Summer Greetings Everyone!

We are privileged in Ottawa to have an amazing exhibition, Radical Stitches, on until September 30^th. Some of our readers might have seen the exhibition at the MacKenzie Gallery in Regina, the Art Gallery of Hamilton , The Art Gallery of Thunder Bay or the Art Gallery of Ontario. Its next stop will be the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton in the fall. With all these locations for those of you who can’t actually see the items, there are some beautiful photos on various web sites that bring awe as well as inspiration. Certainly the artists have a similar motivation that most beaders have. A project begins with the feeling that “today I will add beauty to the world. I will make it a better place than I found it. I will bead”.

Most of us discover over and over again the magic of beads. The thrill of colour and texture coming together in something unique is exciting. Even if we sometimes feel that the end result is not what we envisaged, all is not lost as we learn something from the effort. There is a wonderful book “Art and Fear” in which the authors address the frequent fear feeling that creative people have. They suggest that simply by doing something in your field of creative endeavour it will spark many ideas for new directions. Maybe the month of August will provide you with some time and mental freedom to explore new directions!

Wishing you a creative and rewarding month!

Very best wishes,

Meredith, Brent and Carrie