So without guidelines to work to, how do you go about fulfilling a brief like this? You only know where you have to end up but you don't have a starting point as you haven't been told what materials to use or what style is required. Your brief is very........ well, brief!
Well, this is how I go about it. I like to go through a warm-up period whilst I get a handle on the theme. This usually means starting with something simple like a pair of earrings and then perhaps I'll progress to a strung piece or two, maybe a necklace, maybe a bracelet. By about this time, I'm starting to get a feel for the theme and some ideas begin to formulate in my head. Along the way I will have tried all sorts of beads and combinations until something strikes a chord. And when that happens, I'm ready to create the final piece.
Here's one of those earlier pieces:
...... a playful necklace featuring a charming owl bell pendant that jingles as you move. How fun is that?!! He's surrounded by a bunch of pressed glass leaf beads (because what would an owl be without a tree?), dual-toned brown beads in a cool oval shape (that remind me of nuts) and some short lengths of copper chain to connect all the elements together.
Isn't he just so cute!!I can't share the final piece I came up with just yet; that will have to wait until after it's published, but I can tell you it's romantic, floral and vintage, and it couldn't be more different from this one if it tried. Pics to come in the northern hemisphere fall. But right now, we're already enjoying the splendour of the autumn months down under.
'Til next time.....
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