The Latest Shows

Now that I can rest from the excitement and work of the latest shows I look back at some of them and relive the not so far past.

It was fun and busy but also a chance to relive this work intensive time.

Here is some of what I wrote then.

I have been very busy the last weeks working like crazy to get enough jewelry for all the shows I was to do. My husband Barry took care of all the important household things plus all my reservations and bookings and invitations to give me time to work at jewelry. Often it is not the quantity of work that I need but rather specific colors or items that keep me so busy between shows.

So I did the show in Golden, a town that I love which is a suburb of Denver and is set in a downtown area which feels much like the country. It was good as usual.

My neighbor's booths and a view from inside my booth with a man looking at my artist statement on the wall on the left. I was surprised at how some guys read it and pay lots of attention to what I wrote. One of them was even in tears -- a real surprise.

At the Commonwheel show in Manitou I was too busy to be taking photos. It was great, intimate and a good occasion to see old friends and meet new ones. Good sales and a lot to replenish!!

Only three days later after morning to night work, we drove to Omaha NE and arrived at dusk and had a very short night to wake up at 4:30 am to set up the booth. It was intense. A lot of our old clients came and bought, as well as new faces that admired and acquired my work. Made me feel great.

At all the shows we sold a lot and reaped the benefit of so much work.

On our return drive, we stopped and looked at several rest stops, including the first photo of a shrine that I love to see behind my windows in the van. The glare of the glass shows through but you can appreciate the shrine which looks like a house for the fairies.

Also at the end, nearing the border of Colorado I shot the sun setting through the glass for a dramatic ending to our time on the road.

Regarding new work of  mine, here is one of my latest creations:

"Silver Folly"

This piece is all silver tone crystals, fresh water pearls and intricate bead work which frame a silver flower with a  two stranded necklace, glass and fresh water pearls.  It is 18" all around with pendant approximately 5"w x 2"h.This piece is an elegant neutral one that goes with so many outfits and that you could even wear with jeans to be an informal but elegant gal.

It is $320 plus tax (if in Colo) plus $7 shipping.  If you are interested in owning it click here or to contact me click here.  And feel free to look at my website here.

So it was a great season with lots to do and many happenings and now that fall is looming here it seems that my most creative time of the year has started.  

Spring in Colorado

I have been working in my studio for a few months now creating necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  I am still working on double stranded bracelets, a feast for the eyes as I select from the many components I have accumulated over the years.  But I have also finished beaded bracelets that look great.  I have been inspired by the flowering of trees and so many perennials that have come up through snow and have withstood the wind here in Colorado. I admire their resilience and beauty.

Here is a lovely cuff bracelet I made recently with fresh water pearls, rhinestones, glass beads and round pewter casting.  I backed it in suede and hand signed it.   It is about 6 1/2" long by 1 1/2" wide.   (This piece has now been sold; but feel free to go to my website and explore other pieces available.)

 "Spring"

Sold

I have also been working on making a lot of necklaces like this one in colors of old Egypt.  It talks to me of the ancient days when kings prepared pyramids and queens roamed the sands of time.  It contains a rectangular jasper cabochon embellished with turquoise, serpentine and an enticing ceramic scarab; glass seed beads and finished with suede on back and hand-signed, with an easy toggle clasp.  (This piece has now been sold; but feel free to go to my website and explore other pieces available.)

 "Remembering Egypt"

Sold

Making jewelry is a strange thing; it transports me to rare periods of time and I get to make the next jewel that will adorn a neck or a wrist and dream as I work and sometimes listen to the radio (NPR) in the afternoon.

See if these pieces also transport you  to specific times as springtime delights me here by the mountains.

Copyright 2012 Micheline Brierre

A Trip to Omaha

We left early and knew it would take many hours of driving before we got there.  My husband, Barry, did most of the driving and I was left to fill my eyes with the countryside, the grass, the pink flowers in the median and the yellow blooms on both sides of us.

I had put my annual plants in the middle of the kitchen so they would stay moist for the three days of the show while we would be away. It really worked and I found them when I got back happily blooming for my enjoyment.

On the way back we stayed for awhile at a great rest stop where we could see all the landscape reflected in the pond with a steel sculpture resting above the water to catch the wind.

 

Our shadow was reflected on the grass while all around berries hung from the trees and stood against the sky.

The sky scape was quite exciting and I photographed it driving from the van.

