With inspirations, challenges, commissions and the Bead Journal Project. By the end of this month, I wanted to post inspirations up through #20, get SOME beading done on my dragon, finish a bracelet for one friend and a choker for another as well as complete the Bead Journal Project.
I may have overestimated my abilities. As always, the dragon will go to the bottom of the list. The page for April has about 17% of the beading left to do, but the May page hasn't even seen the preliminary stage of color choices.
Inspiration #19 is
Susan Seddon Boulet.

This is the image on my mousepad; I fell in love with her work years ago when I got my first deck of goddess knowledge cards. I recently found a deck of animal spirits knowledge cards and I've been lost in the beauty of each and every one (no wonder I've fallen so far behind on everything). I've been inspired by her life and her work, integrating much of her influence in my book arts. Her palette and technique translate very well to bead making as well.
Inspiration #20 is a place. My partner Asa and I just celebrated 11 years of Big Fun Together by treating ourselves to a mini-vacation. We spent one night in the biggest suite at
Casas de Suenos, a local bed and breakfast. In the 30's and 40's, the compound of casitas was an art colony. The grounds are gorgeous, full of objects d'art and gardens. This was the perfect time of year for this, too.
The front gate:

One of the garden art features:

The front door to our casita:

This was just a small sampling of our environs there - I realized at one point I'd taken pictures of over 30 different doorways and gates, each one a work of art. If you're ever in Albuquerque and money's no object, I can't recommend this place highly enough.
And there! At least one goal was met!!