Sometimes beads that aren't that exciting in and of themselves can be put together for a more appealing whole; I believe the cliche is ‘greater than the sum of its parts’. These beads are more subtly colored than my typical abstracts, or even my typical antique romans, but it was precisely that quality that allowed me to combine such disparate styles together.
Hollow lampwork beads, soda-lime glass, variously decorated with thompson enamels, pixie dust and baking soda; sterling silver; fine silver (pmc); and heavy guage beadalon. Collection of Cindi Brunell.
Most of my pieces are untitled but this one reminded me of the sweltering forests in which I tromped during the last Gathering, with the deep green and brown shade of moss grown rocks and fern-covered slopes illuminated by dashes of sunlight, so bright by contrast it appeared golden, or sometimes, even silver, as it gilded leaves.
I also modified the round ‘diamond-dust’ I used as spacers by crushing them into rondells, thereby making them visually smaller and more subtle. (Note: if you're going to do this, be gentle, as they will crack along the seam with too much force.) —It's kind of a weird juxtaposition: I first saw these beads in my partner's work and was entranced by them, but she used them in a sparkly context. I'm not particularly good with sparkly, but I wouldn't’ve predicted using ’em as accents amid dull earth tones—yet that's how I often see bits of sun in the forest.
Ok, so I'm weird.
This piece is also the second one to incorporate a pmc clasp: mostly I've been playing with either very delicate floral textures highlighted with keum boo, or mixing several textures on one piece; this is an example of the latter.
Finally, though I'm grateful it doesn't show in the picture, this necklace had an extremely embarressing stringing error—somehow or other I managed to put two of the spacers between a pair of beads. This sort of error is easy to spot with just a 30 second side-to-side check, but I forgot to do this super-easy test.
Result? Much cursing as I undid the crimp, removed the extra bead, then fought to recrimp with only some 5mm extra beadalon. What a pest. Don't do this. If you're stringing a symmetrical piece, take 5 seconds to hold it up and compare the left and right sides.
file created 20jul06
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
