5 minutes after opening the envelope!  I give you Dino Love - aka All Dinosaurs Go To Heaven:  
Back in January, Jenny had shown off a pendant in progress with this amazing dinosaur stamp.  I ogled it thoroughly, but never thought that she would send it to me!  I did a little bit of research about the stamp, and discovered that it was issued in 1970 as part of a 4 stamp set commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Natural History Museum.  You can read more about it and see the other stamps here.  Jenny was kind enough to include some beads to go with the pendant, including the copper peacock spotted daggers.  I love how those spots match the color of the heart, and I finished off the necklace with some of my favorite leather lace in a nice rusty tan color.  
Just look at all these details!  Jenny really managed to capture all of the colors in the stamp with the paint on the pendant.  The texture on the heart is so delicate, and the word on the side perfectly sums up how I feel about all things prehistoric.  To connect the pendant to the leather strap, I raided my stash of Czech lampwork and found these sugar beads - silver foil inside of amethyst glass with emerald green frit "sugar".  I love how they pull all the greens and purples in the rest of the piece together, and add a bit of sparkle too.  
Look, two beauty shots this time!  I didn't realize until I was done with the beading that the heart looks like it has wings - hence the secondary title of this piece "All Dinosaurs Go To Heaven".  I can't wait to see what everyone else has done with Rebekah's hearts!  I hope you will hop along with all of us!

 Guests
Karin Grosset Grange
Carol Briody
Rebecca Anderson
Posted by at 8 comments:

Monday, April 13, 2015

Beading Back in Time - Early Human Blog Hop Challenge

Hey everyone!  No, I haven't dropped off the face of the planet - for the last month I've been super busy preparing for a surgery that I had on Wednesday last week.  I thought during my recovery period there would be tons of time to get caught up on my backlog of blogging, facebooking, etsy posting, etc...but the reality has been that all I want to do is sleep.  So, here I am, after my second nap of the day, finally posting about our upcoming blog hop challenge!

 Do you remember a few months ago when my friend Sherri Stokey of Knot Just Macrame and I hosted our first quarterly blog hop challenge?  No?  Well, if you would like to refresh yourself, check out our posts here and here...and don't forget to look at  all the participant's finished pieces again!  Both of us were so pleased with the effort that everyone put into this challenge, and we're excited to introduce the Spring quarter challenge:  Beading Back in Time:  Early Human Blog Hop Challenge!
Sherri says I'm the short one...what's that all about?!?!
The challenge will work like before, with the exception of the timeline.  Last time we focused on inspirations from before the dawn of humankind.  Now we are seeking out inspiration from the very earliest discoveries of humanity, up to 3500 BCE (yes, that is a bit of an arbitrary date).  This timeline will encompass anything from the evolution of modern humans, to the decline of Neanderthals, the Paleo-, Meso-, and Neolithic "stone age" periods, and everything else in between!  Please check out Sherri's intro post HERE!

There are so many ways you could be inspired by this theme!  Cave paintings, stone carvings and sculptures, primitive textiles and fibers, and early beads are just a few of the things I've had floating around in my mind.  I definitely want to use these beads in my piece this challenge:
These are hand drilled quartz beads from the Neolithic period!  Just holding them is a fantastic feeling - beads and bead creation have been a part of human culture for SO LONG...it gives me goosebumps to think about!

I hope you will stay tuned for the reveal of the BBiT: Early Human Blog Hop Challenge on May 1st! Hopefully I will be able to post a few more updates during my recovery period...we will just have to see how the nap schedule works out.  Don't forget to check out my bi-weekly posts over on the Art Jewelry Elements blog too...I just posted one yesterday about my collection of vessel beads!  Thanks for looking!
Posted by at 1 comment:

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Art Jewelry Element Component of the Month Theme Challenge - March 2015

This month over on the Art Jewelry Elements Blog, we decided to try something a bit different...a themed challenge that anyone can participate in!  For this first challenge, Jenny chose an iconic theme, prevalent in cultures all over the world - Hares.  You can read more about Hare symbolism in Jenny's initial post HERE, but today is the reveal when we all get to see what everyone's been creating all month.  We even have several guest artists, so make sure you click on all the links (at the bottom of the post).

