The Regional Show

Each May, there is a juried regional art show in Westerly.  The show is open to any artist in the area.  This year, for the first time, I decided to enter.  The judges are different each year, and this year they were owners of an art gallery in Connecticut.  I entered 5 pieces, and was surprised and pleased that 4 of them were accepted into the show.  I tried something new on a couple of the pieces, and thought I'd share them all here.
This first piece is a new flower shape I've been exploring. Sometimes I make it with 3 sides, others with 4.  I'll post other examples at later time. For this necklace, I used a nylon cord that compliments the flower.  Two extra attached cords were perfect for flower buds.

A second piece was another blossom cluster necklace. I love the sterling silver chain I use on these - it's full of tiny rings that move and make the blossoms seem alive.  This one uses colors from a different end of the rainbow spectrum, and the blossoms are smaller with ruffled edges.  

The pieces I'm most excited about are the next two.  I have been working on different ways to incorporate beadweaving into polymer.  The coral and brown piece has an insert of flat peyote.  The beading also creates the bail and holds the loop on the cord. The cord is a kumihumo cord I made with copper crystal bicones woven in with other fiber.

The last photos show two sides of the same piece.  The beaded circular flower in the center is open to both sides, letting light pass through.  The small rectangular shape on the buna cording slides to allow size adjustment.  The piece is reversible, with slightly different designs on each side.

Polymer & Beads - New Pendants

If you've read some of my past posts, you know my first adventures with creating jewelry were with seed beads. I still love beadweaving, and have been playing with different applications, mixing polymer and beads. I'd like to share a few of the most recent pieces.
The turquoise/pink piece to the left was my first one of this design. It sold the first day it was in the gallery, so I guess someone else liked it, too.
For the purple piece, I used a large cane I had made and decorated it with seed beads and glass magatama drops.
The last piece in this posting developed from the edges of a cane I was cutting for a different purpose. It just looked like a flower opening and needed pearls added - so I did.

Something a Bit "Organic"

Here's something a little different. I've made lots of circular pieces, including hollow lentils and curved pieces, but not quite like these. The inspiration comes from Laura Tabakman - http://www.lauratabakman.com. Her circle-within-circle pieces have a native, primitive-culture look I find appealing. I was looking forward to taking her workshop at CFCF this past February, but Laura had to leave the conference unexpectedly. In true sharing spirit, Lindly Haunani and Nan Roche stepped forward and worked together to develop a workshop so they could present to us what they understood of Laura's processes. So, while I did not have the opportunity to work with Laura, I did have the chance to learn a bit about making the circle-within-circle pieces. For the class, we used simple jelly roll and bull's eye canes.
When I came home and started working on this design for myself, I immediately was drawn to the idea of using crissy canes. I like the almost ruffled edges of the cane, and I love the repetition of the circular theme.
While Laura's dangles are elegant and fit her pieces perfectly, my style is different. As you can see in the various pieces pictured here, I was having fun making these my own.
Of course, I needed a pair of earrings...and I couldn't resist taking this idea in another direction with the lime & purple canes I've been playing with lately.