A lot later than I thought I would, I got round to making, cleaning, silvering, polishing and photographing some brand new beads. These were meant to be done just after Christmas, but hey, better late than never!
Some of this little collection will be making it onto the Etsy shop soon and others have been ordered for customers. If you see any thing you might like or maybe would like something similar just send me a message and we will sort it out for you!
In this blog I thought I would try to show you how the beads are born and how the ideas come to life. In many cases I might randomly pick a rod of glass and start melting a bead and it brings an idea into my mind, triggered off by a colour, a colour combination, the way the light moves through the glass or the texture or shapes that are created. Then I set off with gusto (and much excitement and anticipation, I might add) fixed on this theme trying to 'round out' that thought making the other beads in the series. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.. I might need quite a few goes till it looks right, but this is how many of the beads sets and individual focal beads get 'born'.
So here, I have tried to match up the finished beads and bead sets with the images that no-one usually sees; these are the images that percolate around in the brain while the beads are forming at the torch!
My first set is called 'The Dunes' This set reminds me of being back in Somerset on good old Berrow beach taking a walk to blow the cobwebs away in the sand dunes there. (It's very, very windy; ALL the time!) These beads have a lovely cleansing and calm feel about them, just as one might feel after one of those fresh walks. They are very natural and organic, and I was trying to make something that was relatively 'neutral' so you can wear them without worrying that they don't coordinate with what you are wearing! These are clear-minded, worry-free beads!
The next set I will call 'Fairground Attraction'. These beads are really cutsie and small (they are just over a centimetre in diameter), but the colours have a wild abandon about them, like that amazing feeling of being let loose at a fairground for the first time when you are a teenager or when you go out on the town for the first time...AT NIGHT! There is neon excitement with these, electricity, fun and frivolity. Good things come in small packages!
...Now we are leaving the fairground, and moving to the Amazonian Rainforest for the next collection. I've had another request for some 'dotty doughnuts' this time with a green theme and here they are fresh and verdant and lovely. They will be called 'Rainforest Fresh'.
There is something distinctly watery and lush about these. They say aloe vera, ferns, dew drops, crystal water and thick swathes of abundant leaves. They say juice and freshness and vivid green to the extreme!
A new set of black and whites will soon be winging their way to the shop. Black and white is timeless; so sharp and clean and neat! Humbugs, piano keys, dominoes, zebra stripes, polka dots!!
I went a bit candy crush crazy last time I was on the torch. These colours really remind me of sweets and candy in general. Cupcakes, sticks of rock, seaside games, donkey rides - the works!
The next one is pink too but has an interesting mix of gold swirls too so it looks much richer like a gilt pink gates of a pink palace or something or a golden sunrise firing the pinky orange colours in all directions! Maybe a bit bollywood. Will call this one 'Pink Princess'.
The other colour I've been really into is this one! We have decided it's called 'cerulean' (thanks Kate for the heads up on that one!). It is SUCH A DREAMY COLOUR!!!
 |
This is a Cerulean Kingfisher on the right. What a colour! It makes me go weak at the knees! On the left, to get you in the mood, is some beautiful cerulean water that that lucky lady's swimming in...OK now for the beads, now you have the colour in your head...
These trio are a similar sort of hue, but more rockpooly and seashoreish!
The last ones are a collection in an on-going theme for me. Organic, earthy rich tones like a forest floor or a mossy bank. Greens, purples, gold and deep red and brown. The warmth of the earth and the vibrance of the living things all rolled into one! This is the type of bead I love!!
No comments:
Post a Comment