Back here in Colorado, I went right back to work to fill the many orders and start my own creations.

The weather was gray and rainy and great for the garden but not so for many creeks that got flooded as were many intersections.

I made a few new necklaces that I love as you can see in these images. They were inspired by all the flowers I saw on the way to Omaha and they speak to my soul.

For additional pieces please visit my website.

This piece is "Crystal Pink Persuasion"

It is a lovely pastel necklace of fresh water pearls, new jade beads and shell flower petals is completed with dangling crystals.  Let it be you!

(17" necklace with pendant size of 3 3/4" h by 1 1/2" w including the dangles) 

Price is $140 + Shipping $7 (and tax if shipping to Colorado)

Sold

The following piece is "Blue on Blue"

Blues dominate this simple yet elegant necklace comprised of dyed shell flower petals, complex beading and a complement of attractive glass beads.

(17” necklace with pendant measuring about 3” high by 3” wide)

Price is $140 + Shipping $7 (and tax if shipping to Colorado) 

Sold

Copyright 2011 Micheline Brierre

On The Road

My life recently has been exclusively my work in my studio and work on the road.

I have done two recent shows in Salina Kansas and Leawood, also Kansas.  At Salina it was its usual, incredible, well organized show with the efficiency and marvelous energy of show organizer Karla Prickett.

The show runs like clockwork with all the volunteers and not only with the art, but also the live music in many different genres and the variety of foods and so many amenities like the booth for the children called "First Treasures" where they have the opportunity to enter alone without adults and inexpensively purchase artwork donated by the artists.  There are the many installations and the many artistic adornments scattered around the whole park.

It is a joy to do and to be a part of this welcoming and "glad for us to be there" community.

The weather was cool - a rare happening - unlike the sweltering heat of past years.  Lots of people showed up basking in the cool temperature with my many followers, admirers and buyers.
Also to make things easier a whole high school sports team was there to help us set up and also breakdown which was an enormous help and Jacob was great in doing so.

Leawood is a suburb of Kansas City and the art show encircles an affluent mall with many fancy stores. We were almost in front of Bravo, a very good and beautiful Italian restaurant and we used it to refresh from the torrid heat and to eat.

That same night a tremendous storm with seventy mile an hour winds came through town and wrecked a lot of the canopies and much of the art and so many artists had to pack up and go home to put the pieces together and salvage what they could.  A real and very sad disaster.  We were lucky.  Barry puts eighty eight pounds on each leg of the canopy and it saved us.  Our canopy shifted a few feet and needed to be reset, but we were very lucky by comparison. 

The show was very slow, very few people braved the heat and we broke down a day early so I could create new pieces badly needed for the next show at Breckenridge, Colorado this weekend.

Traveling on the road we saw so many wild grasses, some tall and some hugging the ground and some patches of wild flowers like a pink and joyful carpet extending on the slopes. I loved the look of the blooms on both sides of the road and carry them in my memory like a sign of a glorious summer.

I am glad to be here safely in my studio where I  have already made quite a bit of new work, including my latest offering to the Bead and Easel:


I call it the Neckform of Joy, and it is a complex collar with rhodocrosite, amazonite, amethyst, fresh water pearls plus silver seed beads.  Sure to fill your cup and day with lots of joy.  The pendant is about 3 1/2"w  x 2 1/4"h and the strung portion is about 15", so it will lay high, close to your neck.  To see them closer, simply click on them; and click here to purchase.

We Have a Winner!!!

Dear friends,

We have a winner of the drawing for the necklace.  It is Mary Brush to whom I will send the necklace next week upon my return to Colorado.  I have done 2 great shows and will post my next blog entry when I come back.

Thanks for being loyal followers and participating in the drawing.

My best to you all.

Micheline 

The Life in The Studio

Sometimes when I go to my studio with fresh eyes, I see an organized mess of a huge quantity of beads living in what I call condos.  These are transparent plastic cups stacked one on top of the other by color; with each color group of cups taking an area of around a foot. More beads live in organizer boxes, translucent so I can see inside, and stacked on top of each other.  Of course each box holds one color and a big variety of beads made all over the world.

                                                                   

I was disappointed the last time I went shopping for beads not to see the African bead seller who in the past had sold me yellow beads with little stripes in red and green with some big holes and a string of straw that tied the whole thing together.  It made me more aware than ever of the presence of human hands in the process of getting beads to a buyer.  I loved the straw touch.

