Art Log - Work in Progress

[akirlu]

At the Tun, kate_schaefer turned to me at one point and said, .... oh, I forget the exact words, but something to the effect that she was expecting me to be wearing a new necklace, since I had been talking about the project on LJ the day before. Would that I worked that fast. Heck, I'm still stringing the beads.

I'm two loops and a bit into what will eventually be a three loop necklace (or a very, very long single loop necklace -- it's strung on three meters of silk and I expect to use every usable bit of that three meters). This is an idea I've been wrestling with for months: a color metamorphosis that changes from blue turquoise to grass green to lemon yellow to orange to red, and then all through the spectrum back to turquoise in the space of one loop. All of the major colors harmonize with a warm, saffrony orange-yellow, which repeats throughout the composition, as does the unifying coral red. It's a very kid-colors necklace, with a lot of different shapes going on as well. Cylindrical and cube-shaped lampwork beads, sputnik beads, flat teardrop czech beads, ovoid faceted yellow chalcedony beads, and little lemon-yellow pressed glass pyramid beads. It's a bit like a spilled toybox, that way. It wants to be called something with "carnival" in the name -- I'm currently thinking "Colorbox Carnival" though that may change again. It's heinously gaudy, and I love it.

Funnily, despite my slow progress on it (it's been so cold I just want to hibernate when I get home) and my fondness for it, I'm weirdly antsy to get this necklace done and out of the way so I can get on to the next one. The project in the wings I'm thinking of as "The Treasure of the Sea Witch" ever since I realized that the weirdly discolored Chinese glass beads that were its inception really want to go with greeny, watery, aurora borealised colors, not, as I initially thought, bone and ivory. Now those beads are clamoring to get put together, but if I don't stick to one project at a time the unbridled chaos of my desk will break loose and eat the room.

Comments

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

There will surely be pictures when it's done. Possibly sooner, if I get inspired to drag out the camera and clear a space to shoot on. It's one LOUD necklace, lemme tell ya.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Okay, pictures are now posted of the pretty shinies, since you asked. If you click through the picture to my Flickr stream, there are a couple of more shots as well.

I'd like to see it also

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

But even more.. I really like reading about concept and process, and just text, for other peeps.

"I've got this little tray of Lab and wire...." :)

Re: I'd like to see it also

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I really like reading about concept and process, and just text

Okay, cool. I haven't ever done much in the way of articulating my process, and where ideas come from, and the way they follow me around and live in my head until I do something with them and all that, but it's a bit of a journey of discovery, trying to write about it and find ways of making it clear to someone else, so I may do more of it, with time.

"I've got this little tray of Lab and wire..."

Lab as in labradorite, I suppose? Funny I've been thinking about how I don't care for it, and I've come to the conclusion that I really dislike the base color of the stone. That dirty, cloudy gray looks to me like the color of drowning in frigid waters.

Re: I'd like to see it also

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Have you seen faceted lab rondels? Boy, they look great!

Re: I'd like to see it also

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yep, I've seen them, but somehow the flash never overcomes my being vaguely creeped out by the base color. I do occasionally see some cabs where the flash is so prominent that it overcomes the sense of cold, muddy water, but it takes a lot of fire.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I like working in colors I wouldn't usually use every now & then. I'm bidding on this heart:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290072368349&ssPageName=ADME:B:BCA:US:11

and will have to work in pink!

Re: I'd like to see it also

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Pink is tricky. I woke up one morning with the realization that pink would be great with amber and butter yellow and ivory. I mean to play with those colors together sometime soon, but that's about three or four projects out.

Re: I'd like to see it also

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Since I mostly use seed beads, I also have a lesser choice of beads because pink and purple seeds are frequently dyed. I don't have any problem with color coming off if I wear it (no moisture on me), but most other people do, and I am probably not keeping the pink necklace.