Here it is! This week's Wednesday blog entry has been suggested by Vicky in Cumbria, thanks Vicky! The piece Vicky has chosen is the "Georgiana" necklace. She says:
"Please could I suggest the Georgiana Necklace for your Wednesday blog post. It's my favourite piece and I'd love to know where the beads came from and your inspiration for it."
"Please could I suggest the Georgiana Necklace for your Wednesday blog post. It's my favourite piece and I'd love to know where the beads came from and your inspiration for it."
This is relatively new piece, made about four weeks ago when we were getting the fresh cold days with the early afternoon sunshine beaming through our windows, much like Melton Mowbray today! It is predominantly browns and golds, with hints of yellow and silver also. The necklace is 18inches long, and there is also a matching bracelet and earrings too. I love this set, it just reminds me of warmth and richness and love.
The inspiration, as with quite a few of my designs, came to me some time ago whilst doodling in my pocket sketchbook. Just a page or two of biro sketches, in no order or colour, but loosely using beads I know I have in the beady-box. It's easier to draw a design when you are pushed for time or space; and although you often use beads you've invented in your head, it's a challenge to make them yourself or see if you can source them if you love the design that much!
The colour scheme evolved purely through chance. I was going to make Georgiana (at that time nameless) in purple, but having just made "Damsen and Sloe", wanted a new scheme, and, just as I was wondering what to use, the sun came out and cast a golden light across the cornflower studio walls. It all sounds terribly romantic, but it is true, and everywhere I looked was golds and bronzes. I am not one to wrestle with fate (or wrestle in general really), and once I had found a goldy-brown glass heart for the centre piece, (and one for the bracelet) I was away!!
The beads used for Georgiana are mostly made of glass. This necklace was intended to be symmetrical of sorts, though I am against perfect symmetry in most things. It was not meant to be, but that was ok, because it's a part of what makes each piece unique. If the beads aren't there, I adapt, and thus, every design will always be different and my work always evolving.
The glass heart was from a craft fair in Leeds, bought around two years ago. I bought many of my other hearts from the same lady, in other colours, but have only purple remaining. The beads either side of the heart are different, one a glass brown sphere an the other a copper and brown glass disc, similar in size and weight and both equally scrummy. The beautiful little heart on one side of the necklace is made of tigers eye semi precious stone, and it is one of the first bead sets I ever bought online, and the last I have of a purchase seven years ago. It holds lovely memories of the steep learning curve I was going through around that time, understanding the difference between an ear wire and an eye pin, a tiger eyes and a carnelian bead. Oh the joys. Don't we take accumulated knowledge for granted?!.... The lovely amber coloured glass beads are from a charity shop in Peterbrough, where I also bought a little tea cup and saucer I fell in love with, and only saw because these beads were inside. The coppery golden biwa freshwater pearls, hanging at either side are from China, where some of the most stunning pearls in the world are farmed. These are no exception with their other shimmery hues that can only be captured by the eye, not the camera. And lastly, the little brown beads which act as a buffer to their larger neighbours. It may be said that the 'spacer' beads in a design are not as integral to the more focal arrangements. In this case however, these little beads are another piece of me that the buyer of this necklace will receive. I bought them as part of a set of bracelets from Florence on a school residential. I used to be quite a hippy, with my long blonde hair, plaited in places with beads hanging down and bell bottomed jeans (not to mention my blue Beetle Mitzie). Needless to say I collected bracelets, of the beads, plaited, woven, leather variety and these were part of a set which set me back around £20 (quite a lot for a young waitress / Art student!). Anyway, years later I found these in my jewellery box and decided it was time to use them for other ends. And now, here some of them are!
I hope you've enjoyed the first story behind the design feature, it is nice to be able to share with you the work and experiences that bring a piece to life. Seeking out new bits for my designs is something I take for granted now, but in a world where so much of our produce has journeyed only by freight, it is nice to know that sometimes, what you are buying has finer threads of distance, and has been loved before as much as it is loved hereafter.
The inspiration, as with quite a few of my designs, came to me some time ago whilst doodling in my pocket sketchbook. Just a page or two of biro sketches, in no order or colour, but loosely using beads I know I have in the beady-box. It's easier to draw a design when you are pushed for time or space; and although you often use beads you've invented in your head, it's a challenge to make them yourself or see if you can source them if you love the design that much!
The colour scheme evolved purely through chance. I was going to make Georgiana (at that time nameless) in purple, but having just made "Damsen and Sloe", wanted a new scheme, and, just as I was wondering what to use, the sun came out and cast a golden light across the cornflower studio walls. It all sounds terribly romantic, but it is true, and everywhere I looked was golds and bronzes. I am not one to wrestle with fate (or wrestle in general really), and once I had found a goldy-brown glass heart for the centre piece, (and one for the bracelet) I was away!!
The beads used for Georgiana are mostly made of glass. This necklace was intended to be symmetrical of sorts, though I am against perfect symmetry in most things. It was not meant to be, but that was ok, because it's a part of what makes each piece unique. If the beads aren't there, I adapt, and thus, every design will always be different and my work always evolving.
The glass heart was from a craft fair in Leeds, bought around two years ago. I bought many of my other hearts from the same lady, in other colours, but have only purple remaining. The beads either side of the heart are different, one a glass brown sphere an the other a copper and brown glass disc, similar in size and weight and both equally scrummy. The beautiful little heart on one side of the necklace is made of tigers eye semi precious stone, and it is one of the first bead sets I ever bought online, and the last I have of a purchase seven years ago. It holds lovely memories of the steep learning curve I was going through around that time, understanding the difference between an ear wire and an eye pin, a tiger eyes and a carnelian bead. Oh the joys. Don't we take accumulated knowledge for granted?!.... The lovely amber coloured glass beads are from a charity shop in Peterbrough, where I also bought a little tea cup and saucer I fell in love with, and only saw because these beads were inside. The coppery golden biwa freshwater pearls, hanging at either side are from China, where some of the most stunning pearls in the world are farmed. These are no exception with their other shimmery hues that can only be captured by the eye, not the camera. And lastly, the little brown beads which act as a buffer to their larger neighbours. It may be said that the 'spacer' beads in a design are not as integral to the more focal arrangements. In this case however, these little beads are another piece of me that the buyer of this necklace will receive. I bought them as part of a set of bracelets from Florence on a school residential. I used to be quite a hippy, with my long blonde hair, plaited in places with beads hanging down and bell bottomed jeans (not to mention my blue Beetle Mitzie). Needless to say I collected bracelets, of the beads, plaited, woven, leather variety and these were part of a set which set me back around £20 (quite a lot for a young waitress / Art student!). Anyway, years later I found these in my jewellery box and decided it was time to use them for other ends. And now, here some of them are!
I hope you've enjoyed the first story behind the design feature, it is nice to be able to share with you the work and experiences that bring a piece to life. Seeking out new bits for my designs is something I take for granted now, but in a world where so much of our produce has journeyed only by freight, it is nice to know that sometimes, what you are buying has finer threads of distance, and has been loved before as much as it is loved hereafter.
If you've enjoyed this feature and would like to suggest a piece of my jewellery for next week's Jewellery Jackanory, please contact me directly or comment below. And in case anyone was wondering, here is Mitzie...
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