Art | Lyn Foley Lampwork Beads and Jewelry

Fayetteville Art Walk May 5th & 6th – Sneak Peek

Art Festivals, Goals, Jewelry, Lampworking, Lyn Foley Jewelry Blog, art 1 Response »

May 012012

:: So much to do, so little time – well, that is how it seems around the Foley’s studio, anyway.

:: I’m taking two on-line classes, both fabulous. Like I didn’t have enough to do anyway, right? The Girl’s Guide to Web Design is teaching me how to build my own site. Yeah! The class is everything it promised, and more. My only problem is not finding time to finish a lesson everyday, so when I return to the class I’ve forgotten the previous lesson. Oh, you get the picture. I will make it through, especially since I need a new site by June 1st. Why? Because that is the day the second edition of my book, Go Anyway: Sailing Around the World with Parkinson’s will be released. So, new site reflecting the great new book design and contents, coming soon……………

The second class I am taking is Editing with Elements, all about learning Photoshop Elements. I didn’t know how much I needed this class. I have struggled with Photoshop for ages, just editing my jewelry photos, and not really understanding what I was doing. I’m moving forward at a steady clip, thanks to the class teacher, Brandi .

Here is a photo of a new piece for the upcoming Fayetteville Art Walk, May 5th and 6th. I’ve made new beads into some scrumptious designs. Come see them at Art Walk. The weather promises to be good, so visit my beautiful neck of the woods and enjoy the show this weekend. See you there!

Sneak Peek: Artscape at the Dallas Arboretum This Weekend

Art Festivals, Beads, Jewelry, Lyn Foley Jewelry Blog, art 1 Response »

Mar 132012

Artscape in Dallas opens on Friday. I’ve been watching the weather, and even though Texas needs rain, I hope the skies wait to open up until after the show ends on Sunday. We’ll see. I’ll be there, rain or shine with a LOT of new wonderful jewelry (I’m making even more today).

Here’s a collage of four of the new pieces. The Teal Bubble Bead necklace is strung with handmade metal accents.

The glass disks drops on Jim’s sterling bails are a new style. We will have that style in several colors, and single and triple pendants.

I enjoy making fantasy leaves and designed a new red leaf necklace for the Bead Soup Challenge. Afterwards I created similar necklaces in muted neutrals and beautiful blues (not shown) as well.

Multicolored glass graffiti beads sparkle on a triple strand necklace, and are accented with patinaed copper and brass beads. I began using metals other than sterling silver in order to keep my prices affordable. I think the different metals work well with my glass, and the end result is interesting and fun (if I do say so myself!).

Come on over to the Arboretum to see everything I’ve made recently, including lots of new earrings. If you can’t attend the show, and want something, e-mail me and I will send you specific pictures and prices.

Dallas Arboretum Artscape on March 16,17,18

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Mar 022012

Giving Back with ACT

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Feb 082012

ACT, the brainchild of Karen Vernon, artist and gallery owner, stands for Artists Changing Tomorrow. The upcoming ACT event, a fun reception and silent auction, is one of the main ways I give back to my community. 100 artists have donated their works, and I’m one of them. The money raised by ACT will go to Arts for Rural Texas, a local group providing free after school art programs and more to the Fayette County area children and families.

I’ve worked with ARTS and ACT before. This time I created three mixed media collages that will be included in the auction and I’m excited about them.

The first one is Memories: Kyoto. It’s a collage of torn paper, watercolor, and my glass beads.

The next one is Waiting for Spring – also mixed media collage with my glass beads.

The last one, A Closer Look, may be my favorite. It is made using photographs of one of my beads that was inspired by a moth. I enlarged the photographs, played around with them and made the collage. The auction for it will include the simple pearl and glass bead necklace I made with the bead. ( The necklace is not shown.)

All of the pieces of art are the same size, and I believe the bidding starts at $200. (Contact all the links below to find out more.) There are some amazing pieces of art in this auction, and Karen tells me I already have some bids on my pieces. You still have until February 18th around 8 or 9 pm to bid.

I really enjoyed creating these artworks, and I am excited that money will be raised for a cause so close to my heart – Art for Rural Texas. Our local school systems (and probably yours) are not providing much, if any, art education. Here in Fayette County Texas using ARTS and ACT, we are making a big stab at providing it ourselves. Your bids and purchases will help with the funds we need. You know, art is not just about appreciation of what is fine and beautiful in life, it is about encouraging creativity, learning to problem solve, learning to be expressive, and gaining the ability to communicate on a deep level. As Karen so aptly says, “Art speaks when there are no words.”

Join in, have some fun, buy some great pieces of art, and make a difference in the lives of hundreds of children.

Art Auction and Reception Tickets are $35 each

4 or more tickets: $25 each

February 18, 2012 – 6 pm to 9 pm

Sterling McCall Event Center, Warrenton, Texas

RSVP online: info@artsforruraltexas.org or call 979-378-2113

http://act4art.org/

If you can’t attend, register for a proxy bidder. Don’t miss this opportunity!

