Rowena Art

Wendy Simpson Conner at The Bead Museum While it was in Prescott

Just found this photo of Wendy Simpson Conner at the Bead Museum during her trip to Prescott, Arizona to shoot "The Bead Movement". In a recent blog posting I wrote about this video and that Glenda Campbell and I are in the video talking about our Lampwork beads. Wendy filmed at the Museum location, then on Whiskey Row, and also at Antonius Glass Studio. (I am still sad that Prescott is not longer the home of the museum now located in Glendale, Arizona).

Loom N Essence at the Sedona Show

 Loom N Essence was showing at the Sedona Heritage Museum Show and her table was magical. It was great to see all of the Buffalo fiber and of course the Suzi Pro Majacraft Spinning Wheel was not forgotten. Sharon, owner of Loom N Essence, was spinning and showing everyone how to spin with the short buffalo fiber. Sharon carries my Fiber Amulet Bag Kits as well as the Harrisville Lap Looms which I use to weave the bags during  classes I teach. I use my baby wolf and tubular double weave for the bags I create, adorn, and sell at Arts Prescott Cooperative Gallery in Prescott and The Artist Gallery in Flagstaff. But the lap loom is great for the class and I designed the bag for the lap loom.

Check out Patricia Brockert's HatScapes Hats which also was shown. These felted and adorned hats are one-of-a-like. Patricia created the Hat Sharon is wearing with Buffalo Fiber Yarn. The Buffalo Fiber was Handspun into yarn by Sharon and created and adorned by Patricia. You can contact Sharon st Loom N Essence at: [email protected]

Grade School and High School Classmate meeting!

This weekend a trip to Sedona brought more than a Classmate meeting. I met Paul Fong, born Lee. We went to school together starting with 2^nd grade. What a fun weekend talking about classmates and where everyone is today. I can hardly believe that we just had our 40^th year high school reunion.

Treasure Tail Adornment Yarn/Art Yarn

What fun it is to collect Rowena's Treasure Tails. In each tail I put 17 strands of Hand Spun, Novelty, Soy, Bamboo, or even a fun ribbon at times. Each strand is 157 inches long. This art yarn or adornment yarn is a must to have in your stash. In Tucson, at the Gem and Mineral show, I will be offering buyers to carry my Treasure Tails so everyone all over the United States can shop in their favorite art store and find them. They come in many hues and shades and I am sure you will find one for you.

Remember to open the Treasure Tail carefully. Untie the knots on both ends of the tail. Hang the tail on a hook or just hold in your hand and comb the strands with your fingers to make sure that your tail does not tangle. You may also shake each end as you untie it. The tail has been in a skein bundle for several weeks and you need to let it breath.       

Some yarns are my own hand spun and all strands are selected carefully. This is a fun process for me and I know you will enjoy them too. http://rowenaart.net/store

Raggedy RO off to Colorado

Raggedy RO comes in many hues! This skein is on its way today to Susan Weese in Colorado. She knitted the baby hat earlier on in the Blog with the Spring Raggedy RO. Barely off of the knitty knotty and Susan whisked them away. She also couldn't live without the 2 light skeins which are still drying after being spun and washed.

The gray is the ply yarn. One ply is Raggedy RO colors and the gray ply is wool fiber from Germany. I can just see the little German sheep springing on the dikes in the Northern part of the country. In the 70's and early 80's we lived in Schleswig, Germany. I moved there and married my husband Juergen. As you see we are her in Prescott, Arizona now soaking up the sun. Each spring we would take a 30 minute drive to the sea city of Husum and visit "Nord Strand" which is the Island north of Husum. There we would walk on the top of the green grass dikes. The sheep would be grazing along the path and the lambs would be jumping over and around the hay bails. We didn't tell our son Erik that we were on our way later on that day to Kiel to the grandparents house to eat lamb. They were just to cute to think of dinner.

