Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you’ll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.
This weeks winner is Steufel! Congratulations!
You have won a Miss Fickle Media’s Message From the Skies necklace!
Please send Shannon an email with your address so she can ship this package out to you.
Before Bead & Button I did a series on my blog called 23 Days of Inspiration where I shared the story behind some of my favorite beads. I mentioned at the time I was working on a new collection of beads inspired by Gustav Klimt’s paintings of Birch Trees. He visited the theme of birch trees in several different paintings, but the one pictured here is my favorite.
So my first beads in this series were literally a little birch tree trunk. I love faux bois (fake wood) patterns and this one worked out exactly as I had pictured in my mind. You know how hard that can be sometimes!
Another version of the birch tree trunk.
Disk beads in the color palette and pattern of Gustav’s painting.
These 6-hole spacers were adapted from a few older canes that were on my table and I just happened to notice that they fit perfectly with the painting when paired together. (Canes are the long tubes of clay, layered into patterns & designs, that are sliced off into paper thin selections and applied to the base bead.)
These bezel pendants were made with the same pattern, on the back side is an etched brass bezel. Love them!
Here is peek of a necklace I created with one of the little tree trunks! You can see a few more photos of jewelry using my new beads later today on
my blog.
Okay, so now we need the million dollar question – What season is your muse? I have to say mine is mostly fall with summer a close second.
One comment will be randomly drawn next Saturday to win this set of teal birch disk beads. Have a great weekend!
Patricia Wood
June 26, 2010 at 2:47 pmThe hole spacers are to die for! Love them!!
Sabine
June 26, 2010 at 2:51 pmI would have to say summer is my muse with winter being a huge inspiration during winter. I have been moving to using grays and whites more and more.
All your birch beads are so beautiful!
Ann
http://www.mycriticaleye.com
steufel
June 26, 2010 at 2:56 pmThank you, thank you, thank you! Can't believe that I won that beautiful necklace. Yippiee:-)
Wax Beach Artist
June 26, 2010 at 2:56 pmSpring and Summer are my seasons. Yes, it's hot but I love it.
Christine
June 26, 2010 at 3:07 pmMy muse is definitely Fall. The colors, the weather, the feeling of drawing in….it all lets me spend the kind of time in my head that lets me make beautiful work.
I love those 6 hole beads, too!
Kirsten
June 26, 2010 at 3:15 pmWhat an inspiring post this is Heather! I'm out of the gates with creating my own pendants and beads with clay. It was a long held dream of mine, and finally becoming a reality! I'm having so much fun! Learning a ton! So many great techniques…..
TesoriTrovati
June 26, 2010 at 3:32 pmI love Klimt. How is it that I have never seen that painting? It is gorgeous! I could see that hanging in my family room….
FALL is the time for me. The fleeting bursts of colors…the crisp bite to the air…the scurrying of squirrels burying their treasures… love it!
Thanks for sharing your beauty and inspiration with the world!
Enjoy the day.
Erin
Carol Creech
June 26, 2010 at 3:44 pmWhat gorgeous beads! I love trees and love that you were able to recreate the birch bark exactly how you pictured. Hard thing to do! I would have to say that spring is my seasonal muse with fall a close second. I am doing more botanical artwork (drawing) and love the new buds and flowers bursting through in springtime.
Elisabeth
June 26, 2010 at 3:44 pmDefinitely summer – so may colors and so many activities – and a lot less "haver to dos" with school out – and afternoons spent inside cooling off out of the sun and getting my beading on!
cindydolezaldesigns
June 26, 2010 at 4:22 pmDefinitely Fall is my muse season. I really struggle through the summer and get extremely excited at the very FIRST hint of cool in the air. October to be exact is my favorite month.
There is a stand of small birch trees on someone elses property near my house that I have always wanted to get a picture of. I'm going to do it now.
Copper Diem
June 26, 2010 at 5:44 pmSpring, second place is fall. Love the beads!
kiwiken
June 26, 2010 at 5:52 pmSimilar to yours, it seems – Fall mostly, followed by summer(though not as close, I suppose).
