Happy (late) Monday! Hopefully you all have been having a decent start to the week. It’s time for some art bead inspiration for our brand new Art Journey here on the Art Bead Scene. This Journey focuses on the Mod Spatial Compositions of Katarzyna Kobro. Color blocks, geometric shapes, 3-D construction, and the interplay between open space and solid object are strong themes in this collection of inspiration pieces.
By now I’m guessing that y’all know me well enough to understand that this is probably the biggest challenge of the year for me as far as translating art into jewelry. My brain just goes to literal and I have a much greater affinity for organic shapes. But that’s why it’s called a challenge, right? Hopefully my efforts (with a lot of help from my team mate Erin Prais-Hintz) will help get you inspired if this one is tougher for you too!
Before we dive into the beads, here’s my standard caveat: This isn’t in any way meant to be exhaustive or a shopping list… I realize that some of these makers are outside of the U.S. and that it’s always possible that not all my picks will still be available by the time you see this post. That being said, I’m providing a link to each artist’s shop in the photo captions for you.
I find the colors in our first inspiration piece, Spatial Composition II, very pleasing and soothing. (We all could probably use a little soothing these days, right?) The bottom left fused glass piece in image 1 below by Lindsay’s Designs fits perfectly with that color palette. I really like the concentric square rings… is that a thing? The enameled charms by Ox Artisan Supplies caught my attention because of the connected metal pieces. It got some ideas percolating in my head.
Spatial Composition II :: 1) Lindsay’s Designs, 2) Ox Artisan Supplies
The black, white, and grey of Sculpture Spatiale led to some fun finds. I’m particularly smitten by the cool polymer clay tubes and box beads by NB Design Boutique. Inviciti had several geometric inspired pieces to choose from but I narrowed it down to two!
Sculpture Spatiale :: 1) Inviciti, 2) NB Design Boutique, 3) Mystic Peasant Beads, 4) Oli Ver Star, 5) Inviciti
This last grouping is all about the color and works for both the other two inspiration pieces. I so love me some color, so these would all be fun beads to create with. I really am intrigued by the multi-colored wood beads that are hand painted by Like Beads. They don’t have many sales or followers but I may take a chance and grab some of these.
Spatial Composition No. 4 :: 1) Gaea, 2) Artisan Clay, 3) Francie Broadie, 4) Lindy’s Designs, 5) Sigaliot Designs, 6) Like Beads
Last but not least, I’ve got my own little collection of art beads to possibly create with for Art Journey 6! Not surprisingly, I didn’t have a ton of good options to sort through, but I did come up with some solid choices. We’ll see where my muse takes me!
Thanks so much for stopping by to get some art bead inspiration! I hope that I’ve given you some ideas to get you going for our sixth Journey of the year… I hope you break out your red, white, and blue (and yellow!) beads and get creative! If you do, go to our Art Bead Scene Lounge Facebook Group to submit your creations for this Art Journey. Click HERE and then find the album for the current Journey to add your photo. Remember, you can enter as often as you like… the only rule is that you have to use at least one art bead or component. The deadline for entries is September 3rd.
Sarajo Wentling, Your Monday Muse
