Another week. Where'd it go?
While I should have been finishing a couple other swaps for some of my friends, I instead found myself doing the above necklace.
I made the lampwork bead over a year ago. And if you're a lampwork bead artist, you KNOW that this bead is quite imperfect and not at all the level of quality of good beads. But I like its imperfections, which make it somewhat unique. I certainly don't think I could reproduce it!
It is made with soft glass and sterling silver. While forming, I decided to play around (I was having a time of it trying to make a round bead!). Why not add some sterling silver wire around it - it couldn't get much worse! I didn't have any fine silver wire on hand - which is preferred with lampwork since with fine silver, you don't have to worry about black firescale. I thought to myself. I said, "Self. This is a practice bead."
I wrapped the wire (too tight, I should add), and it immediately beaded up and tarnished. I thought...Yikes. Practice, NO!...Disaster, YES.
Oh, dear. How can I fix this?...I know...Let's flatten it!
So...off I go to get the lentil shaped mold, which, by the way, is tricky considering that you are dealing with molten, moving glass at over 1500 Degrees F!
In my scurry (soft glass can crack and sputter all over the place if it cools too quickly), I pounced it in the mold and SQUEEZED
Too hard I should add
And it spilled out the sides of the mold, forming the line around the edges (that you can see)!
Do you ever have art days like that?
So, after it cured..The perfectionist that I am, stuck it in a bag with other bead remnants...and one year (or more?!) later I found it!
As an artist, I have learned that if you revisit something you have done maybe a little later (one year...a bit extreme, but I've been BUSY), you may see something with a different set of eyes, and with those eyes, you might not see that wart.
Last night, new eyes.
So, I cleaned what firescale I could off the surface...And, huh, wouldn't you know...
I actually liked the oxidized pebbles that were left.
So,I braided verigraded ribbon to make the necklace chain to give more "weight" than leather cord and more color/less shine than a silver chain.
And threw it together using some leftover extra twisted jump rings I had made from an another necklace, extra daisy separator beads (I always have those on hand), and an olive colored Swarovski crystal.
So, there you have it.
However...tomorrow...if I don't finish my swap for Vivian, she's gonna rip me a new one!
No playing around.
In the meantime, I shall walk in Diva fashion donning this bauble whilst pretending to not feel overwhelmed.
Cheers!
Comments