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

Storms A Comin'

I thought I'd write a little about my creative process.  Sometimes I begin a design with nothing more than a basic color scheme.  I will pick a color I haven't made anything with for a while and just start there.  I organize my beads by color families mainly and I can just look through the beads in that family and find a bead that catches my eye and start there. 
Sometimes I have a particular unusual stone and when I look at it, I know that is the one that is speaking to me on that day and I will start there.  Some of my stones are so outstanding I can hardly wait to design a necklace featuring them.  Just looking at them and feeling them seems to spark the creativity in my mind.

Today I'm going to tell you about starting a different way though.  There are times when I am inspired by something around me.  The other night a storm was heading our way.  The air was heavy and I felt energy in the atmosphere.  My animals were all super hyper and I know the coming storm was affecting all of us.  I kept thinking, storms a' comin', and it hit me that I had to create something with that name, and try to use the natural energy around me to channel into this new creation.  I began thinking of what beads and stones I had that would convey my storm story.  I wanted this new design to be dark and mysterious, a bit smoky or cloudy feeling, with sparks of energy throughout.  So, I dug out any beads I thought may convey this and began.  I found the perfect focal point, a dark black agate round with a tiny streak of white running through it like a bolt of lightning.  I decided to make this hang down from some shining silver chain and began to pull together other beads to complement it.  This is what my bead design board looked like as I began...

I decided this necklace would be asymmetrical, unpredictable and a little wild like thunderstorms can be.  So I continued to play around with different designs until I had something I liked the looks of.  Using smoky quartz and dark sable pearls like storm clouds full of rain, flashes of sterling silver like lightning, and black onyx, jet and blackstone I assembled my perfect storm.  After I had a basic design laid out, I started to string it on my wire to see how the stones lay and to make sure it all worked together as a whole.  Here is the beginning of my stringing  it all together:

As I string the beads on, I have to pay attention to how they fit together.  For instance, the sterling silver tubes I used are very tiny and you can't use them right next to beads with large holes or they can fall inside of the larger beads and ruin the design.  Little details like this are very important to the overall outcome of the finished jewelry design.  I have to make sure the weight of various beads is distributed just right throughout so it will hang correctly.  Lots of things to keep in mind, not just the creative process but the technical side of things too.  Once I have the main body of my necklace completed I have to decide how long it will be, what size and style of clasp to use and how to end the whole design.   I was very happy with the outcome of my necklace.  I think it conveys the story I was trying to tell, like an artist's painting or an author's book.  I really feel like each piece of jewelry I create is a work of art.  I hope other people see it that way too and enjoy wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Here is my finished Storms A Comin' necklace...

The funny thing is, it is now storming again as I write this.  A perfect evening to write about a coming storm!