>Celebrating Beads in D.C.

>

Thanks for all your comments on my last post! I really appreciate all the encouragement! I had a nice time in Washington, D.C., and I accomplished a lot while I was there! I went to the National Gallery of Art's East Building to check out work by Andy Warhol, Picasso and Alexander Calder. Then, I went to the West Building to see the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Western Hemisphere. I checked to see if anyone was protesting anything in front of the White House (...and nothing! LOL). I debated politics at the pub until last call. I went to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. I checked out the Zenith Gallery because I had to take a closer look at Susan Klebanoff's tapestries. And, I did a little shopping at the International Spy Museum... :D

Of course, in between all of that, I went to the Passion of Beads Gala hosted by the Bead Museum. This was my first visit to the museum, and it was lovely! They have a very large exhibit of beads from around the world, as well as the Bead Timeline of History. The museum is small, but there is a lot of information there!

After learning a little about the museum, I was happy to meet one of my readers - Zoya Gutina! Zoya and I talked a lot! We are like old friends now! :D

(Zoya won First Place in the Hobbyist Seed Beads category!:)

The gala was nice, too. There was lots of food, wine, a silent auction, a screening of Diana Friedberg's 'World on a String', and a fine display of beadwork to look at! But, Zoya & I wondered, "Where are our pieces??" We were told that all of the Celebrating Beads finalists work would be on display at the event, but it seemed that almost half of the pieces were missing! After a little investigating, we learned that the museum did not carry the insurance for the large works that did not fit in the flat display tables. So they weren't there! Many people were asking me where my piece was, and I really wanted to see all of the 109 finalists' work! I was very disappointed about that... The reason many of us went was because we were told our pieces would be there! :(

Ah well... I guess it doesn't matter because my piece did not place into the exhibit anyways. But, I knew that it wouldn't. We saw the Award Winner's work in a slide show, and I would say that 95% of the winning pieces were jewelry, and mostly necklaces... A large bead painting like Gasoline District would not fit in with that, nor would it even fit on a wall at the museum! LOL. But, all was not lost. The jurors got to see my work, including Joyce Scott, and that makes me feel like a winner! :D

All in all, I would say that the entire experience was necessary, fun, and interesting. I met many wonderful people. I learned a little more about beads. I realized that my work has probably outgrown the bead competitions, and is perhaps now entering the realm of contemporary art. But most importantly, this event taught me that if at first you don't succeed, bead, bead again! :D