I have been working the whole winter on new pieces.  Some more elaborate than others.  I also expanded on a new line I created that holds three pendants at the base and is somewhat not as expensive compared to my all beaded pieces.
                                                  

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Register for a Free Drawing!

Sign up and become a Follower by June 11th and have a chance to win one of my original necklaces free of charge, shipping included.  My husband will do a blindfolded drawing.

The necklace is pewter with Carnelian beads along the neck part and a threesome pendant of natural quartz crystal in the middle, a carved leaf in redline marble, and on the other side a fire crackle agate.  It looks really great and is easy to wear.

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 New Piece of Jewelry for Sale ... 

"Labradorite Shimmer"

It has a Rivoli vitrail crystal in the center surrounded with flowers and leaves. On the bottom is a Labradorite with exquisite shimmer of aqua and blue.  Having various colors it can be worn with a great variety of clothes.   Neck length is 18"; pendant itself is 1.5"w x 3"h.  It costs $95 and can be yours anytime.

Click here to purchase
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  One of my new paintings is also available for sale.  

It is called "Geranium and Lace"

I painted it in watermedia, a melange of watercolor and acrylic.  It measures 6x8 inches on heavy watercolor painting with four natural deckled edges worth saving by framing with the painting right on the mat board.  I have used a combination of luminescent copper and gold colors in the background. Colors that fascinate me as they express the joy of living.  Cost is $95.   Click here to purchase

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Each day is a new day in my studio because we have been watching (with great delight) my daughter's cat Miso.  I had to relocate some orchids I grow from upstairs, to the window of my studio downstairs to make room for him to access the other windows above.  So now I have some greenery under the antique crystals in the painting part of my studio. It is a good addition and makes my soul sing.

My Self and My Studio

I have been painting and drawing since I was a little girl.  This is a long time ago!  I find it so important to express myself in one of the mediums that I chose over the years.

When I lived in Lima, Peru, although I had been a painter all my life, I learned how to make metal jewelry.  I worked mostly in silver and did it for many years until once I went to Santa Fe and fell in love with the color possibilities of beading.

After I settled down here in Colorado Springs, I went to pay my water bill and discovered a little shop that sold beads.  They were having a course on beading and I signed up.  The lady told me it was $20 and I thought it would be twenty dollars per class, which sounded cheap, coming from a big city, Miami, after all.  I never heard from anyone in the shop for many months.  But one day, they gave me a call and the class was on. I was mistaken, though, as it turned out to be $20 for the whole course. Wow!

A great native American Indian bead artist showed us all the basics.  Most of the students were adults like me and Native American.  They called me the "tire lady" since my name was Micheline!  I learned with great difficulty to thread the very small eye of my needle but once done, I took off with it.  I applied my own taste, my love of colors, my knowledge of jewelry and before I knew it, my work was being worn by many women all across the country. Maybe the comment I receive the most from my clients is : "I get so many compliments when I wear your work!" It makes me strive to do always my best and only do what comes out of my heart and soul.

So here is one jewelry piece that I made with a great stone of dyed Jasper in shades of pink, the color of the day, with a few dangles and glass beads to match and a few pewter beads as well.  I finished it a month ago and no one has seen it yet..Well, my husband did. The stone was so wonderful that I kept the piece very simple to show it off.

"In the Pink"  (Sold)
(click to view larger)

The strung necklace portion is 19 inches long including the top arc of the pendant.  The pendant itself is 1.5" wide by 1.75" high, not including the dangles. This piece has been sold ... look for another new piece very soon!

My studio is a wild area with a set up for my paintings or drawings and one for my jewelry.  I often alternate using my beading or my painting and drawing station and then work on both mediums.  Recently I have been working on many Pen & Inks specially at night. I caught a wave of the medium which I have being doing on and off since a long time.  I guess I love the honesty and integrity of it.  Once I trace a line with my pen that is it ... It is there to stay.  Also, I love the fact that all I need is my pen and paper.  I love the its simplicity.

My Friends

Here is a Pen & Ink with a lot of what I love. I made it thinking of the Caribbean sea, textures, poppies and Egrets from the Everglades next to Miami where I lived many years. It is an original and is unframed. You can purchase it now. The measurements are 6" x 8." It is $95 plus tax (if in Colo) plus $6 shipping.  To buy it click here or to contact me click here.