I love to spin with this natural colored gray German fiber. I sometimes dye this fiber with Gaywool dyes which creates rich colored yarn. These two for Susan I left the beautiful natural gray.

http://rowenaart.net/store

The Bead Bugle.com

 The Bead Bugle is an Internet bead magazine which has been around for many years. I remember when they first started writing about beads and people who bead. I first met Bill and Tonette Johnson while I was showing at the Tucson, Arizona Gem and Mineral Show. That was during the time I made lampwork beads and sold them at The Best Bead Show. I later went on to create with seed beads, jewelry design, spinning and weaving. The Bead Bugle had a booth set up with their computer and screen showing the Bead Bugle Magazine and everyone was more than excited. At that time you were sent a disk each month with the magazine and then it went to being sent out electronically. Being a member gives you many ideas and new designs. Check out the Spinning Adventure and the Spin In at the Retzlauf Winery. BeadBugle.com

http://www.beadbugle.com/html/rowena_tank.html

Linda Koch Enjoys Fiber

Linda Koch found my kit to make a fiber amulet bag on eBay. She chose her favorite color for the treasure tail. The Kit Linda won in the eBay auction was the Fiber Amulet Bag to knit and adorn. Linda left super positive feedback on the kit and put the contents of the kit on her web site blog. I also found many other fun fibers she had found in her search for special yarns and ideas. Check out her site! http://alteredvisions.tpyepad.com/altered_visions/

Patricia Brockert's HatScapes

HatScapes by Patricia Brockert

Hats, Hats, and more Hats! My sister, Patricia Brockert, is a Prescott artist and she enjoys knitting and felting one of a kind adorned hats. She searches high and low for just the right yarn and her blending of color intrigues me.

Patricia has also been known to use my Raggedy RO for her creations. Actually, Patricia was the first fiber artist to take my handspun yarn and create with it.

Spinning gives me pleasure and then to see what I spin turn into something as special as a knitted or woven project is a rewarding experience.

Patricia adorns each hat artfully using beads, buttons, ribbons or just fringed wool making them tell their own story. She comes up with some of the most creative ideas for her hats and I am proud to wear them.

Arts Prescott's Annual Holiday Party

Arts Prescott Cooperative Gallery on Whiskey Row is my home away from home. We are 22 local artists and we all take our turn working the gallery. Normally I work about 3 or 4 shifts a month. It is fun to meet the people and tell them about all the artists in the gallery. Each year we have an annual holiday party and this year it will be November 18, 2006 from 6 PM to 8:30 PM. Hope to see you all there!

Susan Wesse Uses Raggedy RO

Raggedy RO Handspun Yarn by Rowena can be found at Studio Three in Prescott and on my web site. Susan Wesse from Monument, Colorado, sent me this note and photo of her first project using the Raggedy RO Spring tones. I was happy to get this photo. Here is her note. Thank you Susan

Rowena, attached are photos of the first item I made from your yarn -- a baby hat for the new baby daughter of friends in Michigan. I used the Miss Dashwood pattern I downloaded from the archive patterns at kitty.com. It took almost two small skeins of the lighter colored Raggedy RO yarn and came out very nice and soft! The pattern is very girlie, with ear flaps on each side that button up into the hat, cute ties (I did 2 stitch I-cord versus their recommendation) and a great floppy, picot edge brim.

Rowena - Fiber Amulet Bag

            Hand-woven Fiber Amulet Bag Class is planned at Studio Three here in Prescott. These classes run throughout the year. This class will be taught using a lap loom. I love the Harrisville Lap Looms! The class is $65, which includes a yarn Treasure Tail, beads and a great instruction manual. This shows not only how to weave the bag but the adornment is stressed.

            I have a knitted kit version put out by SWTC with instructions and a Treasure Tail along with some examples of beads you would use. The kit includes a yarn Treasure Tail created with Rowena’s Handspun, Soysilk®, Bamboo, and other novelty yarn. Some basic seed beads are included and easy instruction with ideas for embellishments.

California Trip - Judith Mackenzie

A Trip and class from Judith MacKenzie-McCuin: Living in Prescott gives me all of the opportunities to spin with beads and learn new things about fiber This summer Rowena traveled with fellow bead artist Glenda Campbell to the San Francisco area and stayed with Kate and Will Taylor.

            Kate and Will are both spinners and weavers both very active in the

San Francisco guilds. It was Fiber and bead talk all day along with short trips around the area.

            The main reason for the trip was two great work shops given by Judith MacKenzie-McCuin, famous spinner of our time. Judith traveled from Montana to teach Spinning for Socks which was organized by Morgaine of Carolina Homespun and then Color and Spinning at the home of Will and Kate Taylor.

            Both classes were so extensive that it would take a book to tell you about all we learned in just two. It’s always interesting to remember all of the great people you meet taking these classes. It is like spinners coming together and the room sizzles with fiber, beads and ideas. If anyone is at a fiber convention and Judith is teaching don’t pass that up.

            Judith’s Spinning With Beads class is awesome and it was written up in many magazines like Spin Off.Judith’s knowledge on wild fiber is shared in her video and DVD’s of spinning of “Spinning Exotic Fibers and Novelty Yarns” is well worth the money and her classes enhance what you learn in her video. Also, during the class at the Taylor’s home, Judith taught an afternoon of dyeing with her own “Mother Mac Kenzie’s Dye Kit” It was so simple and the colors were so vibrant that you come away wanting to hit the dye pot immediately. Mohair was also not left out of the mix. Spinning and plying Mohair and then to dye it in the afternoon makes for a skein of art!

            Being a bead maker myself makes me appreciate Judith’s colors and what happens when you mix them to create your own design of choice. During those 2 weeks where Judith shared much of her knowledge one event will remain in my mind for a long time to come.

            Each year Kate and Will Taylor arrange for all of the spinners in the area to come together at the Retzlaff Winery for a Spin In. Kate and Will work very hard to set up the tables and the whole area for vendors to have space. There are spinners in a great circle which ends up being clusters, and we all just enjoy the day and the wine. The food table is unbelievable in itself. Each fiber artist brings the best food dish and you see the artist come out even in the food they bring. Tables of fleeces and mohair piled high or hanging from every hook makes for a sight to see.

            This adventure was written up in our local newspaper The Courier. If anyone has seen it any where else please leave a comment where you read about it.

What an experience to remember!

The Bead Movement Video

Beads and More Beads! So Many Beads So Little Time! Wow, Labor Day is past and fall is about to appear before we know it. The fall colors inspire me to make beads to fit the mood and weave the leaves.

            I wanted to let everyone know that Wendy Simpson Conner still has a few copies of her video, “The Bead Movement”. If you are from Prescott you will know a good many of the people in Wendy’s video. Wendy traveled all over the U.S. to interview bead collectors, bead makers, bead lovers, and The Bead Museum Founder.

            Wendy encouraged many people to talk about why they love beads. Lindsey Wagner, an actor and bead lover tells her story about how she was introduced to the bead fever. After watching Wendy’s video I made sure to watch every Lifetime Movie I could find with Lindsey Wagner. The warmth she added to Wendy’s video makes me want to see her films and also check out the beads she may be wearing. You can find “The Bead Movement” by Wendy Simpson Conner in most bead shops. If you can’t find it go on line and check and if you still can’t find it contact me and I will give you her info. She signs the video if you ask her.

            My dear friend Glenda Campbell and I were interviewed by Wendy at Antonius Glass Studio here in Prescott. We talked about the beads we make and we note that we have known one another since Mr. Chadwick’s 5th grade class at Sunnyslope Elementary School. It was an afternoon I will not forget for sure. Also, just a note, I later flew to L.A. and went to the opening of the film, “The Bead Movement”, which was at that time up for an Academy Nomination. ...An experience to remember!

Beading

Rowena Bead&Fiber

Rowena’s blog is mainly for Glass Beads, Seed Beads, and Spinning along with fun Fiber information. Events and fun classes will be discussed and shared with everyone entering the blog.

             Lampwork came to me through the adoration of beads. I began collecting African Trade Beads, stringing beads from all over the world and reading everything I could about the history of beads. Old beads carry their own story, wearing them makes me a part of that story. Fiber is the same for me. The history of spinning and weaving always creates a picture of our American History. Living in Europe for nearly 13 years gave me also an enriched experience for beads and fiber.

            Working with glass, forming it into shapes that symbolize my emotional state at that moment describes the journey I have been on for the last 18 years. Beads helped bring tranquility to my life and enabled me to express myself through the intricate designs I end up with after incorporating my shapes into an elaborate world of the seed bead. Off-loam bead weaving provides me the canvas to paint with my beads. Now I use these techniques to adorn the fiber I love to spin.

            A few years ago I started to experiment with recycled glass after a friend approached me with some broken glass baskets. They belonged to her mother who had passed away. The glass baskets were originally made in Murano, Italy, and her mother had collected them for years. They were packed poorly and, of course, they arrived at her home in pieces. My friend pictured a new form from these broken treasures. My vision was the creation of unique beads with the historic designs undisturbed, resulting in some one-of-a-kind masterpieces.

            This experience put me on a path of enhanced consciousness for prolonging the life of something broken by using it to create beads. Colorful bottles come with their own history. Beads created from bottles represents feelings of an occasion of joy, celebration, or even sadness. I create pieces with these beads and name them for the sentiment they give me. Themes from Arizona are my primary inspiration, testimony to the profound love I have for this beautiful state.

            This attachment to recycled glass and special fibers in my creations infuses each piece with its own character and this in turn finds its way into the people’s hearts.