Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge

Art Bead Scene's monthly challenge showcases the artwork of Taisia Afonina's Still Life With Pussy Willows~1964.  Afonina was a well known Russian artist specializing in oil painting and watercolors and was famous for her still-life paintings.

This month's challenge features a great example of Afonina's still-life paintings and her masterful ability to play with color and light.  See how the subtle changes in the light within the painting also changes the colors in the painting.  You can almost feel the air in the room.  This play on color and lighting allows the viewer to form a relationship with the portrait.  For example you might see a breezy afternoon tea or an early spring morning perhaps the pussy willows in the foreground and the white curtains in the background give the appearance of spring coming after winter.  It triggers something different for everyone.  This is creativity at it's best.

By Taisia Afonina 

While sifting through the beads in my stash I had a bit of a challenge pulling colors that fit perfectly with this play on color.  Before I knew it I had greys, whites or should it be more white and less grey?  There are varying shades of grey or is it a subtle hint of green, blue green or blue grey?  Once I embraced the idea I was able to find a combination of beads that I feel represent the painting nicely.

My ART beads are created by Amy Nealy of Xaz Beads.  Three medium nuggets in the new GALACTIC color measure about 16-18mm.  Those lovely beads are surrounded by Swarovski's new Scarabaeus green pearls (6/8mm).  I recently wrote a post about Swarovski's new designs here.  Swarovski crystals in light chrome (4mm) and capri blue (6mm), small hematite discs and white cat eye beads (4mm) along with seed beads in gray mist make up the band of the bracelet.  I tried my hand at creating a clasp using artistic wire in teal.  

This is my submission for this month's challenge.  Please visit the Art Bead Scene pinterest board and the ABS blog to see jewelry submissions and art beads for the March challenge.

Keep Creating, 

Karen

  

We're All Ears - March Reveal

Earrings Everyday hosts a monthly jewelry makers challenge. This month's inspirational theme is historical Islamic architecture which includes majestic mosaics found in some of the world's oldest monuments.

The original inspiration comes from architect Mehrdad Rasoulifard's visual diary on Instagram.  His photo diary shares captivating designs of historical architectural masterpieces which are creatively inspiring; lending a variety of colors, patterns, beauty & stories.  

Historically Iran is known for it's tile work which include mosaic tiles design and calligraphic inscriptions.  The stories behind these structures is just as captivating as the buildings themselves.  Many of the mosques were built for the royal family, some specifically so the women of the harem would be shielded as much as possible from anyone entering the building and others for political reasons.  Many of the buildings were closed to the public for centuries and the main entrance would often have standing guards. 

Many of these buildings are now open to the public so if you are interested in art & travel put these man-made treasures on your list.  

For the challenge I immediately thought polymer clay would lend itself nicely to creating a mosaic-like bead.  Iranian tile work often includes yellow, brown and green.  Glazes were often turquoise and light green.  I took variations of these basic colors and created several beads.  I'm still refining the size and shape of my pieces so I chose two discs that fit together nicely.  

Then I enameled a couple of copper discs using Thompson Enamel in opaque 1319 bitter green.  I am always dumbfounded by the appearance of an enameled piece.  I'm new to enameling so I'm discovering that the name and the color do not always match up like I think they should.  (Let's just say I got lucky on this one.)

After making my ear wires, using 20 gauge silver wire, I included a lamp work bead  from Grace Beads.

Thank you to the Earrings Everyday team for providing this monthly challenge!! Stop by their blog where you'll find the link to add your earrings to the monthly challenge.  Their blog is a great place to find interesting ideas, funny stories and creative collaboration.  

Have a great weekend!!

Keep Creating,

Karen