ABS Monthly Challenge - Dec 2012 - Reveal

When I saw this painting on the Art Bead Scene December challenge webpage, I fell in love with it! The colors, fluidity, movement, shapes.... Ah, beautiful! I decided I really wanted to interact with this art in creating my own piece of jewelry.

Sleeping Beauty by Erté, 1983

I started by shopping for every bead I could find that might make a good focal artbead, mostly lovely lampwork in the swirling colors shown above, but I couldn't make up my mind--too many lovely choices!   I looked through my stash of artbeads and non-art beads to see what I could use to supplement the lampwork and wasn't finding what I wanted.   In the end, I found instead a raw brass flower pendant in my stash that I altered with patinas to obtain the color and look I wanted in my focal.    The petals in the flower remind me of the movement in the swirls of the dress as it mounds up with snow.

I supplemented this with some of my very favorite pottery beads I've been saving made by Natalie Pappas.   The red for "Sleeping Beauty's" dress, and the blue flowers to represent the snowflake flowers hanging from the limbs above her in the painting.

There are also small beads of blue, black and white scattered among these, and twisted black wire to represent additional hanging twigs with snow. All hang from two sizes of darkened chain.

Thank you, ABS, for such an inspiring December choice!

Currently onsale at Sharyl's Jewelry

A note about Natalie:    

She is in the process of consolidating stores, so you can currently find her in two locations!

NKP Designs is where all her pottery and beads will soon be located!   Notice the lovely cups added in addition to beads!

NKP Beads is where she has had her bead shop.  Everything in THIS store  is at 50% off until the beads are gone or are moved to the new store.    There are still beautiful beads there, so be sure to visit there as well!  Make sure you use the Coupon Code:    BEADSALE50!


My thanks to Natalie for the beautiful beads used in this necklace!

Sharyl ~ Sharyl's Jewelry

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