Amazin Arty Adventures

24 June, 2023

Twitter Art Exhibit 2023

Twitter Art Exhibit 2023 is being held at the Pipe Shop Venue at the Shipyards in North Vancouver, Canada this weekend! This year's exhibit is curated by Kelly Kitson, and will benefit the Urban Native Youth Association. The live exhibit and sale will be followed by an online art sale starting Monday!

The TAE23 Poster

I am very proud to have my postcard artwork "Joy" featured at TAE23! It is an abstract mixed media art postcard featuring two flowers in front of a rainbow - made with liner pens and watercolour paints and pencils. I very much enjoyed making it!

My postcard artwork "Joy" for TAE23.

I loved catching a glimpse of it here too!

Bead and Charm Collecting!

Many years ago, my wonderful family gifted me a glittering silver and crystal charm bead on a silver snake chain bracelet (from Prouds) for Christmas. At the time, nobody knew that admiring, collecting, arranging and wearing charm beads and jewellery would become my new obsession!

A small photo of my very first charm on my very first charm bracelet. The bracelet is a silver snake chain with a small barrel-shaped snap clasp. The charm is a barrel shaped silver charm with a band of clear crystals mounted in white acrylic. The charm and bracelet are sitting on a black leather background (the side of my Trollbeads Collector's Case).

My First Charm and Bracelet

At first, I collected mainly cat-themed beads and charms, but my interests soon expanded. I now collect beads and charms of all kinds from different brands and artists around the world. There are so many different ones available, and each is a tiny wearable piece of art! Whether they are fun cartoon characters, shapes, or realistic plants and animals - every piece of my collection has a memory, feeling or association attached to it. I think it's wonderful that these tiny beauties have been made by the hands of skilled artisans, and then travelled to me from faraway places that I will never see.

My cat charm bracelet from August 2016. The silver snake chain bracelet is full of different cat-themed charms - most of the charms are silver bead-style charms, with a few silver dangle charms and glass charm beads in the mix. The bracelet is resting on the grey leather arm of our couch as a background.

My Cat Charm Bracelet in August 2016

There are seemingly endless beautiful combinations that these miniature treasures can be arranged into - on bracelets, bangles, necklaces, hairbands, rings, earrings and more! I enjoy posting pictures of my beads, bracelets and necklaces to my instagram, and seeing other people's collections there too! I also love the many textures and weights of the different charms and beads. They are so wonderful to hold and sort into the different sections of my Stackers bead box!

My wrist wearing my hope-themed charm bangle from September 2021. The bangle features a small assortment of silver, glass and stone charms - including a cat and a rat wearing covid masks, and a rainbow glass charm bead in the centre.

My Hope-themed Charm Bangle in September 2021

Most of my collection has come from sales. This week, I'm checking out the Ohm Dot Midyear 40-60% Off Sale, and the Pandora Australia Sale. I'm also looking forward to the Trollbeads Australia Malawi Unique Event and the Ohm 50% Off Retirement Sales next week!

A large assortment of glass Trollbeads charms of various patterns and colours.

A Pile of Treasure in August 2022

My collection has grown large over the years, and I don't see my bead obsession waning any time soon!

25 March, 2023

Walking Track Adventure!

I have recently regained some energy and health after being sick for many years, and I've been desparately wanting to get out of the house. So last week, Ellenya and I went on an adventure - exploring a nearby walking track! This blog post features some pictures from our trek.

A compacted dirt track heading uphill and around the corner toward the right of the image. There is dry grass, a fence and some trees on the left of the track, and bushland to the right of the track. The sky above is very blue.

Making our way to the walking track (and back) was a bit difficult because the footpaths in the area were very steep. I mostly use a powered (Alber E-Fix) wheelchair to get around, though I can walk very short distances with a crutch on good days. In many places, I needed Ellenya to hold onto the back of my wheelchair to stop it from tipping backwards! Many of the road crossings had a step up that my wheelchair couldn't handle without assistance. Getting on and off the walking track was the most difficult part of our journey, because the paths to join the track were so steep it wasn't safe for me to use my wheelchair (I almost landed flat on my back trying! Luckily Ellenya saved me! It was scary!).

The walking track itself was mostly fine for wheeling - but, there were stock gates along the path that didn't have quite enough room for my wheelchair to go through with me in it. Fortunately, I could step out and use my crutches to get through the gate, while Ellenya removed the wheelchair footplates and squished my chair through for me so I could hop back in on the other side.

The wide compacted dirt walking track heading off into the distance. To the left of the track is short green grass and some trees, and to the right of the track there is longer dry native grass and trees. The sky is blue with some small white clouds dotted along in the distance.