A few days ago over on the AJE blog, I wrote about my lifelong love of rabbits, and showed a small collection of the drove of hares in my stash.  As I'm still struggling to make time for my beadwork with my (relatively new) job schedule, I decided to go back to an idea that I started several years ago.
A few years ago I stumbled across this carved bone rabbit head bead - I had instant inspiration to make a sculptural march hare piece, and bought the bead.  I made a wire and aluminum foil armature, covered it in polymer clay for a nice smooth base...and covered the whole thing in encrusting freeform beadwork!
And then I ran into an unforseen problem...once the beads were on the armature, the head was out of scale!  I forgot that seed beads, even as teeny as they are, add bulk...so my idea has been stagnant until now.  I'm so happy that I can now show you the whole thing!
I finally realized that I just needed to make a head that was in scale with the piece - so I broke out the Fimo and got to sculpting.
I used vintage glass cabochons for the eyes, and one of my boyfriend's leather tools for a hair-like texture.  Once I finished sculpting and fired the bead in the oven, I used a clear acrylic gloss and PearlEx powders to add luster and gleam, just like the beads in the body.  When I made the body, I left one of the main armature wires sticking out of the top, so to attach the head, all I had to do was to string it on to the wire, and create a slight kink in the end to hold it on.  I purposely used coppery colors on the head, so the wire wouldn't be so obvious.
I am not sure yet just how to present this guy!  I might attach him to a platform base and accessorize around him, or make a little shadowbox so I can present him as a piece of wall art.  I just love how he looks with these cherry blossoms from the tree outside...so I suspect a trip to the floral department of the craft store will soon be in my future!
And here's your beauty shot!  I am so pleased with how he turned out!

But, I'm not the only one in the apartment who's been busy creating this month - my boyfriend has gotten on board with the challenge this time - in his own realm of leatherwork!  He started out with this gorgeous wallet that he made for a friend:
 I swooned when I saw it!  But, because I just don't use a wallet like this, I begged and pleaded for him to make me a few cabochons instead...here is the progress:
These bunnies are still drying - once they're dry, he will bevel the edges for ease of use and dye them.  If people seem interested, I hope to offer a few of them for sale in my Etsy shop soon!  What do you think?  I just love his interpretation of the theme!

 Don't forget to click on all the links below to see what everyone else has been creating this month!

AJE Team

Guests
Karin Grosset Grange - Ginko et Coquelicot
Michelle McEnroe ( 4 pieces pinned on  the AJE Pinterest page)

Posted by at 16 comments:

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Where, Oh Where Has March Gone?!?

Well...So...I am alive!  Actually, March has just been a crazy busy month - lots of coming and going, working, trying to find time to bead, etc.  My birthday was this month, so bead acquisition has been occurring as well!  And friends visiting from out of town...and trips to the zoo...and a trip over to Knoxville and Asheville (NC)!  All of this has been an attempt to have fun before I have surgery in less than two weeks.  So, please, tag along on my fun month via pictures!
Goodies from my fellow Art Jewelry Elements blogger, Caroline Dewison of Blue Berri Beads.
Custom orca cabs, a raven for my boyfriend, and many other goodies from another AJE blogger - Jenny Davies-Reazor.  I've been wanting interesting orca components since I watched Blackfish last year, and these are joyous and perfect!
Old tiny Japanese doll and brass escutcheon from the April flea market, vintage glass necklace (on 14k gold chain) from the thrift store, a ceramic bee charm and funky stone components from a local bead shop.
Cool dimpled glass buttons from a fabric shop, starling skull and beads from my buddies at White Fox Beads in Knoxville, and vintage green and red chick butttons from my PIB.
Lampwork beads and vessel from a friend, funky chain and HUGE vintage brass components both from a local bead shop.
Asheville has spectacular rock shops, a stellar bead shop, and super funky "Hippy" shops...I got two tie-dyed dresses, silk scarves, and this glass vessel at several of those shops.
And today we capped off the month with a trip to the March flea market - I added a few more skeleton and clock keys to my stash, along with three vintage glass necklaces.  I splurged on the green oval one, because the strand is super long, the color is unusual, and I love the little bubbles in the old glass!
There you have it folks!  What have you been up to this month?  I've still got a lot to do before my surgery, but I'm looking forward to some beading and blogging during recovery.  Maybe those Etsy listings I've been promising since before Christmas too...maybe.  Stay tuned on Tuesday for the Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month Challenge blog hop...and the next day for an exciting announcement!  Until then, thanks for looking!
Posted by at 2 comments:

