'Cocoa' Beads

I'm a bit happy with these glass gems. The idea for them came from out of the blue. I was making encased frit beads one minute and the next - Kapow! - I had the idea for these ones. They're a mix of my enamel beads and my Kandinsky-esque beads but with the added ingredient of murrini. This is the first murrini I've made and used in my beads. Yes, I know it's only simple murrini but it gives the beads a little extra interest. They're currently on the 'Bay.

As I sit here I've got the television on and I'm watching Hell's Kitchen USA. The poor contestants are backchatting Gordon Ramsay. Mistake. Obviously they don't know what he's like! There was an ad break a minute ago and that flippin' Yakult commercial was on. Do you know the one I mean? It's the one with the bacteria inside the intestine or whatever bit of the body it is. It really offends me - makes me go all funny.

It reminds me of an art installation that I once saw at the Tate Gallery. I went there on a college trip to see the 1994 Turner Prize entries as part of my art A-Level. There were some fabulous pieces from that year's winner, Anthony Gormley, as well as Damien Hirst's famous 'Away From The Flock' sheep-in-a-tank thing and the most grotesque exhibit by some woman whose name I can't and don't want to remember. You walked into a cylindrical structure (like a tube stood on end) and on the floor was a big round screen which was showing footage of an endoscopy which had been carried out on the 'artist'. It even had squelchy, manky sound effects. Totally horrid, totally pointless and totally not art. And now every time I see that Yakult advert I think of that installation at the Tate!