Secret Garden:  When i was little i spent hours inside my head creating imaginary worlds and acting them out with whatever toys or random items i found nearby.  One of my favourite fantasies was the secret island of ME (yes that’s right, ME!!).  On that secret island i could fly (of course), the sea was made of Koolaid, popsicles and soda pop, the birds all sang my favourite songs and in my garden, the Dr. Seuss-style trees and flowers would dance with me tossing their leaves in the air and showering me with candy-flavoured fruit.  Hence these rather wacky beads…

Modern Florals:  As i’ve mentioned, i’m not really the floral bead type even though i genuinely love flowers in real life.  Every once in a while though, i get the urge to try a flower bead to see if there is a style i can make that will feel natural to me.  These are a start…  just the bare suggestion of a flower, the backs are decorated with mendhi-style scrollwork.  These abstract flower beads were inspired by the very cool digital art prints of Jan Weiss – click the picture below to go to her flickr photostream…

I started these two series last fall but haven’t yet had the chance to revisit them.  They both are made on plain bases with all the riotous colour coming from multiple overlapping layers of powdered enamels.  Over the next few weeks I would like to see how much further I can take these two very colourful bead styles…