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month February

Where on earth has February gone?!?  It seems like yesterday that I was posting about the Beading Back in Time blog hop...and now it's the end of the month, without a post in between!  I'm still building stamina after going back to work full-time - the ideas are still in my brain, but at the end of the day all I want to do is crash.  Hopefully as the days lengthen, that will change - spring is usually my creative time of year...


 Anyway, on to this month's Component of the Month reveal!  We have several great metal clay component makers over on the Art Jewelry Elements blog, and I got really excited when I realized I would get to play with some of Melissa Meman's beautiful pieces this month.  Metal is something I don't combine with my beadwork very often, and I'm not really sure why.  I love the heft and feel of finished metal clay pieces, so this was the perfect opportunity to experiment!

 I chose a pair of the rectangle components, originally thinking I would do earrings, and embellish the little holes with seed beads in various colors...  And then this happened!

For some reason, these components just needed to be a necklace.  I wanted something fun and funky, but a bit lighter weight than my normal creations.  Funnily, this simple design has a huge laundry list of ingredients!  Besides Melissa's white copper components, I used:

  • chain - sterling rolo, gunmetal plated cable, and super fine antique brass cable with beads
  • waxed linen
  • sari silk
  • powder glass from Ghana
  • 5/0 Picasso Czech charlottes
  • hand carved vintage tagua nut button
  • artisan enameled copper head pins
  • sterling ball head pins
  • teeny gold plated jump rings


 Mixed metal ... mixed fiber ...  multi-colored ... multi-strand ...  Isn't it happy?  Well, it makes me happy!

I started with the components - making 90 degree bends right next to the head of my enameled copper and sterling headpins so the wires would dangle down below.  I placed one of the 5/0 charlottes on the end of each wire and made a wrapped loop to hang the necklace strands from.


The strands of chain alternate color, but when I got done attaching all of them it looked empty.  Something was needed to bring the color of the seed beads and enamel down into the strands.  While rooting through my stash for possibilities, the box of African and trade beads fell over and spilled...  Happy accident, the bright colors of powder glass from Ghana were just the ticket!


I had planned to use sari silk for the strap all along...but when I was looking for the perfect strand, I found that most of it looked out of proportion with the rest of the piece.  A bit too wide, a bit too fuzzy, or maybe a bit too bright...  Well, I finally found the right piece, and braided it with waxed linen and a few more bright charlottes.  


For a closure, I chose this little carved tagua nut button.  I love how the floral motif mirrors the design on Melissa's components.  A simple loop goes over the button, and I left the tails long for a little bit of "party in the back".  Ha!  My necklace has a mullet!


AND (you knew it was coming) here's the beauty shot!  Don't forget to check out everyone else's work!  The Component of the Month reveal is something I look forward to every month...I just love seeing how so many different artists interpret similar components.

AJE team: 

Lindsay Starr (you are here!)

Guest Participants:

Posted by at 14 comments:

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Beading Back in Time Blog Hop Challenge Reveal

Here I am, a little late to my own blog hop.  Lovely life got in the way yesterday, but everything is straightening out now.