Fire Phoenix
June 26, 2010 at 6:10 pmIt has to be summer for me: those bright, sunny, hot days just ignite certain colours for me, which I just want to wear! Summer means hot pink, turquoise, white, striking violets….along with some pretty funky patterns too. I feel I can get away with the floral and tribal prints a lot easier in the summer.
So I guess summer for me is about being bold, and that can trickle down into my jewellery and lampworking.
Alice
June 26, 2010 at 6:29 pmI have enjoyed your 23 days of inspiration on your blog, and love how you can take something like tree bark from a painting and turn it into a bead!
I would have to answer autumn also, with spring coming second. Both are full of color and a large dose of inspiration.
Alice
[email protected]
Diana P.
June 26, 2010 at 7:28 pmSummer and fall. I create a lot of blue and/or brown jewelry.
bellajoya
June 26, 2010 at 7:30 pmAutumn…hands down.
Malin de Koning
June 26, 2010 at 8:40 pmSteufel/Stephanie, I am so envious of you to have won that necklace from Sharon/MissFickleMedia. Congrats!
Heather, I loooove those birch trunks. Saw them earlier today in your Etsy shop . And I think I must buy them. Very soon. All of your new designs are beautiful!
Hm, seasonal muse? I do love the fall, it is my favourite season big time. But I don't know if I am actually so inspired by it in my design. I think spring more, or early summer. It is something about the greens of that period. I keep coming back to fresh spring green.
Erin S
June 26, 2010 at 9:00 pmFall, for sure. I love earthy brown, rust, gold, and olive tones. Kind of ironic, since we really don't get fall here in San Diego. We do have 4 seasons here, though–early spring, late spring, early summer and late summer. Love those 6 hole spacer beads!!
Erin S
Malin de Koning
June 26, 2010 at 9:20 pmGosh, went and bought the birch logs just now! And some more. Just couldn't hold myself back there … Looking forward to see them in real life now.
Gail W.
June 26, 2010 at 9:20 pmMy favorite time is fall.South Carolina has only 1 or 2 weeks of spring,and they are gone before you realize it was spring.But long falls,sometimes past Christmas.I don't like living here,but I've learned to love fall.
I love those spacers!They are just awesome!
Susanm
June 26, 2010 at 10:10 pmI love winter…the more snow the better, because then the cross country skiing is great. Our last few winters have been neither cold nor sunny, so perhaps climate change/global warming may force me to find a new favourite.
Kella
June 26, 2010 at 10:21 pmI would think spring, because the awakening of the earth creates a new drive to create myself after the winter slumber.
By the way your beads rock, it is one piece of eye candy after the next.
SharonP
June 26, 2010 at 10:31 pmCongrats to Steufel! I love Shannon's necklace!
I would say Summer and Fall are most favorite inspirational seasons encompassing the changing sea, sky, and trees.
Heather, your new tree beads are gorgeous!
Edie
June 26, 2010 at 11:21 pmwinter. Icy, pale, silvery grey, oh so slightlylightly tinted whites…
Plus, if my hair falls in it's not as noticable 😉
edie
Janet
June 27, 2010 at 12:23 amSuch wonderful earthy beads!
My fave season is fall theres just something about fall…an expectation in the air! Coldish nights..the leaves blowing around and blankets that need to be freshened and pulled out!
Lucid Moon Studio
June 27, 2010 at 12:42 amI love the 6 hole spacers…so pretty! This is hard to answer…I think I feel most inspired in spring, but looking at my jewelry it would be summer. I use alot of summer themes and colors, although I think it is because I live in FL by the ocean! Thanks for the giveaway!
Lisa
Elizabeth
June 27, 2010 at 12:42 amI would say definitely fall/autumn inspires me even though I loooooove turquoise. I love winter as well. I like being cold. I'm inspired by bare trees. Yum.
Good luck all.
Paige
June 27, 2010 at 1:11 amWhat beautiful beads!
My seasonal muse would probably be Spring, with fall as a close second. I love all the beautiful colors of spring, and flowers are my favorite. But I also love the warm beautiful colors of fall.
