Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Challenge Entry: Links Cuff











The new EBW Challenge theme is Complementary Contradictions.

My first thoughts were for black/white, yin/yang type things, then art/artifice which brought me to art/science and that sounded fun!

I'd been saving up some green june bug wing covers for a special project and I found a piece of citrine rough and a great fish vertebrae for science. The art link would be a lampwork bead that looked great with the rest of my collection.

I tried working it in RAW, but I don't like Delicas in RAW. I like seed beads, but the Delicas shape and corners give RAW a boxy look.

So I decided to do freeform and I remembered a project I'd seen recently in Bead&Button magazine by Linda Rettich. She made a beautiful sea fan like necklace and the basic technique seemed viable for other projects!

So I started something similar, not sure how similar because I can't find my magazine, but I think hers was more flowing, softer and less dense.

In Valerie Hector's The Art of Beadwork she says that the more senses you involve the better and she suggests incorporating movement. So I made the abacus type element (which also clinks a bit) and made the lampwork bead a swinging, dangling clasp instead of my usual solid stationary one.

The one element that troubled me was a crystal bead that I incorporated early in the design. It wasn't planned, it just hopped in there. So I gathered some other bits but it was never the right time or place to put them in. I eventually gave it up and thought of the crystal as a little rogue bead. As I finished this today I realized it wasn't rogue at all. Science and art are both very much about clarity, and what could represent clarity better than crystal? It's just ironic that that was the last piece that was clear to me!

13 comments:

  1. I love this post for the window it gives me into how you made this beautiful bracelet!

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  2. Love the finished bracelet and what a great idea for this theme. Good job!

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  3. Thank you for explaining your entry. It is so complex and helps when you know what it all means.

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  4. I really enjoyed reading about the thought process behind this creation Sarah and I love the 'abacus element'.

    I am a definite fan of your blog - it always gives me something to take away and think about :0)

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  5. What a unique cuff. Thanks for sharing your creative process. I love the abacus part that moves.

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  6. Sarah, I just love this piece! It's so creative and BEAUTIFUL! An awesome take on the challenge theme!

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  7. Thank you for sharing the evolution of this fantastic piece, Sarah! My hat is off!

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  8. Thanks to each of you for your comments on this post! Your support and individual takes on the article and cuff mean so much!

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  9. This is a fascinating cuff - it was interesting to read the process of how this piece took shape! Well done!

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  10. I really like your take on the challenge theme! (being both an artist and a scientist myself doesn't make me biased at all, does it?) I love the section that looks like a meniscus! So cool..

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  11. What a beautifully uniqiue piece! I love it, Sarah. Good luck in the challenge. :)

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  12. This really is such a beautiful and interesting piece!

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