Saturday, March 19, 2016

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


3 comments:

  1. I love enamel work and would love to do it. Your pieces turned out so nice and were a great match for the beads! I enjoyed your text and the additional photos too!

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  2. Enameling is something I love to do, but cannot set up in my home. I love the look of these gears and the beads you made to go with them! They have a great aged appearance. Thank you for playing along with me in the March We're All Ears Challenge. Check back on April 1st for our next inspiration! Enjoy the day! Erin

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  3. Love those greens! How fun that you were able to do your own enamel work for this challenge. They turned out great!

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