Cottonwood Art Festival

Art Festivals, Beads, Jewelry, Lampworking, Lyn Foley Jewelry Blog, art 1 Response »

Sep 272011

I’m STILL Blog Hopping for the Bead Soup Party – it’s taking me awhile to look and read. Thank you to everyone who left comments for me.

Meanwhile, I’ll be off to the Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson, Texas this weekend. I’ve made a lot of new pieces, and if I can get to it tomorrow I’ll give you a peek. Otherwise, hope to see you there if you live in the area.

Making Jewelry for theTexas Arts and Crafts Festival

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May 152011

My recent show schedule has been intense. Two weekends ago we were in Fayetteville at Art Walk, and last weekend we were in Dallas (Richardson) for the Cottonwood Art Festival. We applied to Cottonwood for six (!) years, and were finally juried into it. The show was fabulous. A beautiful park setting and the weather, except for some wind gusts, was perfect. We saw some old friends and customers, and met lots of new people as well. The good part – we sold a lot of jewelry- and the other part – my stock is depleted – adds up to more intense work ahead. In order to have great new jewelry for our upcoming show in Kerrville – the Texas Arts and Crafts Festival – Jim and I are both working long hours. He’s on his bench pounding away making silver settings, and I’m at the torch every day making beads as quickly as I can.

A two2 day show actually takes us six days. A day driving there, a day setting up, two days showing, a day driving home, and day six for recuperating and doing paperwork, order assemby, etc. But the time away from the torch and our benches sets our creative juices afire. The wonderful art we see at the shows inspires us, as do the sights we see while driving and visiting cities so different from our tiny town. By the time I’m home my sketchbook is brimming with ideas. So some fun new jewelry will be coming to Kerrville.

Here’s the e-mail ad. I’ll give you a real sneak preview later after I take some photographs.

Fayetteville Art Walk and Cottonwood – sneak peek

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Apr 282011

Fayetteville Artwalk is April 30th – May 1st (starts day after tomorrow) and Cottonwood Art Festival (I’m in for the first time!) is the May 7th and 8th. Did you notice they are only one week apart? I did! Therefore I have been making beads and jewelry every day since I hit the house back from Lubbock. Hardly anyone has heard a peep out of me because I’ve been too busy creating.

What I have cooked up will need to stretch across both shows. (I promise I will hold some really good pieces back just for those of you planning to come to Cottonwood.) I’ve made lots of earrings, and double the amount of bubble necklaces with my new popular wire ” Scribbles.” Here’s a peek.

Go Anyway is at the printers!

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Mar 092011

Lot’s going on behind the scenes here. Finally, after years of searching for an agent or large press I am publishing my book, Go Anyway; Sailing Around the World Despite Parkinson’s Disease. I’ve already gotten a proof, and the finished book will be here soon – before the end of March! The book’s web site is almost complete, and as soon as the books arrive, I’ll go “live” and you can buy it. I’m assuming that if you read my blog you know what the heck I’m talking about. If you don’t , read this post, and this one . They will give you a hint about the 12 years my husband and I lived aboard a sailboat and sailed around the world.

I’m still hopping around to the posts of the participants in the Bead Soup Party. I will get to visit you all.

And I am also making jewelry for the upcoming show in Dallas: Artscape, A Fine Art Fair in the Garden. I’m out of here and back to my torch, and later my beading bench.

Bead Soup Party Underway

Beads, Lyn Foley Jewelry Blog, art 59 Responses »

Feb 262011

Welcome to the 3rd Bead Soup Blog Party!

What is a Bead Soup Blog Party?

Each beader was paired up with another jewelry designer and tasked with sending the following:

~ A focal
~ A special clasp (not just a lobster claw)
~ Some coordinating spacers or beads

Using the focal and the clasp was mandatory, but we could use anything from our own stash to round out the rest, and choose to use the coordinating beads or not.

I made two necklaces and a pair of earrings with the beads my partner (Christine Damm) sent me. The main necklace with the big round drop is the longest. It may be worn alone, or paired with the shorter necklace which hangs “inside” the longer one. There’s a lot going on in the the beads Christine made, so I purposely keep the rest of the pieces fairly light and airy. The earrings speak for themselves, unadornded.

Here’s a list of all the party players. Take a while and have some fun hopping around to see what they made. My partner is #201 – be sure to drop by her blog and see what she created with the beads I sent her. Can’t wait to find out myself!

1. Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

2. Kitty Durmaj, Perles and Life

3. Michelle Heim, Life In the Bead Lane

4. Lisa Petrillo, Lucid Moon Studio

5. Anitra Gordy, Leelu Creations

6. Paige Maxim, Paige Maxim Designs

7. Marianna Boylan, Pretty Shiny Things

8. Cheryl Roe, BeadRoe

9. Heidi Post, Ex Post Facto

10. Cindy Wimmer, Sweet Bead Studio

11. Terri Gauthier, Blooming Ideas

12. Rachel Walsh, Balanced Crafts