Hi Peg, Here’s my May installment.
Once again, my own collected and unfinished treasures provided
the inspiration for this month’s Little Altars spot. Since I was making
the spot “for myself” meaning my exchange this month was with me, myself, and
I, this was an interesting and sort of indulgent endeavor. Some sort of
serendipitous spell came over me as I wondered around my little places of
projects and treasures, and I pretty quickly came up with something that I
thought I’d really like. Nice when there are very few false starts, and
that’s what happened this time.
I’m an elephant fan, so the opportunity to use an elephant bead
that I’d probably never put on a piece of jewelry was a plus. And the
flat beaded disk has been teasing me to do something with it ever since I made
it. Of course it was supposed to be part of a larger project, but now
it’s in a perfectly happy place, pretending to be a water place for the
elephant. Both now live on top of my currently favorite play materials:
watercolor paper, watercolors and gouache.
It is with great excitement that I present this month’s Little
Altar installation. Having read that Beth, the receiver of my little
creation, is a Landscape Designer and Gardener with a love for nature I began
contemplating what new skill I could acquire while making her something she
would appreciate. Then it came to me in a flash! This past year I
participated in a collaborative jewelry exhibition as part of the International
Glass Bead show. 127 Artists from around the world submitted their
designs to a juried set of judges. The judges selected 40 glass artists
work. Then 40 metalsmiths were invited to create 3 pieces with the beads
they received. One for the Glass Bead artist, one for the Gallery to
sell, and one to keep. I was partnered with an amazing artist whose name
is Leslie Kaplan. Why, you might ask is this important??? Well,
Leslie is a professional Landscape Designer!!!!! Her second or equal love
is glass and she creates amazing pieces she sells through her company Rush
Creek Glass. On her website you can see that she creates amazing glass works
and stunning gardens! Check it out here: http://rushcreekglass.com.
I also happened to have one of her Limited Edition, glass
flower cabochons that still needed to be set!!!! Hence, an opportunity
was born and Beth is the new owner of a truly one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry.
It seems to me that this month’s altar is a match made in heaven and I
sure hope Beth likes jewelry!
Because the flower is so beautiful all on its own I created a
very simple setting for it that showcases it, not the setting. I used a
floral motif to roll print the 24G sterling silver and soldered the first
section together. Because the flower is glass it had to be set in place
via a cold connection and the only thing safe enough was epoxy. It is
slightly larger than the space so I created a little back drop with beautiful
purple ribbon to be glued down and provided a hook that can be glued to the
roof of the space to hang the pendant from when not being worn. I would
cut the screws off the hook and glue to the front of the frame but you can
choose to do what you would like.
The pictures do not do the colors of the glass justice as the
opalescence of some don’t reflect well in photos. Chain shown only for
pictures and is not included.
So, while I didn’t learn a new skill, I sure hope I made the
right decision!
Warm Regards and many blessings to all,
LynnV
