Last weekend in Steamboat Springs I took a break from beading—no editing of magazine beading projects, no writing bead-related articles and no bead shopping.
Wandering around near the Black Sulphur Spring, the smell reminded me of my recent patina experiments. I tried to ignore it (as much as you can ignore something that causes you to pinch your nose shut) and kept walking, trying to concentrate on the sounds of the river below and the daisies along the side of the bike bath.
Walking past the Art Depot, I saw this thing in the parking lot.
A car.
An old car with grayish lumps. Rocks?
I crept closer and closer:
Not just any car—a beaded car. Here's the view from the back:
Here's a close-up:
And here's another:
The sign on the car said that this was the "Lizard King Art Car" and it was a gift from Texas High School Art Car Class of 2004. It look 19 students 3 months to complete.
I wondered how many beads were used to cover the car. I wondered what kind of epoxy was used to stick them on. I wondered what structure was below the figures. I wondered—since the license plates were from Texas—if someone drove the car to Colorado and what it would feel like to drive a car covered with beads. I wondered how beads affected gas mileage. I wondered how much of my own car I could cover if I used my own bead stash.
And just like that the beader in me was no longer on vacation.
Until the time I can actually make my own beaded car, I'm thinking I need a bumper sticker:
BEADS: You can run, but you cannot hide.