Photos From Bead & Button - My Experiences Part 1

I arrived back home from my five days at the Bead & Button Show early Sunday afternoon. After unpacking and tossing my clothes into the washer, I settled down and relaxed, making a bold attempt to return to "real life" once again. Verdict? Totally worth it! I had a wonderful time, pushed my creative boundaries, met two fellow artists who became fast friends, and generally dived into a world I don't get to live, but wish that I did. Here'a a short photo essay of my week. I'll have show photos of some incredible things later on this week, as well as an update on the Project Runway we missed just before the Final Episode of Season 17 airs on Thursday. So ... here we go. 

My hotel room was on the 17th floor - one floor down
from the very top. It was wonderful! Here's the interior
view looking over into the central atrium, all the way down. 

I drove out to the show on Tuesday, arriving and getting into my room in plenty of time to catch my bus to the Milwaukee Area Technical Center where the "Meet and Greet" was being held that night. The idea was to have both sets of classes meet and socialize along with beer, wine and "heavy" appetizers. It was actually better than I had expected, and I ran into a dear friend for many, many years, so the week started strong. 

The MATC is a six story building dealing in the Technical arts - metalworking
among them. I've had several classes here over the years. It's a great
building and very well equipped. We had practically everything we
needed available and it was awesome. 

The next day we caught the bus again at 7:45 am for our trip to the MATC and the start of a creative journey. The class was "Innovative Capture" and was going to help us think outside the standard methods of holding items together. Everyone brought something, or several somethings that they were interested in using. I brought two - a piece of abalone shell that reminded me of the brow of an owl, and a plastic camera lens that had me fascinated. 

I saw the abalone shell as becoming something similar
to this (this is laid out on paper with scrap copper. 

After lunch we gathered together in a round table and everyone had an opportunity to show the others what they had brought and get their feedback on how they thought it should be handled. It was fabulous, bounding ideas off each other like that. 

On the left is Karen, and on the right, Paulette. These two fellow
students in the class went to dinner at "The King and I" Thai
restaurant. Fabulous food, that I can always take enough back
to the hotel to reheat for a second meal later in the week. The
three of us really jelled. So much fun! 

On Day 2, we settled down and got down to some serious work on our pieces. The challenge with the lens I was working with was the fact that it was plastic - no heat could be put to it at all. I had to work with drilling and manipulating. I started getting somewhere late in the day, but realized I needed wire and sheet metal - they weren't available until the marketplace opened later than night. 

OK, I'm running out of time and have to get going to the gym. I'll continue this tomorrow. I was good, though. I hit the fitness center twice while I was on my trip, and I only gained two pounds, so that will be a breeze to get back off. I have to run ... more tomorrow!