High Tide

The last time I wrote about my creative process and how I go about designing a piece of jewelry I told you about a coming storm and how it influenced me.  I would like to share with you today how a stone can tell it's story through one of my designs.  You might think it's silly that a stone would have a story to tell, but do you ever see something in nature and see something deeper inside it?  For example, you may be looking up at the sky on a perfect day and see a cloud that looks like a bunny...and the more you look at it, the clearer the image of the bunny becomes in your mind.  Well this is kind of like that. Here's the story of High Tide.

It all started with this gorgeous blue impression jasper that I got at the last Bead Blast here in Kansas City.  Take a peek and see what it brings to your mind:

I have to admit that the first thing I see is a peacock.  Right in the middle of the stone I see a peacock sitting with it's tail spread out down below it.  I could have gone in that direction, but if I look at both sides of the stone it appears to be a beach scene...it's the color of the sea in the Caribbean, with the frothy swirls of sea foam green mixed in.  I can picture the waves crashing on the beach and the energy they bring with them.  I decided to go in that direction with this one.  I may sometimes obsess a little about birds anyway and I realize not everyone would see a peacock in this particular stone, but I think anyone that looks at it could get a feel of the ocean from it. 

 I started off deciding how the stone should hang from the necklace.  I wanted it to hang pretty simply so it doesn't take anything away from the picture that I am trying to convey.  I just used a sterling silver headpin and then added a small green aventurine bead that I think complements the sea foam green colors in the stone.  I started thinking of the colors of the ocean, and waves.  I decided the necklace would be unpredictable, not symmetrical, more of a surprise like a wave can be.  I decided to go with more green aventurine, some white freshwater cultured pearls (even though my pearls are freshwater they still make me think of the sea) and brilliant blue apatite.  The blue apatite really brings out the turquoisy blue colors in the focal stone and they also remind me of pieces of sea glass you might find washed up on a beach.  Then I decided on the most delicate sterling silver tube beads to bind it all together and create my ocean picture.  Here's my project halfway through:

It looks kind of unorganized and messy huh?  I knew where I was headed though.  After much thought, I added more pearls at the beginning and end of the beaded part of the design.  I just think the contrast of the white pearls and sterling silver with the blues and greens is so striking.  It's like the contrast of the sand of a white beach against the blues of the water and the sky.  I almost always use chain in my designs, I like to make the size very adjustable so that the necklace can be worn at the perfect length to show it off.  For this necklace I chose some sterling silver chain that reminds me of waves.  I ended the whole picture with another green aventurine that to me is like a bubble or a drop of water, it ties the necklace back to the green aventurine above the focal stone.  So that is the story of my High Tide necklace.  I was happy with the end result and I think it really conveys the feeling of a day at the beach.  What do you think?

High Tide necklace by greygirldesigns