For someone who wants to develop a viable business, I’ve been kind of absent lately. After a year that involved 3 surgeries, I think that I;m ready to get “back to business”.
First on my agenda is to photograph and inventory all of my current pieces and make a record of my bead inventory. After that I need to get back on Artfire and Etsy and get my name out there. I guess that developing a Business Plan is a must.
So, I’m back……hopefully to stay.
Blessed be.
The spring of t
he year is a favorite season for many people, and it is certainly easy to understand why this is so. The spring is when the earth comes back to life after a long cold winter, and it is in the spring when the first flowers begin to bloom and the green world begins to return after its winter slumber.
The power of spring and its regenerative effects are evidenced by the fact that every major religion includes a major holiday in the spring season. From Passover to Easter, it seems that every culture marks spring with a celebration of renewal and new life. It is easy to understand how in times past ancient cultures were overjoyed by the power of spring and the beauty of new life.
Most people are familiar with stones by the gem associated with their birth. Wearing your birthstone is believed to bring good luck and good health to the wearer.
Around the early 1900′s, birthstones changed for what were the Traditional stones to today’s recognized birthstones. The colours of the modern and traditional birthstones tend to be the same, implying that perhaps the colour is the more important consideration.
|
Month |
Traditional |
Modern |
| January | Garnet | Garnet & Rose Quartz |
| February | Amethyst | Amethyst & Onyx |
| March | Bloodstone | Aquamarine |
| April | Diamond | Diamond |
| May | Emerald | Emerald & Crysoprase |
| June | Alexandrite | Pearl & Moonstone |
| July | Ruby | Ruby & Carnelian |
| August | Sardonyx | Peridot |
| September | Sapphire | Sapphire & Lapis Lazuli |
| October | Tourmaline | Opal & Tourmaline |
| November | Citrine | Yellow Topaz & Citrine |
| December | Zircon | Tanzanite & Turquoise |
A fundamental aspect of my belief system is the set of the Five Elements of Nature: earth, air, water, fire, and spirit (akasha). I see the points of the pentagram symbol as representing these five elements.
Look around and you will always “see” at least one of the five elements that are the fundamental components of Nature. Everything in existence contains some quantity of all five elements, however, according to my belief system one of the five predominates or manifests itself in each thing. Each element has special associations with particular organs in the human body as well as to other things such as colours, flavours, the time of day, the season of the year, and the way we respond physically and emotionally to external influences and all of the forces of nature. The Five Elements belief identifies the five different elements in which chi energy may manifest itself. The five are arranged into a cyclical sequence that represents the flow of energy between these elements as ‘phases’. Each phase of an element characterizes a stage in a cyclical process. The characteristic of each phase is determined by the ‘energy dynamic’ personified as the never ending round of the seasons in the natural world. It is not per say the passage of time that changes things; everything changes anyway.
Thus my 5 element belief is simply an observation on natural, creative change; and it is the natural world that confirms that throughout that all the forces and energies in nature can be in constant smooth and harmonious transition from one phase to another – just as one season ‘becomes’ the next.
The exact origin of stained glass is unknown. Its discovery was suggested by Pliny as an accident by Phoenician sailors. It is possible that it was a result of shipwrecked sailors building fires for their cooking pots on blocks of soda (natron) on top of beach sand. By morning, the melted sand and soda mixture would have produced hardened glass. It was more likely that potters, from Egypt or Mesopotamia, discovered the brittle treasure independently, when firing their wares. Anyone who has painted hand-molded clay in school art classes with a variety of coloured substances, knows that firing in the kiln will lead to hard-glassy coats. It is likely that the ancients tested many substances to discover which would ge
nerate the most durable and attractive coating for the otherwise dull and fragile pottery. Trial and error would have led to a glassy surface, which in turn would lead to the discovery of glass as an end unto itself.
Among the earliest manmade glass artifacts are Egyptian beads from about 2700 BC. The art proceeded to the first century AD, when Roman artisans were creating glass windows, though the product was irregular and not as transparent as we are accustomed to. The rise and importance of churches sped the craft into the glorious forms that we are familiar with. At St. Paul’s Monastery in Jarrow, England (founded in 686 A.D.), multiples pieces of coloured window glass were unearthed by archaeologists. Although there are examples of early stained glass windows, such as those from Augsburg Cathedral, the search continues for the earliest surviving examples.
