The beautiful composition of this photograph, not to mention that of the necklace itself, is due to my friend Page. (She did solicit my opinion of the necklace as she strung it, but as I recall my contributions were mostly along the lines of, ‘brilliant’, ‘beautiful’, ‘I love your inclusion of x or y or z bead’. As an example of this, see the free-floating twisted wire rings on the liquid silver portions. I love this.)
Effetre and bullseye hollow lampwork beads; 22k gold-leafed pmc lentils; czech and austrian crystal; sterling silver and 22k gold leaf beads; fancy mixed agate, rose quartz, and freshwater pearls; strung on 49strand cable. Beads manufactured 2005? Necklace strung Jan or Feb 2006. Roughly 22” long. Copyright Page Brunner, all rights reserved.
The less than stellar photography, which has been rescued somewhat by gimps curves tool, is courtesy of yours truly. I did make the focal bead, which I rather like, both in terms of the crown-like shape at the top of the vessel, and the Jennifer Geldard inspired treatment of the thompson enameled stripes on the bottom portion. Someday I will have to complete that series showing how I incorporated what I learned in a workshop with her into my own work, but this focal, while still revealing its heritage, is a bead that I feel incorporates our voice: my love of florals, my partner's passionate devotion to the translucency of the Bullseye palette (the focal is effetre, but note how bullseye rounds have been used to really pull the design together), and our fondness for matte (as in the pixie dust hollows), iridescent surfaces (as in the czech leaves, of which we both have healthy—absurdly so in my case—collections.)
The colors, the iconography, even the delicacy of the design that echos in its leaves/liquid silver/floriferous center the shape of blooming plants, really speaks to me of spring bulbs. And as we're at the beginning of the first really warm spell, with spring starting officially in just a couple of weeks, those bulbs are already poking up green tips. I can hardly wait:)
file created 08mar06. Update 25mar2014: Page tells me this piece was stolen.
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