The Joy of Nesting
June 27, 2010 at 4:07 amWoooow both your six hole spacers and bezels are just spectacular!!!!
Because I live in only a 2 season area, with very little temp. change I would have to say my favorite for the rebirth of life would have to be the rainy season. (will begin any time now) it's that season that things burst into bloom and plants can grow feet in a day!!
Pattie 😉
Mazatlan Mx.
Anonymous
June 27, 2010 at 2:02 pmi must say i absolutely love them.and they do remind me of a birch tree. i think i like them,because my dad,my brother and i planted a willow tree in our yard when iwas just oh maybe 5 or 6,and the tree and i grew up together,although we no longer live inthat house,i went recently went back to CA.,last Noc. with my older brother to lay our mom next to our dad.we went by the old house,and there stood that willow.
i think planting that tree is why i love trees so much,willow and the mighty oaks,are my favorites.
so,in response to your question.i
would say that my favorite season
is a tie between fall and summer.i
can't say one is more of a favorite
than the other due to they each hold a distinction of their own that draws me to them.thank you for giving all of us,your fans a
chance to win a piece of your beautiful work.
sincerely,
barbara hopkins at
[email protected]
Spirited Earth
June 27, 2010 at 2:10 pmthese beads are beautiful, my muse comes alive in the fall.
everything is enhanced during that changing season ,it feels like twilight, something magical and exciting.
Janel
June 27, 2010 at 2:29 pmWhen I first started beading I loved the browns and deep colors of fall. Now I love summer colors, especially citrus or flame combinations!
SueBeads
June 27, 2010 at 2:51 pmI think mine is mostly fall too, but I love summer! I think they have the best colors – I like brighter instead of pastel. Although winter muted colors are quite tasty!
Cindy
June 27, 2010 at 7:30 pmHeather, you are always coming up with something so beautiful! Congrats to Steufel!
My muse is definitely the summer time!! 🙂
Boston Baked Beads
June 27, 2010 at 11:31 pmLove Klimt. Love the spacers.
Off the Beadin' Path
June 28, 2010 at 12:11 amI'm always in awe of your ability to bring the beloved paintings into your beads! The "Starry Night" series is a "perfect" match, and now the birches, a special talent you have, Heather! My best season is summer, or any time you can be at the ocean. Fall is wonderful, but I feel free in the summer because I'm not cold! Thanks for the lovely chance for those teal beads.
Designs by Jenean
June 28, 2010 at 1:07 amFall is my muse season. I love the beautiful rich colors of the leaves, burnt orange, rich reds… But right behind that I like vibrant colors of summer.
Miss Val's Creations
June 28, 2010 at 1:50 pmI love the birch inspired beads. I've always love the look of those trees! Fall is definately my most inspired time due to the colors as well as the crisp air which is a relief from summer!
Tammy M
June 28, 2010 at 5:34 pmOh my goodness those birch inspired beads are incredible!! I love your work!
I too love fall…the earthy tones are my favourite colours to work with.
LissC
June 30, 2010 at 8:27 amFor real there are colors in every season that move me..Icy blues, silver, and white of my christmas tree in winter….the rustic orange, red, yellows of the large maple trees in my home town during fall…the bright colors of summer vacations bring out my inner child… soft pinks and other pastels of spring so feminine. You are right..this is a really great question…and it is one that i have been asking myself lately..what is my color palette? Last month it was blues…this month it's bright pinks and oranges..who knows what my mood will be next month 🙂
I'll be sure to post in my blog about your give aways. They are fun 🙂
Carol
June 30, 2010 at 9:48 amBoy! You really know your stuff!! The birch inspired beads look a lot like birch tree trunk.
Summer, always summer is my first inspiration. I love everything except the storms, about summer.
Kristen
June 30, 2010 at 12:45 pmI would have to say that autumn is my first season. Oranges is my favorite color and it seems to be all around during that season. I do so love a good summer beach getaway the colors of surf and sand are so calming.
Heather Powers
July 3, 2010 at 3:07 pmThanks to everyone who shared their seasonal muse stories. I loved reading each and every one. Happy Creating!