A Leap...

In a short period of time I made these three necklaces....I guess I was tired of working on such a small scale....

I truly enjoyed making these, I was learning how to do the Skinner blend and since I LOVE graduated colors(always have)it was a natural for me.

When I sat back at looked at them together as a group(and a few others that I wasn't as happy about)I just couldn't connect them somehow....what were the constants? what were the strengths and weaknesses?

"Spring Flowers"(far left) kind of represented my graphic design background-stylized, with Art Deco and Art Nouveau influences.

"Curlicue" has a more contemporary feel and is my favorite of this group, still very symmetric, stylized and Deco-ish.

The third one, "Android" was fun and mainly an exercise in using up scraps from other projects...
I did learn from this one though, that simply adding a ready made neckpiece just doesn't do it. Years ago I had a good friend, Robin, who did wonderful things with polymer clay...and she was musing over how to design the back of a mirror she was making....when I suggested she use one of the frame suppliers I used to add a cardboard backing to it, she said no, that she wanted everything in this piece to be designed and made by hand. At the time I thought that was kind of silly(no one sees the back)but since then I've had to learn that lesson over and over. Just "adding on" a manufactured component can really detract from the whole piece. I tend to get focused on one part and then slap something on it later to hang it with.....but I'm trying hard to make myself stop doing that.


Hopefully in time, that will just become second nature. For now, it's something I have to keep reminding myself to do.....

Thanks, Robin...