Back in the USA!

Yesterday, I woke up at 7am Moscow Time and took a train to a plane, to a plane, to another train. Finally, after 22 hours of traveling, I arrived back in Boston, MA feeling very jet-lagged! My 2-week trip to Russia was fascinating. I can't wait to tell you all about it. But, for now, all I have the energy to do is post pics to Flickr. I took over 800 photographs, so it might take me awhile to sort through them all, but I will try to add new pics everyday. Here are some photos from my visit to the city of Moscow. Enjoy! :D

www.flickr.com The Lone Beader's Moscow photoset

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Traveling the World on a String

My phone rang very early this morning. It was United Airlines. They informed me that my flight from Boston to Washington, D.C. was cancelled. So, I had to re-book my flight. Now, I am flying Boston -Frankfurt, then on to Moscow from there (if all goes well)! I am scheduled to arrive in Russia only 2 hrs. later than originally planned. After I took care of that, I had a few extra hours to finish packing. I packed up some seed beads and the beaded self portrait I'm working on. I've never really done beadwork on an airplane because I'm usually on an overnight flight, but I do plan to work on it at my hotel in Moscow! Maybe I will even get to do a little beading with my friend Tanya. We'll see! 

Self portrait. Work in progress. Bead embroidery on felt. 5.5" x 9".

Anyways, it's funny to see my beaded face packed up in a little pencil box because that's exactly what I'll feel like until I arrive! I checked the news reports, and apparently the smog returned to the city of Moscow yesterday, but the weather report predicts rainstorms throughout the week. I'm hoping that will help to clear much of the air while I'm there. Wish me luck! 

Also, just a quick note: I have decided to close my Etsy shop for 2 weeks. I will re-open during the first week of September. If you would like to see what I'm up to in Russia, please follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook! Remember, in the words of Mark Twain, travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. Happy beading & I'll see you when I return! :D

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Raise a Beaded Eyebrow

Today, just a quick post to show you the progress of my beaded self portrait. I have added a few more colours and bugle beads for eyebrows! So, far, I like it, but I don't know if it really looks like me! B)

Also, I am proud to announce that one of my beaded sheepdogs has been selected as a finalist in Fire Mountain Gems' seed-beading contest! You can view my entry HERE. :) Back to beading and packing for my trip to Moscow! Only 2 more days! Yay! :D

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Beady Eye on Moscow

Thank you to those who have sent me words of encouragement regarding my upcoming trip to Moscow. I have been keeping my eye on the news stories, and as of now, I believe that the smog has lifted and the air is clean. If the winds change, smog could return to the city, but no one is certain. I also looked at the weather reports, and they are forecasting rain & thunderstorms for Monday into Tuesday - the day that I am due to arrive. I pray that this is true! Rain is much needed in Russia!

Like everyone else, I have been debating whether I should cancel my trip to Russia, reschedule my trip for a better time, change my destination and just go to St. Petersburg, or go on my trip to Moscow as planned. I am aware that the US Embassy in Moscow has issued a travel warning urging all Americans to cancel non-essential travel to the city, but this is only an alert. As of now, I think I will take the risk, and go to meet my friend. What would you do in this situation? :o

Bead embroidery on felt. 5.5" x 9". 

Back to beading my self-portrait & checking the news reports! :o

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Fearful Faceless Felt

Lately, I've been staring at my computer screen (just like my self portrait sketch) searching for news about the smog situation in Moscow. The smog is caused by the many peat bog fires that have popped up around the city. The high temperatures and lack of wind have not helped the situation. The smog is so thick that you can barely see the Kremlin from a distance, and many people are wearing breathing masks in the streets. The smog has seeped into homes, office buildings, and even the subway system. People have died from smoke inhalation, homes have been destroyed by the fires, flights have been diverted due to lack of visibility, and travel & health warnings have been issued to anyone headed to the city. It seems like this will go on for weeks! I am concerned because I am due to travel to Moscow in 9 short days. I am seriously praying for wind & rain in Moscow! :o

Despite my worries, I have begun my beaded self portrait. I need something to take my mind off of things! So, I cut out 4 layers of felt in the shape of my face, and stitched them together. The nose sticks out a bit and one eye & part of my forehead is sunken a bit. I probably look like this when I have a headache due to stress and lack of sleep! :o

I've also picked out some recycled eyeglass lenses to use, just to make this piece a little more interesting. The kind folks at Central Square Eye Care (Cambridge) saved me a bag full of old eyeglass lenses to experiment with, and I thought what better way to use them than in a self portrait! Just another one of my beading experiments, I guess. We'll see what happens! B)

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Sleepless Self Portrait Sketch

I haven't had much time for blogging the past few days. I've been pretty busy working and preparing for my trip to Russia. I have been doing a little beading. I've been working on a couple of small projects that I can't post on my blog just yet. I have been thinking about what my next big bead painting should be, but I think I'm going to wait until after my vacation to start that... In the meantime, I thought this week would be a great time to start something a little different - a beaded self portrait! 

Study for a beaded self portrait. Coloured pencil. 2010.

The above sketch is based on a photo I took of myself using Photo Booth. I suppose this is how I look while I'm working on my iMac, especially late at night. In case you didn't know, I am quite the night owl. I love to stay up late either beading or working on my 'puter, but at the same time, it bothers me because I haven't been getting much sleep lately. This is probably due to the fact that my 'day' job as a stagehand requires me to stay up until 1 or 2am (or later!) and then be back to work at 8am the next day. When I do have a night off, I find it hard to go to sleep at a normal hour. And, if I do try to go to sleep early, I find myself awake 4 hours later, at which point I get up to either check something on my computer or turn on Porcupine Tree music in an attempt to fall back asleep. It seems to be a vicious cycle these days- one that should be documented in tiny glass seed beads! :/

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Summer Vacation Plan

Those who have been reading my blog for the past couple of years know that I like to travel in search of beads! In the past 3 years, I have visited England, France, Germany, Czech Republic, & Italy, and I am officially about to add one more to the list! Russia! 

In a couple of weeks, I will be going to visit my longtime blogger friend, Tanya. Some of you know her as the owner of Greenbird.ru, an online bead supplier in Moscow! Tanya & I became friends when she interviewed me for a feature on her website. She is also the reason my beadwork got published in Russia's РУЧНАЯ РАБОТА (Handmade Magazine)! I am a bit nervous because I really can't speak any Russian, but despite that, I am very excited! I can't wait to see Red Square, Kremlin, Lenin's Mausoleum, Bolshoi Theatre, St. Basil's Cathedral, and Tretyakov Gallery. I also hope to visit St. Petersburg for a few days. I would also like to do a little research regarding Russian beadwork/ bead artists. If I learn of any bead shops or artist galleries featuring beadwork, I will try to visit them! If you have ever been to Russia, and have any travel tips and/or suggestions, please leave a comment! :D

Since I only have a couple weeks before my trip, I have decided to wait until I return to start my next big piece. I am still deciding what I want to do- a nature painting, a classic car, a space shuttle, or a NYC scene... Right now, I am leaning towards doing a NYC scene, but also think that a space shuttle would be appropriate, as well! 
What do you think? 

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