The track, shaded by a gumtree to the left. The track is heading through an area with long native grass, rocks and gumtrees to the right, and short greener grass and gumtrees to the left.

A small flock of sleepy sheep watching us from their spot in the shade of some gumtrees. There is a thin wire fence between them and the denser bushland behind them.

Dense bushland with lots of gumtrees. The ground in front has burnt-orange coloured dirt with long dry native grasses and dry fallen gumleaves.

On the track, we saw lots of different types of grasshoppers, butterflies, and vast cities of ants. We watched the ants busily carrying things back to their nests and working together to squeeze larger items through the entrance. There were also cute sleepy sheep beside the track (employed by the council to eat the grass), and giant dragonflies helicoptering around above us. We saw willy wagtails swooping down and feasting on bugs, and the view of the distant hills was beautiful.

Looking across a green grassy park toward a distant tree-covered hill. The sky above the hill is blue with a few small white clouds. There is a line of trees on the far side of the park, but it's mostly an open grassy area. The walking track can be seen in the left bottom corner of the image, and is elevated - on the high side of the park.

View looking over the treetops and rooftops of our part of town toward the distant blue-tinged hills.

View looking over the treetops and rooftops of our part of town toward the distant blue-tinged hills. The sky is mostly blue, with a few little white clouds dotted here and there. The sky gets lighter blue towards the horizon.

At the end of our walk, we ended up sliding the empty wheelchair down the grass beside the steepest part of the path - with Ellenya skidding behind it, and me slowly and carefully trying to edge down the hill with my crutch. (Luckily it was a short distance and I was able to do it, but it was pretty risky!) It's a shame there's not a more accessible path to and from the track, and wider stock gate areas for wheelchairs, scooters, bike and prams to fit through - because the track itself was quite wheelable, and it was a nice place to visit.

I am so happy that I finally have energy to go out and explore again, and I am so grateful to Ellenya for helping me and making the trip possible! I will need a little time to recover - but I hope we can explore again soon. It was a fun adventure!

21 March, 2023

Welcome!

Hi!

I am AmazinAdrielle, also known as Enfysbeads. It has been a long time since I last wrote a blog post, so I thought I should start by sharing a little bit about myself. Firstly, I am an artist and a collector of pretty things. I live in regional Victoria, Australia with my sister Ellenya, our parents, our two cats, and many birds and fishes!

I love being creative and enjoy learning new skills. I like rainbows, puzzles, charm beads, nature, animals, nail art, crosswords, drawing, painting, embroidery, beading, relaxing at the weir and the river, experimenting with new art mediums and playing games. I'm also currently on a mission to grow my hair as long as I possibly can!

I enjoy studying, and I am currently learning Spanish and Chinese. I have a Bachelor of Behavioural Science degree, and Certificate III in Media (specialising in 3D art and animation for film, games and television). I'm also a graduate of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, and a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society.

In my younger and healthier days, I was an award-winning performing artist, circus performer, singer and dancer. After my illness and disability made it impossible for me to continue with these activities, I spent many years volunteering online as a visual artist, animator, game tester, wiki administrator, writer, video editor and level/scene designer for various causes and projects.

I have been chronically ill for many years, spending long periods of time housebound or bedbound. Art gives me an outlet for my creative energy when I don't have much physical energy or my joints are too uncooperative. Over the years, I have won numerous prizes for my digital and traditional art, photography, charm bracelet designs and embroidery. I've also created logos for various websites, and had my digital art feature in online games, such as Puzzle Pirates. Through Twitter Art Exhibit, I have also had my traditional artwork exhibited in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Most of my health and mobility issues are caused by Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - a connective tissue disorder that causes problems with my joints and soft tissue. My joints are extremely hypermobile and I experience daily joint subluxations and dislocations. Over the years, this has led to chronic pain, arthritis, and many interesting injuries. I have also been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, supraventricular tachycardia, fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, and other things.

I mostly use a powered wheelchair to get around, though I can walk very short distances with a crutch on good days, and can get around inside my house using grab rails, daddo walls and furniture. I take a lot of medicines, have a cupboard full of splints, braces and bandages to support my joints, do a lot of physio exercises, and try to be the best I can be every day.

Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and most of my other conditions are long term and variable, with symptoms and severity changing from day to day. However, after a tough few years, I have recently regained some overall energy and health! I am hoping to get back into my arty adventures now that I'm feeling better, and I can't wait to share them on this new blog!

An abstract mixed media art postcard featuring flowers in front of a rainbow.

My links: