This
piece is a tribute to my Father-In-Law, Richard Gilbert. 'Legacy' was
juried into the 2005 Bead Dreams competition in Milwaukee, WI and into the 2007 Absolutely Beads Show in Bellevue Washington.
My Father-In-Law died very
suddenly on Father's Day 2004 on his Oregon farm while my husband, two
little boys and I were picnicking unaware on the beach and collecting
sea glass and shells. Our lives were immediately turned upside down
both with the devastating loss of such a wonderful man, but also
because my husband moved to the farm for the remainder of the season to
help irrigate and harvest the crops in his father's absence.
Playing with seed beads
helped me deal with the loss, loneliness and family upheaval. I made
bead soups that captured the colors of that fateful day - the red clay
in the hills around the farm, the rich brown soil and lush green crops
of the Willamette Valley, and the blue waters of Puget Sound. The mixes
lay on my desk all summer and fall until I pulled out the sea glass we
collected on the beach that day and I knew they all fit together. This
necklace is a tribute to Richard Gilbert and though he is gone, his
legacy of hard work, high integrity and loving warmth lives on in his
22 descendents. Freeform netting, peyote and brick stitch radiate out
from the large turquoise doughnut and weave around and through 22
treasures symbolizing each of his descendants. Besides stones, pearls,
shells, Hebron beads, Dig Beads, copper, a sea urchin quill and sea
glass, I've included 3 beautiful lamp work beads by Gail Crosman-Moore.
'Nebula' 'Nebula' was jurried into Absolutely Beads in Bellevue Washington, 2004 and was featured on the on-line cover of the 2008 Bead and Button Show class catalog as shown below!
In
the 1970's, my Dad worked in Los Angeles, but we lived in Gig Harbor
Washington. So he would leave home on Mondays and come back on Fridays.
Sometimes we would join him for a week or so and he would take a couple
of days off to vacation with us. We would each get a day to choose the
activity and I remember one time - on his day - Dad took us up to the
Mount Palomar Observatory. I was entranced with the beautiful pictures
of the stars, planets and nebula that lined the observatory walls -
this was in the days before Hubble made these pictures widespread.
'Nebula' is in memory of that trip that made such an impact on me and
showed me all of the beautiful colors of the universe.
The Beach Comber 'The Beach Comber' was
juried into the 2007 Absolutely Beads Show in Bellevue Washington.
We always spent time at the beach in Nanaimo (British Columbia) when we visited Grandma and came home with bags bulging with all of our ‘treasures’. Last summer we found buckets full of sea glass! Once home, I cleaned and sorted then began encapsulating the sea glass with freeform stitches and a copper/brown bead soup. Grandma passed away this fall at the age of 93, and as I wound around all of the glass pieces I thought of her – a true pioneer into the northern most settlements in Alberta, living in a haystack one winter (where temperatures around zero were hot enough to shed coats and scarves), starting school not knowing a word of English (only Ukrainian), then later setting up a 1 room school house to teach children from all ages and grade levels. Grandma’s hands were always busy - quilting, crocheting, painting, gardening, her creativity and love of color passing down to her daughters and me. She led a wonderful, full life, and was a beautiful person – I miss her.
In the Forest 'In The Forest' was
juried into the 2007 Absolutely Beads Show in Bellevue Washington.
Our
neighbor used to have refrigerator magnets that we would arrange into
sentences and descriptive phrases. Playing with them one time, my
husband created two phrases that he later wove into a poem:
Luscious rain crying under a languid moon Seductive wind whispering into shivering leaves Musky forest floor sighing earthy breaths Ethereal mists teasing longing firs Breathe Let the night caress you Your soul falls into the sky
-by Jerry Gilbert
I stamped Jerry’s poem onto the back of the copper in this neckpiece then wove bead soups on top to mimic the forest floor.
'Nivla Hsa' 'Nivla Hsa' was juried into the 2007 Bead Dreams competition in Milwaukee, WI and was on the 2008 Bead & Button Show poster
Dad
was a brilliant scientist, entrepreneur and inventor. He also had a
fabulous sense of humor! Years ago he fell through a weather-worn
canvas deck chair. Undaunted, he took the canvas off the frame,
disappeared into his workshop and reappeared a little while later with
an abstract painting – signed with his name backwards! He entered it
into the county fair laughing the whole time.
One of the last
things Dad gave to me, before he died, was a beautiful encyclopedia of
rocks and gems. He and I shared common interests in geology, science
and creativity. When he was too frail to do much else he would sit
beside me and watch me create my jewelry pieces and we would talk about
the different gems, where they came from, how they were created and
what their crystal structures were. This piece is a collage of gems and
is dedicated to the memory of my father, Alvin Ash – alias Nivla Hsa!
'Undersea Volcano'
Undersea Volcano is on the cover of the Bead & Button Show 2010 catalog and show poster.
Molten
lava flows out of an undersea volcano extinguishing life on tropical
islands, like Hunga Ha 'apai. Yet from the devastation, new life
emerges in a never-ending cycle.
