Begun and Undone........

Sometimes things don't go as planned.

It does not feel right, things don't flow.

Is it the color choices, the bead shapes or the developing form???

One thing that has been ingrained in me since I was very young, is to rip it out, rewind the yarn, start again , if mistakes were made or if the seam was not sewn correctly. This is a practice that has stood by me well. From this practice has grown an attention to detail and finishing, that in my opinion, can make any piece of creative expression either soar or fall flat.

This is the issue that I was struggling with over the weekend. The subject is a piece that will be donated and auctioned at the Liberty Town Patron's Show in May. I am working in partnership with my good friend Leslie Brier to put together a jewlery ensemble that will be a single unit for the sale. I am creating a free form Peyote stitched bracelet and leslie is putting together a pair of earrings and anecklace. We are coordinating our pieces so theyc an be worn as seperates or all together. WE have swapped beads from our various collections in a serious effort to cross pollinate our color choices and beads.

So after combing thru my collection and pulling all of the potential beads, adding in the ones that Leslie and I had chosen together, I set to work. When creating a free form piece, the first step involves creating the foundation band. The key is to vary colors and bead sizes within your color palete to add interest and movement. Once that part is done the fun begins. Except it very quickly became too regular and static. The focal bead that I thought that I would use looked heavy and clunky. This was meant to be an ocean inspired piece but the flow would not go!! How can one creat a piece aobut he frothy foaming flowing ocean that doea not reflect movement?? It was NOT WORKING and it felt forced.

Soooooooo, out came the scissors and the sorting tray. Snip, Snip, Sort, Reselect and start again!!!!

I am so glad that I did take it all apart and start again. It took me only a few hours to get back on track and come up with a much more organic and free flowing form.

I am sure that you can see the difference in the design and the general flow of the piece. I am not going to use the large focal bead but have opted instead for several smaller sea glass type beads (hand made from recycled glass in Africa). I will also be adding quite a few pearls in various colors- cream, violet and olive .
This photo is a bit bright and washes out many of the white crystals. I am planning on getting this piece completed by the end of the week, so I will post a complete set of detailed shots later.

Last year, in a magazine, I think, I saw a tip for storage of beads during the construction process. The tip suggested using deviled egg plates. I am not a big fan of deviled Eggs, but I was very sure that I could see the utility of the plates for beading. Above you will see that I have used a plastic version, and I must say it works great! I came upon two of these plates at our local Goodwill store, so with Easter soon upon us, keep your eyes open at thrift stores and yard sales.