I've shown some progress pics in my last few posts, but I thought that with my reveal, I would talk you through my process a bit more.  Here is my starting point:
This cheap plastic hadrosaurus just makes me smile.  I love the unusual color combination and patterning on her, so I decided to run with it.  After all, we have no idea what color dinosaurs were!  And today's reptiles come in all colors of the rainbow, right?  So why can't hadrosaurs have been cream, gray, and orange?  
 When starting an encrusting freeform like this (freeform stitching over an armature form), I usually find it easiest to create a harness out of beads first.  This divides the armature into manageable sections of beadwork.  In this case, I also added some Czech pressed glass trilobite beads, partially to continue the spots on the hadrosaur patterning, and partially because I just love the detail in that mold.  And it continues the theme nicely, don't you think?
The first two sections I filled in were the main belly sections.  They were both relatively large sections, and I also knew it would be more difficult to bead in between the legs after they were covered with beads.  Beads just love to catch loops of thread, and as I'm using beige thread on a largely light colored project, it's easy to miss when that happens.  Next I filled in over one shoulder, around the neck, and up one forearm, including the grey mitten coloration on the "hand".
Next I stitched up and around the head.  I knew I wanted to maintain both the original pattern and smile of the plastic dino, and add some texture with some Czech pressed glass spikes.  When I got to the eye areas, I had a bit of a dilemma.  For me, seed beaded eyes never look quite right, so I stitched in a couple of vintage German glass drops, and a bit of surface embellishment to make eyelids.  A bit bulgy looking, but fun, I think.  Then I started working down the left side, continuing to follow the painted pattern on the armature.  At this point I also decided that there was an awful lot of cream, so I added a bit of grey freckling to break up the color a bit.
You can see the freckling a bit better in these pictures of my progress on the left and right sides.
And here is my progress up to now!  I *might* have bitten off more than I could chew this month.  All of my stitching has had to occur in my lunch breaks at work, on Wednesdays before my yoga class, or on the weekends.  I always forget how long a project like this really takes, when you don't have the time to sit and bead for long periods of time.  I still have to finish both hind legs, the tail, and the last bit of belly between the legs and tail.  But that just means I have to make another post, right?  After all, I know you need a beauty shot!  And for some reason I don't feel right taking one of an unfinished project...

Please check out what all of my beady friends have done with this challenge!  I know a few people are running behind like myself, so if you don't see their post now, do check back later!



Posted by at 10 comments:

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Art Jewelry Elements January "Use your Stash" Challenge!

...or what happens when a good idea doesn't work out...
It's time for the January Art Jewelry Elements component challenge!  This month we decided (since many of us had new years resolutions to make things we've been putting off for ages) that we would focus on using the stash of art beads we've all accumulated.  Deciding what I wanted to work on this month was easy!  Months ago I asked my friend Sue of SueBeads to hook me up with a few of her little robin's egg beads.  I had this awesome idea to make a beaded nest, nestled in a beaded tree as a necklace.  

Just look at these little gorgeous eggs!  I was so excited when they arrived (in a package full of other goodies...thanks again Sue!).  I have been thinking since then exactly how to make the nest...but the rest of the necklace eluded me.  I thought that maybe inspiration would hit while I was working...
As you can see, the piece is not finished.  I was really happy with the nest...before I started any of the other beadwork.  
Part of my problem is that there's not enough contrast in all the browns...you can't see the nest as a separate element from the rest of the "tree".  I had been struggling with stitching the tree out of seed beads when I decided wood beads might give me a change in texture.  Well, they did that...but it's still a big lump of brown...
I'm so disappointed!  Partially because I don't have a completed piece to show you, but also because I'm just not happy with the direction that it's taking.  So what do I do when this happens?  In this case...I think I'm going to strip off all the beadwork so that I have just the nest and eggs left. Then ... think some more.  Perhaps a leather tree?  Perhaps no tree at all, but rather leaves and flowers?  Perhaps the nest should not be in the middle...but more on one side?  I don't know yet, but it's definitely something I'm thinking about.  
I know I'm not the only one with design struggles like this.  Sometimes the original idea just doesn't come together like it is in your head.  Sometimes you can't figure out how to execute what's in your head.  Sometimes what's in your head just doesn't look good in real life.  On this necklace I think it's a bit of a combination of all three problems.  What do you do when you hit stumbling blocks like this?

Don't forget to check out the rest of the blog hop!  Everyone has really been pushing themselves to try new things and use their favorite components out of their stash this month.  You can follow the links below, or hop on over to the Art Jewelry Elements blog and follow from there.  I might not be the only latecomer, so don't forget to check back!  

PS, don't miss my post tomorrow over on the AJE blog, and we are also posting the reveal for the Beading Back in Time blog hop challenge tomorrow.  Lots going on!  Hope to see you then!



Posted by at 13 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)