Though the piece shown today is nothing spectacular, it is quite unusual in its level of documentation: I can state precisely when I was commissioned to begin it, when I actually started it, how many hours I worked on it, and when I completed it. So for all of you who have ever wondered, ‘So, how long does it take you to make one of these things?’ I can give an answer, at least for this piece.

There are caveats, of course. Some designs are harder to do than others, if they're for color combos I don't like or don't often work with (not only for the lack of experience, but also lack of beads—I have a lot purple and green beads, red not so much, though I'm trying to be more balanced. But everyone has their favorites.) Another problem might be (as in this example) that a particular color is expensive or difficult to obtain (looking at you, fuchsia). And if I haven't done a design (or even just stringing in general) I might have to ramp up. However, in this case, I had just completed a very similar project, so I was ‘in the groove.’

Let's begin:

Sometime around 14th April06 I photographed a pair of pants for a friend who wanted a necklace made to match.

Looked like a fun and interesting color combo; so, Sure, sez I.

And that was that for two years.

I often tidy up my studio around St Patrick's Day, as a way to celebrate spring, or the new year, or the coming of the green. Whatevs. My records show I spent two days documenting studio tidy-ups in 2008;^[1] then I was finally ready to start something in my freshly cleaned up space. Meanwhile, the client had herself purchased some schlocky, bright purple color- and finish-enhanced freshwater pearls. They were a beautiful color, but, um, basically plastic. Being a snob, I couldn't bring myself to actually buy any; but I was perfectly happy to string them (for someone else, of course. It's like when you won't buy [appalling junk food] but happily eat it at someone else's house:)

Since Deb had actually spent money on supplies I got off my ass and strung the piece. Now I was ‘ramped up’ for Deb projects, and figured I ought to get this piece done too (and use up more of the horrid pearls....) So I selected it as the first project to despoil celebrate my freshly cleaned studio. After spending 20 minutes or so pulling beads and carefully arranging them for the picture^[2] (17:08 – 17:29) I photographed the setup and then worked to 18:58—just about exactly an hour and a half.

The following day (2Mar08) I continued the piece. I started at 9:07 and took the final shot shown here at 12:04: about 3 hours. So altogether it took about 4.5 hours to string, plus another 45–60 min, probably for setup and cleanup after (it generally takes longer to put the beads away than get them out, whatta surprise.)

Then I photographed (and photographed and photographed) the pieces. I was particularly unhappy with the color on this one, and it languished another six years until I stumbled upon the stub. Now softened by time (not to mention the lack of the physical piece to compare the pictures to) I concluded the color was good enough and started making this post. When I discovered all the process photos I was delighted, because it meant I could jazz up the page with some history and info on working methods.

So there you have it—these multi-strand necklaces may look like a jumble of beads, but they actually incorporate (pretty much as a minimum) something in the neighborhood of four hours of work.

File created 9apr08; photos 20060414, 20080301 20080302

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.

Sylvus Tarn