May Flowers

I've been on a flower-making rampage for some reason.  I'm not making anything in particular with them, but as I sit viewing something, I've found my fingers busy using some recently made canes to make flowers.  They are all different shapes and sizes, and I'm enjoying it, so why not!
Here is a snapshot of a pile of some of the flowers, scattered willy-nilly. ;)

Purple Pinch-Petals

I have always liked asymmetry in things such as flower arrangements, wall hangings, clothes, pictures, and jewelry. There is something about the slight off-balance being set "just right" that I find attractive.  I had some striped petal canes that I'd been using for other projects, so I decided to make some pinch-petals and see what I could come up with.

I formed the pinch-petals into a long cluster and baked them. Then I made a very thin tube that was the length of the petal cluster and fit around the plastic coated metal neckwire.  I baked these pieces so they bonded together and made a solid petal cluster that could be strung on the wire.

I finished the rest of the necklace with size 8 hex-cut seed beads in a really pretty  purple iridescent tone.  If you look carefully, you can see the sparkle of the glass beads next to the matte finish of the petal cluster.  I think it makes a nice contrast.

Regional Show Entries

In my last post, I showed  you two somewhat "traditional" necklaces that I made for submission to the Westerly Regional Art Show.  I made 2 more necklaces, submitted all 4, and just got the results of the jurying process.  Happily, two of my pieces were accepted.  They are along the "lei" and ruffle lines that I have been playing with lately.  I'm pleased they were accepted.  It's always interesting to me to see what pieces are juried into art shows.  I think the overall "look" of a juried show definitely reflects the preferences of the jury.

Here are the pieces of mine that are in the show.  I am really enjoying making this style, and plan to do more over the next couple of months.  The piece to the right has a really full look, and sits nicely around the neck.  I'm using magnetic clasps to make these easy to wear.  The wavy polymer disks are from a translucent cane colored by embossing powders.  The matte glass pearls I found were an amazing match and made the back of the necklace lie smoothly.


The other necklace below is made of ruffles instead of disk slices.  I made these from bull's eye cane slices that I rolled through the pasta machine on a really thin setting. Then I formed them into ruffles by hand and placed them up against each other to create the joined piece.  This necklace also has glass pearls in 2 colors and sizes, as well as some teal round crystals.

This photo to the right is a close-up of the ruffled section.  The second photo, below,  shows the whole necklace.

It's Spring Necklace Time!

I've been working on some new necklace pieces for the Westerly Arts Regional Show.  This is an annual, juried show with different judges each year. There is no particular "look" or criteria to try to meet. Entrants just try to present pieces which showcase their style.  This year, I've come up with a couple of pieces, and we'll see if any get accepted.

This first necklace is a bit of a departure from my usual floral style. Starting with a cane I made from a Skinner blend of purple, fuschia, tangerine and cream, I've made some pointed, layered "petals" which are suspended on a wire with gold hematite beads between the petals. Even with some editing, the photo did not come out as lightly as I had hoped and the deep purple looks almost black, at least on my screen.   I've started using magnetic clasps because I think they make everything so much easier.  Above is a close-up of that necklace.

 

Necklace number 2 is a little more along my usual lines.  The flowers are free-hand shaped with ruffled edges using my spider mum cane for the slices. There is a crystal in the center of each flower.  The "chain" is made of 2 sizes of matte purple glass pearls and silver spacers.  The purple color matches the PJM rhododendrons blooming in our yard.  Love Spring!