Arabian filigree windows moved into Europe as the Moors entered Spain. Originally the glass, which appeared in the tenth century, were simply pieces inserted into marble or stone or glazed in plaster. To strengthen the bindings, iron ribs were added. As the coloured glass attracted builders, the fashion moved farther north, into latitudes that required more substantial settings to endure severe weather conditions.
Glass fragments, discovered from sites dated to 540 A.D. in Italy, include an image of Christ. Another small window, which included the popular Alpha and Omega symbols was unearthed in France and the site dated to 1000 A.D. The head of Christ became an increasingly popular image, a notable example found near Wissembourg, Alsace from 1068. As the earliest Christians, who had long been persecuted, began to feel safer, they moved from building secret spots of worship in their homes or beneath the earth, to building churches to house relics of the saints. The rulers of church and state sent emissaries to the Holy Land to bring back works of art, carved ivory, and jewels, including precious coloured glass. Christian art, borrowed and advanced the techniques as the need to enhance buildings of worship came into fashion.
The medieval Church became the most influential patron of the arts. As treasures from the Crusades flowed home to Europe, the need to display them in an environment of light, caused the French Abbot Suger of Saint Denis, to enlarge the windows and beautify them with stained glass. What started out as simple figures became complex and ornate with strong religious and personal symbolism, including heraldry.
It is the nature of glass that led to man’s enduring love affair. Glass is a solid that maintains qualities of a liquid. By capturing light, it appears to glow from within, transforming and passing light in the manner of a jewel. When created with the addition of metallic salts and oxides, the most brilliant and inspiring of colours can result, including the crimsons of gold, the deep royal blues of cobalt, the sun yellows of silver, and the forest greens of copper. These were displayed in the Gothic cathedrals of Europe, as craftsmen learned to generate results that could tolerate greater sizes and the ravages of inclement weather. In Medieval days, the craftsmen were interested in symbolic images more than realism. They employed grisaille, a brown enamel that covered the surface of the glass to define features rather than to transmit light. Later on, paler colours allowed for more light to pass, and the figures became larger, with more metallic oxides used to create coloured, painted masterpieces. The art form, throughout the ages generated results that increasingly exhibited the romance and spiritualism of the human spirit. It was stained glass that united architectural elements and with the mysteries of man’s beginning, journey, and attitudes to fellow men.
I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within. Titus Maccius Plauttus
Posy and pearls
Amethyst and gold
Forever you and I
Our precious love to hold.
Astrid Alauda
I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. They’ve experienced pain and bought jewelry.
Rita Rudner
Among Life’s precious jewels,
Genuine and rare,
The one that we call friendship
Has worth beyond compare.
Author Unknown
A colour wheel (also referred to as a colour circle) is a visual representation of colours arranged according to their chromatic relationship. Begin a colour wheel by positioning primary hues equidistant from one another, then create a bridge between primaries using secondary and tertiary colors.
These terms refer to colour groups or types:
Primary Colours: Colours at their basic essence; those colours that cannot be created by mixing others.
Secondary Colours: Those colours achieved by a mixture of two primaries.
Tertiary Colours: Those colours achieved by a mixture of primary and secondary hues.
Complementary Colours: Those colours located opposite each other on a colour wheel.
Analogous Colours: Those colours located close together on a colour wheel.
The colour wheel can be divided into ranges that are visually active or passive. Active colours will appear to advance when placed against passive hues. Passive colours appear to recede when positioned against active hues.
Colour relationships may be displayed as a colour wheel or a colour triangle.
The Painter’s colour triangle consists of colors we would often use in art class—those colours we learn about as children. The primary hues are red, blue and yellow.
The Printers’ colour triangle is the set of colours used in the printing process. The primaries are magenta, cyan, and yellow.
Nine-part harmonic triangle of Goethe begins with the printer’s primaries; the secondaries formed are the painter’s primaries; and the resulting tertiaries formed are the the printer’s primaries; the secondaries formed are the painter’s primaries; and the resulting tertiaries formed are dark neutrals.
